Do You Really Listen?

[Zeb_Carter]

Comment... I get the ones "I really liked this story." or "I don't like this kind of story?"

The first I just nod that I made someone happy. The second I wonder why they read it as I warned them upfront what it was about. Why waste their time and mine with a comment that they didn't like when they knew up front that they wouldn't

Then I get the comments about some other completely different story than the one I wrote. Which tells me they didn't bother reading the thing. They saw the category and just shit a comment about cucks and cheaters when the story was actually a BTB story.

Then I get all the comments about "get an editor" that I just laugh at. I have tried to improve my typos and grammar via Grammarly and Hemmingway, etc. and then again, I think how much I'm getting paid for posting here, $0, and then post a comment to theirs about how they get what they paid for.

I do have anon comments, and anon private comments turned off.

I don't miss all the anon slurs about what I cuck I must be and they hope I die of some deadly disease.

Honest critiques I do listen to and try to improve. And I do like those comments saying that the liked the story.

 

[TadOverdon]

I've been getting some good email feedback since I started posting the current novella here...more messages, and more detailed.

One was a detailed synopsis of how the reader hoped the rest of the story would go. It was pretty concise and on-brand.

I like the feedback enough that I've written several paragraphs of response to a couple of the messages, and it's disappointing when the reply bounces back because the email address doesn't exist. It's a real limitation in the current feedback system that bogus addresses are accepted by the form, but I don't suppose there's a practical way for them to validate this other than for basic format.

 

[gordo12]

There are valuable comments and not so valuable comments, and then there are comments like this one, which I received this morning in response to my story about a married woman who spends a day at the beach in her new bikini. She shows off, but she doesn't cheat:

I don't understand how someone's mind even goes there.

LOL, this place is a study of human psychology. I've had the same kind of accusations on something that doesn't exist.

I've been getting some good email feedback since I started posting the current novella here...more messages, and more detailed.

One was a detailed synopsis of how the reader hoped the rest of the story would go. It was pretty concise and on-brand.

I like the feedback enough that I've written several paragraphs of response to a couple of the messages, and it's disappointing when the reply bounces back because the email address doesn't exist. It's a real limitation in the current feedback system that bogus addresses are accepted by the form, but I don't suppose there's a practical way for them to validate this other than for basic format.

There is software for validating email addresses although I don't know if they can be incorporated into a website. But that only shows that the email is valid, not that it belongs to the person registering. It's interesting that someone would go that far and then provide a fake address. Usually, that's reserved for the "you suck" kind of emails.

 

[TadOverdon]

It could just be a matter of taste. I mean, I don't like it when dialogue sounds like something out of a porn movie. If I wanted that, I could just watch a porn movie, but some people seem to like that style of story. If I criticized a writer for that, I'd kid of expect them to ignore it.

I think this is key. As other writers have pointed out, probably the vast majority of readers are looking for something to get them off. I'm convinced that "porn talk" is an arousal trigger for a lot of people. It is for me, too, much more so than I'm usually willing to admit. If it weren't I might not have ever started down my long road to moral ruination.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think this is key. As other writers have pointed out, probably the vast majority of readers are looking for something to get them off. I'm convinced that "porn talk" is an arousal trigger for a lot of people. It is for me, too, much more so than I'm usually willing to admit. If it weren't I might not have ever started down my long road to moral ruination.

I do a mix, my slow build stories will have more serious believable dialogue, but when its time to get down to it, dirty talk is there in spades.

I was once criticized by a reader that all my "mom" characters talk dirty, and they shouldn't...

So...they can have sex with their sons, but can't talk dirty. Porn logic is no logic at all.

My take is many women talk dirty, if you're insecurity cannot handle that, oh, well.

 

[Trionyx]

As mentioned above, I too dislike receiving comments asking for a second chapter. This occurs most commonly with April Fools submissions where there is a twist or a surprise ending. That is the whole purpose of that kind of story when I write them. Loving Wives comments are uniformly useless.

 

[lovecraft68]

As mentioned above, I too dislike receiving comments asking for a second chapter. This occurs most commonly with April Fools submissions where there is a twist or a surprise ending. That is the whole purpose of that kind of story when I write them. Loving Wives comments are uniformly useless.

They always want more. I wrote a 40 chapter series covering 20 years of a couples ups and downs, wrapped up every loose end...and still got "would like to see what happens next."

I also wonder if they ever look to see the age of a story. I have people asking when they'll get chapter two of a story published here in 2012

 

[TadOverdon]

I was once criticized by a reader that all my "mom" characters talk dirty, and they shouldn't...

So...they can have sex with their sons, but can't talk dirty. Porn logic is no logic at all.

Exactly!

When someone jokingly brought up "virginal mothers" in another topic, this is what I first thought they meant. "Nice Mom."

 

[ElectricBlue]

There are valuable comments and not so valuable comments, and then there are comments like this one, which I received this morning in response to my story about a married woman who spends a day at the beach in her new bikini. She shows off, but she doesn't cheat:

I don't understand how someone's mind even goes there.

Was that the story about the magical shrinking bikini? That was a great little story, but as you say, to jump from it to that comment is bizarre. It really does make you wonder why people like that bother reading at all.

 

[lovecraft68]

There are valuable comments and not so valuable comments, and then there are comments like this one, which I received this morning in response to my story about a married woman who spends a day at the beach in her new bikini. She shows off, but she doesn't cheat:




I don't understand how someone's mind even goes there.

My first thought was they didn't read the story, got far enough to see she was going there to show off and assumed the rest.

Second thought is that type doesn't have a mind so maybe they did read it and couldn't believe you didn't have her cheat.

Last thought was so glad comments are getting screened so we can still get talk of torturing and murdering a woman in a brutal fashion. Yes, its a fictional person, but I thought lit was concerned about the crowd they draw here hence no under age and...

Oh, forget, can't even finish typing that without laughing.

 

[Comshaw]

Manu has a thread going regarding anon emails & comments. Personally, I find a lot of them valuable. I wouldn't change the existing system.

Lots of posters agreed with that.

But here's the question(s).

How many of you really listen? How many of you read them and immediately dismiss them? Do you use them to try to improve? Do you go back at intervals and reread them to see if anything new can be gleaned from them?

I'm talking anon and registered members.

I'm reading a story right now. It's the 3rd chapter. The writer's dialogue has been called many uncomplimentary terms, but over the months the story has taken, he hasn't blinked. He isn't learning. He isn't listening. He keeps plowing on through.

It made me wonder how many of us are guilty of doing just that?

A long time ago I realized a couple of things about comments from readers: 1) there is something to be learned from almost every one of them, but there is a point at which the lesson isn't worth the effort to dig it out, 2) If I get the same kind of criticism more than once, I have something I need to fix.

I read every comment I get and think about each one considering if it contains anything I can use to improve my writing. The brief ones don't take long to consider. If they are an ego stroke, I take it with a smile. Everybody needs one of those once in a while. If it's a "your writing sucks, you suck" type, I shrug and move on. Ain't nothing there I need.

Then there's the longer ones full of suggestions on how to improve the story and my writing. Those I appreciate and consider them seriously. I've incorporated many things from that type of comment into my writing for the better.

Then there are the anon flame thrower comments. To read those it was the worse story they ever read, full of misspellings, formatting mistakes (even though there might only be half a dozen in a 10,000 word story) and rotten character development. The writer of those comments are also adept at picking out the one word in the entire story that is out of context and raving on and on about its misuse and my lack of education for destroying it in such a manner.

It amazes me how many of the ball buster type comments come from anonymous commenters. I often wonder if they just don't want to register with the site, or if they are long time Lit users hiding behind an anon tag.

Aw well, such is life.


Comshaw

 

[gordo12]

A long time ago I realized a couple of things about comments from readers: 1) there is something to be learned from almost every one of them, but there is a point at which the lesson isn't worth the effort to dig it out, 2) If I get the same kind of criticism more than once, I have something I need to fix.

I read every comment I get and think about each one considering if it contains anything I can use to improve my writing.

Comshaw

This reflects my thinking too, especially if there's more than one comment in the same vein.

 

[8letters]

Comments give me a vague feeling of what does work and what doesn't. I use the rating much more as a judge of how well the story has been received.

I have a five-chapter series where the comments on chapter four are mostly negative and about half the comments on chapter five are negative. But the ratings on those chapters are 4.43 and 4.65. That means to me a lot of people liked the story, but those that didn't tended to leave a comment.

I have another story which has positive consent as a major theme to the story. A good number of comments express disagreement with positive consent. The story has a very high rating, lots of votes and favorites. My take away is that the occasional reader who was bothered by positive consent tended to leave a negative comment.

 

[TadOverdon]

I'll draw a (fuzzy) distinction between learning from readers what they like and what they don't, and learning from them what works and what doesn't. I'm kind of perverse that way.

 

[KeithD]

Here's something to listen to: There's no greater assholery on Literotica than to come to the discussion board and rag on another Literotica author's writing. You can't be more pathetic than that, I opine. It puts you so far below the one you're ragging on that you lose all credence. Just pathetic in the need for your own validation.

 

[CyranoJ]

How many of you really listen? How many of you read them and immediately dismiss them?

I don't immediately dismiss them, even if they're critical.

The ones I immediately dismiss are those that a) offer no specifics that can be used to improve the writing, or b) have essentially nothing to say beyond that my kinks are evil and no decent person would have them.

I don't do either of those to other writers, and immediately nuke comments that attempt them with me, especially in the second category.

Other critiques stand, and I do think them through. Whether I will necessarily agree with them is another thing altogether. I don't alter my creative vision on a dime, I make certain choices for specific reasons. But I have, for example, contemplated a different final act for one story after an interesting comment on it. I might one day get around to doing an alternate version, given sufficient time.

 

[gordo12]

Here's something to listen to: There's no greater assholery on Literotica than to come to the discussion board and rag on another Literotica author's writing. You can't be more pathetic than that, I opine. It puts you so far below the one you're ragging on that you lose all credence. Just pathetic in the need for your own validation.

Are you still stuck on yesterday? It's a symptom of Groundhog Day Style. Just keep looping!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

 

[KeithD]

Are you still stuck on yesterday? It's a symptom of Groundhog Day Style. Just keep looping!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I can quite understand you (and another one) would like just to let your assholery drift by. I repeat, I don't think there is anything more sleazy, pathetic, and out of bounds on the discussion board than for one Literotica author to make swipes at the writing of another Literotica author on the discussion board, particularly in the AH. So needy and juvenile.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The way I see it is, if you write really well and a story hits a chord with many people, you'll get comments, nearly all positive and one or two less so (sometimes, I feel, because they want to say, "Well I didn't like it," as if their view outweighs all the others); whereas if you write poorly and can't get the basic technical stuff right, you'll get told that, too.

It's when you're bang in the middle of the bell curve and get no comments at all that I think, "Hmmm, okay, maybe that story didn't quite cut it," but then the score suggests otherwise. So I think, gee, it would have been nice to get a few more comments. Maybe next time.

What I do see, with some stories, is that comments feed more comments, as if commenters feed off each other - and they're generally the stories where the comments go deeper and become really worthwhile. That's when I know I've done something special. And why I'll never turn off anon comments.

 

[gordo12]

What I do see, with some stories, is that comments feed more comments, as if commenters feed off each other - and they're generally the stories where the comments go deeper and become really worthwhile. That's when I know I've done something special. And why I'll never turn off anon comments.

Do you still find that happening with the slow pace of comments now? I know it can be days before they surface, and I doubt from my experience that people are coming back anymore.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Do you still find that happening with the slow pace of comments now? I know it can be days before they surface, and I doubt from my experience that people are coming back anymore.

You're right, not so much the last couple of years. My most commented on story went up at the end of 2016, which would have been before the changed screening mechanism was put in place.

It's a bummer, losing the fast comment flow through. Of all the changes being made, fixing this is more important than fixing the tag system, I reckon.

 

[gordo12]

It's a bummer, losing the fast comment flow through. Of all the changes being made, fixing this is more important than fixing the tag system, I reckon.

Agreed. I miss the back and forth and my own discussions with readers. Unfortunately, it's not worth it anymore. They're long gone by the time I respond.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't think there is anything more sleazy, pathetic, and out of bounds on the discussion board than for one Literotica author to make swipes at the writing of another Literotica author on the discussion board, particularly in the AH. So needy and juvenile.

Hey Keith, I think somebody hacked your account:

You obviously can also spin your wheels writing essentially two longwinded epics over eight years...

One thing I do in my writing, which is prolific enough not to think of each story I'm able to birth as a diamond I'll probably never be able to produce again, is that I look to reader subgroups and small genre niches that are underserved and I write a few stories to them. I don't have to write what simply everyone wants to read. The term for what that produces is pabulum.

Actually, when I see threads like this, I think that not enough preparation has gone into being a writer yet--that the writer hasn't reached the level of self-confidence enough to be called a writer. Creative writing isn't work by committee for very long in a writer's development.

Maybe just writing a few stories makes them all a big deal to someone but when you've written and published well over a thousand, here on Literotica alone, you stop thinking of them in terms of human babies. That doesn't mean each and every one isn't an excellent story in what is being offered where it's published. If you are trained and experienced in writing, you are steeled in a method that kills stinker ideas and writing before you sit down to write them. That doesn't mean they each are pabulum for the lowest common denominator in search of nearly meaningless ratings and comments from those who don't know any more about writing than you do.

(Plenty more in that vein, but I gotta get back to work.)

 

[KeithD]

Hey Keith, I think somebody hacked your account:







(Plenty more in that vein, but I gotta get back to work.)

Of course you omit the context.

Your work seems to be more in the vein of monitoring me than doing much of any writing here. Guess it goes with your thought you've been appointed hall monitor here. Why do I intimidate you and your friends to the extent that you are obsessed with me and pay more attention to my file than I do? (It's a rhetorical question, dear. I'm well aware of the amateurs chewing on the professionals games on Internet discussion boards. Or, gasp, is this just a homophobic thing with you and your gang?)

I will readily admit that I don't have any collection on you like you so readily whipped out on me. Could you be any more pathetic in your obsessions?

 

[gordo12]

Your work seems to be more in the vein of monitoring me than doing much of any writing here. Guess it goes with your thought you've been appointed hall monitor here. Why do I intimidate you and your friends to the extent that you are obsessed with me and pay more attention to my file than I do? (It's a rhetorical question, dear. I'm well aware of the amateurs chewing on the professionals games on Internet discussion boards. Or, gasp, is this just a homophobic thing with you and your gang?)

I will readily admit that I don't have any collection on you like you so readily whipped out on me. Could you be any more pathetic in your obsessions?

Oh Good Lord, are you still standing in the corner with your teddy bear and your thumb in your mouth waiting for sympathy? None of that here!

Go to bed! It's time for the adults to talk.