Does feedback mean anything?

[NaomiDPlumm]

This isn't a complaint, or a rant, but rather what I consider to be a legitimate question.

I have reached a point in my life where I am pretty content and don't really plan on changing. I am who I am and I'm good with that. I'm wondering: "does the feedback from anonymous commentators and voters who get content for free mean anything at all?"

About a month ago I published a short story here-- in the humor category. It was 914 rather silly, mostly suggestive rather than explicit, words. Flamed by Mr. Anonymous, it has earned a sub 2.00 score. Of the 18 comments that Laurel didn’t delete (there were at least three homophobic comments that she did delete) a few were positive (two said they gave it a 5-rating) and a few people made comments about other comments. 13 comments were negative:

“I disagree...not the worst, by far, example of English as an alien tongue in this site, however it is in the top ten. Keep trying, you have your goal, you can achieve complete incoherence and total stupidity, it may take a while but you can do it...do not be put off.”
“This adds volumes of meaning to the term INFANTILE”
“The story lacked cohesion”
“Worst and I mean worst first paragraph ever! English might not be your language.”
“Yep, that sucked. Give it up, you don't have what it takes..................”
“I gave up”
“Total nonsense”
“Thisgets a -5 rating”
“Horrible!!”
“CRAP”
“Just die”
“WTF!!! For a first entry, this sucks!”
“1 star poorly written…”

31 people added the story to their favorite list, and eight started following me (which is sorta creepy). The rather funny thing is that I haven’t been on the site much in the last month because I have been busy. I was getting a collection of 24 of my short stories ready for publication on “old-fashioned” paper.

Naomi

 

[NotWise]

I wouldn't say those comments were worth anything.

Comments are mostly useful when they're motivational. Aside from those, I've had a handful of comments in six years that I felt found a positive element in my writing that I've reinforced or a negative element that I've tried to correct.

Readers don't usually know how to make, or care about making, useful comments. Some are useful simply because they provide a different view of your own story.

Edit: For what it's worth, I read the story and I thought it was a fun piece of fluff. Some of your commenters took themselves way too seriously.

 

[rescatooor]

Comments can be useful but only if they point out what worked, what didn't work, and, if possible, what could have worked.

Too many trolls. Can't take them all seriously.

 

[TadOverdon]

Fuck people who leave that kind of feedback. And I don't mean in a good way.

 

[Abbafan]

If they actually have something to say about flaws in the story, that's good of course.

Insults, moral judgements, and comments by people who just don't like the sort of story you wrote (guess they clicked there by mistake?), and grammar nitpicks (even some of the more polished authors here get grammar nazis) should be ignored.

 

[lovecraft68]

Feedback, both bad and good, is worth what YOU think its worth, if it affects you in a positive or negative way, then its worth something, but to you,

This is one of those questions where I don't know if people look for validation in the sense others react the same way to it, but we're all different and a worthless comment to you might mean something to someone else.

No general answer, only the individual's own feelings need apply.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Depends on the comment. Some anon comments are just empty spite, some are uncritically positive (good for bathing in!) and some are constructive. It's usually not hard to tell the difference.

 

[Emirus]

Okay but could be better

I’ve just read your story and it reminded me of my first effort which was “okay but could be better.”

Comments which are just downright abusive should be ignored as should comments at the other end of the scale which tell you that you are the best thing since sliced bread. Often those are just taking the p***. The only comments worth remembering are those which are constructive even if they tell you something you don’t really want to hear.

The basic idea is good. My immediate comment is you would have benefitted from the advice of a more experienced writer because, although the words are fine, they would have helped you produce a better flow and, keeping the same beginning and end, expand in between. I liked the phone call at the end. It meant you had the choice to either end the tale there or write a sequel.

Nothing to stop you writing a better version of the story, delete this one, and then submit the new version starting all over again with views, scores and comments.

 

[Auden James]

Well, I've just read the first paragraph because one Anonymous opined that it was the worst first paragraph ever. I wouldn't go so far as to classify it as "worst first paragraph ever" (which sounds kinda hyperbole to me), but it definitely isn't a great paragraph either. Without taking the content as such into consideration, I think that some more commas would help the receptive reader to follow you more easily.

E.g., it is not wholly clear—at least at first—if the phrase "Alan was . . . eating out Josie, his girlfriend and the 'head' cheerleader in his bedroom" tells of one person (Josie who is Alan's girlfriend and also the head cheerleader) or up to three different persons (one Josie, then Alan's nameless girlfriend, and a nameless head cheerleader) being eaten out because you didn't place a comma after "cheerleader;" if you had, the attributive phrase "his girlfriend and the 'head' cheerleader" would have been clearly discernable without risking to confuse first time readers as to how many people Alan is exactly eating out in his bedroom at the beginning of your story.

Moreover, according to conventional wisdom, readers on LIT generally don't appreciate reading about gay male action in stories outside the "Gay Male" section on LIT; hence you may have "triggered" some readers by confronting them with said action in a story outside the designated section for such action.

 

[KeithD]

I have reached a point in my life where I am pretty content and don't really plan on changing. I am who I am and I'm good with that. I'm wondering: "does the feedback from anonymous commentators and voters who get content for free mean anything at all?"

If you truly are at that point, haven't you answered you own question? What would you care about what anyone else's opinion on the question was?

 

[NaomiDPlumm]

Moreover, according to conventional wisdom, readers on LIT generally don't appreciate reading about gay male action in stories outside the "Gay Male" section on LIT; hence you may have "triggered" some readers by confronting them with said action in a story outside the designated section for such action.

Yes, even the suggestion of male on male must be kept in the GM ghetto. (The three comments Laurel deleted that I saw were each very homophobic.)

If you truly are at that point, haven't you answered you own question? What would you care about what anyone else's opinion on the question was?

Yes, I guess I have

 

[NaomiDPlumm]

E.g., it is not wholly clear—at least at first—if the phrase "Alan was . . . eating out Josie, his girlfriend and the 'head' cheerleader in his bedroom" tells of one person (Josie who is Alan's girlfriend and also the head cheerleader) or up to three different persons (one Josie, then Alan's nameless girlfriend, and a nameless head cheerleader) being eaten out because you didn't place a comma after "cheerleader;" if you had, the attributive phrase "his girlfriend and the 'head' cheerleader" would have been clearly discernable without risking to confuse first time readers as to how many people Alan is exactly eating out in his bedroom at the beginning of your story.

Thank you. That is a useful comment.

 

[Auden James]

You're welcome.

 

[Comshaw]

If you truly are at that point, haven't you answered you own question? What would you care about what anyone else's opinion on the question was?

I'd pay attention to almost every comment. There is a lesson to be learned in anything. It may be small, infinitesimally so to some, but there is always something to be learned. Once your ego tells you you can't learn anything else, that you know everything you need to know, is the moment you begin to stagnate. I don't take negative comments as negative. From the OP's description, it appears she has many people who enjoyed the story and got the humor. She also has those who are devoid of the sense of humor that would allow them to enjoy her work. So what does that mean? Personally, I'd dig at it until I found the answer. Does it mean it was too subtle? To edge? Too much of one thing or too little of another? That doesn't mean I'd change anything, but I'd find an answer and see if mayhap I could use it in later works.

I love stepping into someone else's game, one where I am totally out of my element.
Yes, there are moments of embarrassment because of not knowing the basics, moments of frustration as I fumble my way through a beginning. But there is such satisfaction to finally become (at least minimally) proficient in a new skill.

Aw but I ramble. The bain of old age.

TA

Comshaw

 

[KeithD]

I'd pay attention to almost every comment.

That's fine, but I was responding to what the OP posted about the OP's perspective, not yours (or mine).

 

[HectorBidon]

Does the feedback from anonymous commentators and voters who get content for free mean anything at all?

As a reader, I might have posed the question differently. "What kind of valuable literary criticism does a writer expect to get for posting a free 914-word, rather silly, mostly suggestive rather than explicit story in the humor category on a porn site?"

 

[SimonDoom]

I don't think the value of a comment has anything to do with whether it's anonymous or whether the commenter is getting to read stories for free. Comments stand or fall on their merits. Some are intelligent. Some aren't. Some are constructive, and some are just trash. You can't make any generalizations.

I value comments. I almost never delete comments, even when they are nasty.

I like to get comments from readers who have enjoyed my story. That's very gratifying, whether or not the comment is especially insightful or not.

I appreciate constructive criticism -- criticism of the type that can help me do a better job next time, as opposed to "I don't like whore stories -- 1 star" type comments.

 

[Comshaw]

That's fine, but I was responding to what the OP posted about the OP's perspective, not yours (or mine).

And I was voicing my opinion on what I perceived as something that needed to be said. So you just respond to whatever you wish and allow me the same courtesy.

Comshaw

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Comments... some are good... some are bad... and some make no sense at all. I have a good laugh, then delete those that are obnoxious.

 

[KeithD]

And I was voicing my opinion on what I perceived as something that needed to be said. So you just respond to whatever you wish and allow me the same courtesy.

Comshaw

I did. I said it was fine, and since you quoted me, I said it was irrelevant to the post you quoted.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I don't think the value of a comment has anything to do with whether it's anonymous or whether the commenter is getting to read stories for free. Comments stand or fall on their merits. Some are intelligent. Some aren't. Some are constructive, and some are just trash. You can't make any generalizations.

I value comments. I almost never delete comments, even when they are nasty.

I like to get comments from readers who have enjoyed my story. That's very gratifying, whether or not the comment is especially insightful or not.

I appreciate constructive criticism -- criticism of the type that can help me do a better job next time, as opposed to "I don't like whore stories -- 1 star" type comments.

I'm in the same boat as you, the SS Critic Without a Clue. Who post their dislike of the type of story you wrote, hateful comments, designed as person "how dare you," critics of what they don't like. They are warned in advance and still blunder forth with sole purpose of berating the writer.

If they enjoy the work, and their comments are just appreciation, I like those. If they didn't like because of some inaccuracy, a point of view, or pacing issue, a misspelling or misused word, or some insightful critic of most people wouldn't react that way, I appreciate those as well.

 

[Comshaw]

I did. I said it was fine, and since you quoted me, I said it was irrelevant to the post you quoted.

If you can't (or won't) understand the relevance of what I posted to the part of your quote I bolded (or the OP's for that matter), it proves my assertion about egos and stagnation. The sad thing is those who are at that point also suffer from a blindness that precludes any logical or unbiased thought on the matter, which leads to a dismissal of anything not in their realm of experience and education. It's the "big fish in a little pond" syndrome.

But you have the right to believe anything your little heart desires. Believing something doesn't make it a fact or true however.

Comshaw

 

[KeithD]

If you can't (or won't) understand the relevance of what I posted to the part of your quote I bolded (or the OP's for that matter), it proves my assertion about egos and stagnation. The sad thing is those who are at that point also suffer from a blindness that precludes any logical or unbiased thought on the matter, which leads to a dismissal of anything not in their realm of experience and education. It's the "big fish in a little pond" syndrome.

But you have the right to believe anything your little heart desires. Believing something doesn't make it a fact or true however.

Comshaw

If you can't or won't recognize that my original post to the OP had nothing to do with anything I believed--that it only was pointing in the OP's post answering itself (which, not incidentally, the OP agreed with in a subsequent post), then you just want to backbite. You can do that without my participation.

 

[Jake_Raazor]

It isn't important to whether I keep writing or posting on here, but it means something, we all like compliments and it’s nice to get a pat on the back.

I rarely get negative feedback - I rarely get any feedback , but when a positive comment pops up I appreciate it.

 

[rescatooor]

So here's a question:

Would you rather have someone comment on your story, giving you negative feedback that still shows that they read and engaged with your writing, or not have a comment at all?

Or alternatively, would you accept it and then delete it?