How I Rate a Story

[Mr_Neb]

I'm not trying to make any specific point here or start any kind of row but I thought I would like jot down the reasons why I give a story a particular rating. Feel free to offer your own thoughts.

FIVES
I want to give every story I read a five. If I didn't think it was going to be a five, why would I want to read it in the first place. So for me, a story has a five at the very first word. I make no guarantees about what happens when I get to the second.

I fiver has to have a few things for me. A reasonable pace. Not too quick, not dragging. A varying pace is good too. Hot sex and graphic sex. If it has no sex, dull sex, same ol' same ol' sex, I will not give it a five.

Characters. Got to have characters and they have to have reasons for having sex. Forget it if it's just another written fuck flick.

The payoff. I want a build up in the beginning but it better payoff in the end. Live up to the title. I don't want to feel suckered in the end.

I have no issue with a few typos here and there. No points off.

FOURS
I give a story a four if it has all the elements in the above but doesn't quite live up to its potential. Characters are there but they may come across weakly. Too thin a story line, too trite, too contrived, or not believable. A good effort but it fell short on execution. Maybe this was an author's first time out.

THREES
The story was missing one or more of the things that I was looking for. I can feel from slightly disappointed to downright cheated depending on what was missing. Probably written by authors with good intentions but no ability. These stories may also not be my cup of tea but that wasn't clear by the title or the early setup of the story. If it had, I would have stopped and move on.

TWOS
The story was definitely a waste of time. They usually have such fine prose like, "I crammed by 10 inch cock into her tight cunt. She came real good and so did I." Probably written by people that just want to put dirty words in a story and see it on this site.

ONES
Rippoff. Brutally graphic and possibly violent with no point. Just there for the shock value. An attempt to steal a few minutes of my time that I will never get back.

- - -

Most stories I read I don't rate. That's because most of the stories I read didn't give me what I wanted out of a story but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be completely rewarding to someone else. I don't want to hurt a story's ratings just because I wasn't into it. Sort of like the difference between steak and lobster. Just because I may prefer one, it doesn't mean that there is anything at all wrong with the other. I don't want to penalize a story just as a result of my personal preference.

Of the stories that I do rate, most do get a five. Like I said, when I am searching for a story to read, I am looking in the category and at the title that I think I will like.

Fours come next but are far fewer.

I give the fewest 2 and 3 scores of all, mostly because I read so few of them that strike me that way by the time I have read them all the way through. If it was going to be a 2 or 3, I would have picked it up quickly and moved on. With me, 2s and 3s get that score because they botched the payoff.

Ones are very rare. The titles of stories that I would rate as a one are usually pretty easy to spot so it is very rare indeed that I read them through to the point that I would give them a rating.

- - -

So that's just me and my system.

Mr. Neb

 

[ninefe2dg]

I'm not trying to make any specific point here or start any kind of row but I thought I would like jot down the reasons why I give a story a particular rating. Feel free to offer your own thoughts.

FIVES
I want to give every story I read a five. If I didn't think it was going to be a five, why would I want to read it in the first place. So for me, a story has a five at the very first word. I make no guarantees about what happens when I get to the second.

I fiver has to have a few things for me. A reasonable pace. Not too quick, not dragging. A varying pace is good too. Hot sex and graphic sex. If it has no sex, dull sex, same ol' same ol' sex, I will not give it a five.

Characters. Got to have characters and they have to have reasons for having sex. Forget it if it's just another written fuck flick.

The payoff. I want a build up in the beginning but it better payoff in the end. Live up to the title. I don't want to feel suckered in the end.

I have no issue with a few typos here and there. No points off.

FOURS
I give a story a four if it has all the elements in the above but doesn't quite live up to its potential. Characters are there but they may come across weakly. Too thin a story line, too trite, too contrived, or not believable. A good effort but it fell short on execution. Maybe this was an author's first time out.

THREES
The story was missing one or more of the things that I was looking for. I can feel from slightly disappointed to downright cheated depending on what was missing. Probably written by authors with good intentions but no ability. These stories may also not be my cup of tea but that wasn't clear by the title or the early setup of the story. If it had, I would have stopped and move on.

TWOS
The story was definitely a waste of time. They usually have such fine prose like, "I crammed by 10 inch cock into her tight cunt. She came real good and so did I." Probably written by people that just want to put dirty words in a story and see it on this site.

ONES
Rippoff. Brutally graphic and possibly violent with no point. Just there for the shock value. An attempt to steal a few minutes of my time that I will never get back.

- - -

Most stories I read I don't rate. That's because most of the stories I read didn't give me what I wanted out of a story but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be completely rewarding to someone else. I don't want to hurt a story's ratings just because I wasn't into it. Sort of like the difference between steak and lobster. Just because I may prefer one, it doesn't mean that there is anything at all wrong with the other. I don't want to penalize a story just as a result of my personal preference.

Of the stories that I do rate, most do get a five. Like I said, when I am searching for a story to read, I am looking in the category and at the title that I think I will like.

Fours come next but are far fewer.

I give the fewest 2 and 3 scores of all, mostly because I read so few of them that strike me that way by the time I have read them all the way through. If it was going to be a 2 or 3, I would have picked it up quickly and moved on. With me, 2s and 3s get that score because they botched the payoff.

Ones are very rare. The titles of stories that I would rate as a one are usually pretty easy to spot so it is very rare indeed that I read them through to the point that I would give them a rating.

- - -

So that's just me and my system.

Mr. Neb

Seems reasonable to me. Also a reminder not to get too excited over ratings. I would think people tend to rate stories they like, and not the ones they don't like (as a very general rule).

Your system seems to make sense. It's appreciated you give people benefit of the doubt. Another benefit they may received are verbal comments from you. You seem thoughtful in your assessments, and any qualitative feedback you might give could be invaluable.

Thanks for posting this.

 

[Jedikool]

I'm curious as to what you would rate my stories. Porbably not great lol. but yes, its nice you go in thinking of a 5. Comments are always great.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Interesting that your qualifications for a Five are nearly exactly the same things I hammer on with the newbies who post in this forum - Plot and character development, logical story line, acceptable grammar and readability.

I didn't even mention sex because, in my view, a story doesn't need sex unless the emotional and physical relationship between the characters would naturally end up there.

 

[sr71plt]

I didn't even mention sex because, in my view, a story doesn't need sex unless the emotional and physical relationship between the characters would naturally end up there.

Oh, really? I would never have known you felt that way.

(Calling over my shoulder) "Hey, Minerva, could you turn off that gramaphone? The record seems stuck."

 

[Mr_Neb]

Hey, great. I wasn't sure where this would go. Looks like a reasonable discussion.

One thing I guess I forgot to mention. If I rate a story a four or a five, I ALWAYS send the author a complimentary note. As one who greatly appreciates it when others take the time to send off a comment, I want to do the same for other authors. It is my way of saying thanks for some time well spent. Whenever I get a comment that isn't anonymous, I always send a note of thanks.

And as far as the sex goes, we all come here for different reasons. I come here for the erotica so at least for me, that has to be a part of a story that I want to spend some time reading. There are plenty of other places for my non-erotic literary interests.

 

[sr71plt]

Hey, great. I wasn't sure where this would go. Looks like a reasonable discussion.

One thing I guess I forgot to mention. If I rate a story a four or a five, I ALWAYS send the author a complimentary note. As one who greatly appreciates it when others take the time to send off a comment, I want to do the same for other authors. It is my way of saying thanks for some time well spent. Whenever I get a comment that isn't anonymous, I always send a note of thanks.

And as far as the sex goes, we all come here for different reasons. I come here for the erotica so at least for me, that has to be a part of a story that I want to spend some time reading. There are plenty of other places for my non-erotic literary interests.

I hope when you send a note on giving a 4, you don't say you gave a 4--because, since 4.5 denotes Hot here, this is sort of a 5 or nothing site. The note back to you might not be a complimentary.

I do think your reasoning for rating stories is quite reasonable.