I just gave a 'story' my first ever one star review.

[KachinaDoll]

I've never given a story one star before. Even if it really sucks, the author, for making the effort, deserves at least two stars. But tonight, I came across a writing style that not only did I dislike, it actually made me angry.

I thought about a newcomer to Literotica, a potential new reader. They click on this story. Will they bother to explore the site further?

Perhaps I'm in a minority, but to me the style is simply awful. How it made it through the Literotica review system is baffling.

So I gave it one star for two reasons:

1. It's not a story.
2. It's not erotica. TBH, I have felt more turned on washing the dishes.

See what you think. Is it just me? - https://www.literotica.com/s/i-want-to-spend-v-day-with-you

 

[MelissaBaby]

Do you think maybe it was to be an audio submission? It reads like a script.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Do you think maybe it was to be an audio submission? It reads like a script.

It is a script. It even says 'script starts here'. I'm not sure why its gone in Romance.

I've written some scripts that other people have recorded recently and its been suggested I publish the texts (under Transcripts). I've been reluctant to do this exactly because reading an erotic script usually isn't much fun. This script here is 'fine' given it is what it is. But it does convince me I'm right not to publish.

 

[SimonDoom]

It reads like a script for an audio story to me. That's the impression I have after about 100 words. For that reason, I probably wouldn't read it as a text story to its completion, and therefore I wouldn't vote on it at all. But if I DID read it to its completion (I scanned it in response to this thread), I'd probably comment to the effect that it looks like it's been misplaced, and I wouldn't vote on it. As an audio script it seems fine. Certainly better than a "1."

 

[ElectricBlue]

It's obviously an audio script, but there's no audio to go with it. It's a bit harsh to drop a one on it, when it says "Script starts here."

Why it's in Romance is the mystery.

I'm surprised Laurel let it through without audio. Odd.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I skimmed through as it was difficult to read even as a script. I'm assuming it's a monologue because I saw no character name titles.

As far as the narrative, I've read worse. It's standard fare porn. Nothing special about it. It definitely has erotic themes so I'm not sure how it's not at least erotic.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

The only question is why this "story" was even allowed to be published in this form. If it's not just stories that can be published now - if even audio scripts in a very confusing written form can be published as a story, what's next? Will we soon be reading story outlines instead of stories here on Lit? This website needs to seriously start thinking about raising the bar and applying some standards for a change.
I am all for freedom of expression but the situation with the enormous amount of absurd submissions that are drowning the actual stories is quite alarming in my opinion. Lit is getting more and more submissions here every day, yet far fewer actual stories.

 

[shelleycat1]

I tend to encourage new authors; it's not so long ago that I was one. And even if a story is terrible, or they are obviously just learning, then I'll try and score them. I did score but not highly. It's obviously not AI generated because it is too bad for that. But we all tried things that were terrible once.

 

[Rollinbones]

Then you haven't suffered the algorithm yet. A one bomb is swept every now and then. A three lasts forever. There are individuals who promote their own stories with multiple three's from alternate accounts. One begs, 'why'? Our stories are free...

 

[AG31]

I've never given a story one star before. Even if it really sucks, the author, for making the effort, deserves at least two stars. But tonight, I came across a writing style that not only did I dislike, it actually made me angry.

I thought about a newcomer to Literotica, a potential new reader. They click on this story. Will they bother to explore the site further?

Perhaps I'm in a minority, but to me the style is simply awful. How it made it through the Literotica review system is baffling.

So I gave it one star for two reasons:

1. It's not a story.
2. It's not erotica. TBH, I have felt more turned on washing the dishes.

See what you think. Is it just me? - https://www.literotica.com/s/i-want-to-spend-v-day-with-you

It's a script.
If taken as such, I don't see why it deserves 1 star.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It's a script.
If taken as such, I don't see why it deserves 1 star.

It's not even a proper script. In a screenplay script, for example, you always know who is talking when there is a dialogue. In this story, it's not always clear who is saying what before you venture a couple of lines further.
The one-star rating is irrelevant in my eyes. I've never given a one-star rating and I wouldn't give it to this story either. I would simply abandon it after the first two sentences.
But my point is that this so-called story shouldn't have been published in the first place. How is this better than those stories that get rejected for bad punctuation, for example, or even those that are suspected of being partly AI-written? Not everything should be justified as being someone's "style" of writing. And yes, I am fully aware that the "style" in which this story was written somewhat resembles the style that Cormac McCarthy used for Stella Maris, except that it is far more confusing.

 

[SimonDoom]

The only question is why this "story" was even allowed to be published in this form. If it's not just stories that can be published now - if even audio scripts in a very confusing written form can be published as a story, what's next? Will we soon be reading story outlines instead of stories here on Lit? This website needs to seriously start thinking about raising the bar and applying some standards for a change.
I am all for freedom of expression but the situation with the enormous amount of absurd submissions that are drowning the actual stories is quite alarming in my opinion. Lit is getting more and more submissions here every day, yet far fewer actual stories.

It's a fair question. Seems like it slipped through the cracks. If stories are rejected for basic grammatical and formatting errors, as they sometimes are, then it seems like this story should not have been allowed to go through. Theoretically, I can imagine a script being presented as a story, but it doesn't really work here. It's just confusing.

 

[nice90sguy]

On a side-note, I have a screenplay I was thinking of submitting. It follows the strict formatting rules for screenplays (unlike the linked story), but even so, it's not to everyone's taste to read a script. Are there any stories here that are proper screenplays (i.e. styled the way Final Draft enforces)?

 

[Katie_Mae]

Then you haven't suffered the algorithm yet. A one bomb is swept every now and then. A three lasts forever. There are individuals who promote their own stories with multiple three's from alternate accounts. One begs, 'why'? Our stories are free...

It's not just one votes which are swept. While I don't recall specifically seeing a 3 swept, I have seen 2, 4 and 5 votes swept.

The site's intention is to sweep illegitimate votes. I don't see why the op's vote would be swept. If they read the script and only voted once, then it's their right to vote however they want, even if others see it as unfair. (I would note here that while I see others giving low votes because they don't like a category or genre, I don't vote that way, but I see no way for the site to be able to determine the reason for a vote.)

Unless a work has a score lower than three, a three vote will drop the score, and a three vote on a story with any score will work against a story getting a red H, so it seems even more pointless for an author to vote 3 on their own story.

 

[APilgrimSquare]

It's not even a proper script. In a screenplay script, for example, you always know who is talking when there is a dialogue. In this story, it's not always clear who is saying what before you venture a couple of lines further.
The one-star rating is irrelevant in my eyes. I've never given a one-star rating and I wouldn't give it to this story either. I would simply abandon it after the first two sentences.

This looks pretty typical for single speaker erotic audio clips. At least based on other scripts I’ve seen for the format.

 

[MillieDynamite]

This only works as a script. If he wants to make it a story to be read in your head, it needs a lot of work. I can't take all those one-line paragraphs. It set my head on fire just looking at the page. Without my dyslexia glasses on, I just can't even try to read it, and the glasses didn't help much. Can't read it to vote on it!

 

[Rollinbones]

It's not just one votes which are swept. While I don't recall specifically seeing a 3 swept, I have seen 2, 4 and 5 votes swept.

The site's intention is to sweep illegitimate votes. I don't see why the op's vote would be swept. If they read the script and only voted once, then it's their right to vote however they want, even if others see it as unfair. (I would note here that while I see others giving low votes because they don't like a category or genre, I don't vote that way, but I see no way for the site to be able to determine the reason for a vote.)

Unless a work has a score lower than three, a three vote will drop the score, and a three vote on a story with any score will work against a story getting a red H, so it seems even more pointless for an author to vote 3 on their own story.

Ok, so i read it... Happy now? Left a big fat one. Johnny Depp will probably point at it in court and shame me for it lying on his bedsheets. But... Damn. Even as a script it needs flesh and fails to draw me further than the title.

 

[Katie_Mae]

Ok, so i read it... Happy now?

Excuse me? I was just explaining that it's not just one votes which are swept and agreed with you that an author voting 3 multiple times on their own work is stupid and pointless.

The work isn't mine. I don't give a damn if you read it or not and don't know what I said which gave you the impression I thought you should read it..

 

[Voboy]

Dude.

That shit sucked.

 

[Boobytrap73]

The author's story list has it showing in "Letters and Transcripts." Sort of makes sense but I agree that it sounds like a script.

~BT73

 

[Rollinbones]

Excuse me? I was just explaining that it's not just one votes which are swept and agreed with you that an author voting 3 multiple times on their own work is stupid and pointless.

The work isn't mine. I don't give a damn if you read it or not and don't know what I said which gave you the impression I thought you should read it..

Oh wow. I’ve ground your gears. It’s the Australian non translation thing. I was being playful, not attacking you. Your points are valid and i'm an impolite jester.

 

[nice90sguy]

If you're a proper aussie, don't apologise, just keep up the DILLIGAF attitude, some people get it

 

[nice90sguy]

I would never, ever give a one star review. Anger and disgust, and the urge to punish are the only possible reasons to do that. It's not like TripAdvisor or Amazon, we don't pay for these stories, so nobody's ripping anyone off if they write a bad story.

 

[Plathfan]

I would never, ever give a one star review. Anger and disgust, and the urge to punish are the only possible reasons to do that. It's not like TripAdvisor or Amazon, we don't pay for these stories, so nobody's ripping anyone off if they write a bad story.

Moreover, no matter how much I dislike certain content or writing styles, I always remember the hours of effort that went into creating it. I don’t spit into the shared well from which we all drink. That said, I might vent a little by leaving a snarky comment—unlike a 1-star bomb, the author can always delete those.

 

[lovecraft68]

Being this is in Letters and Transcripts I'm not sure it's completely out of place, and I wonder if there will be an audio coming soon? Those things take forever to post so they might have put them in around the same time, but that's just a guess.

But there is also the chance the person isn't aware this isn't the place for this type of piece.

TBH I don't care much for the OP running here to shame the story, "This is awful, everybody come see." I see they left a comment expressing their issue with the story and telling the author they gave them a one star. I think that would be enough, the person doesn't need to be story shamed. The OP comment looks worse when you compare it to @Rollinbones who tried to be encouraging.

Overall, not a cool thing to do.