If the comments for a story assume things about your characters that you feel are untrue, would you correct them?

[NoTalentHack]

Precisely. But there are many writers who refuse to cave. And even with low scores they are the most read stories.

They’re… not, really. The cuckold/sharing/swapping stuff tends to have about 1/2 to 2/3 the views of the “marital drama” type stuff.

 

[DeMont]

I have a story in Loving Wives (yeah, I know .. the minefield) that's sitting at 3 with a few comments.

What's bugging me is that some of those comments make assumptions about one of the main characters that I think totally miss the mark. People are saying she must have already been cheating, or that it was her plan all along, but in my mind, that's not her at all.

Obviously she's fictional, but I know her motivations. To me, those assumptions are flat-out wrong. I'm not sure why I care, but I wrote her as a good person and it bothers me that people think she was duplicitous.

So my question:

• Should I reply to clarify her character and explain what I was going for?
• Or should I just leave it alone?

After all, it's not like anyone would necessarily see or care that I responded.

J4S

@Just4Sheets,
Good morning my dear colleague, if you have to spoon feed your readers then they obviously weren't paying attention to what you wrote. My first published story got two comments, one who absolutely grasped, and understood, the premise, the activities and motivations. The second comment was "WTF?"

Second commenter obviously wasn't "with it" when they read it. I think that, for mean, demonstrated the "Acid Test" for stories. I believe that, although you got some negative comments on your work.
If you take the "bits" of the comments that directly referenced your characters, posed questions about them or failed to pick up on them, then you can address that in subsequent stories and while not spoon feeding readers you can add in that extra something that might be required to get more approvals of your work.

Just a random suggestion for future. I do the same thing and it has helped me along.
Deepest respects,
D.

 

[nice90sguy]

The best thing about having your story beta-read is finding out that what you wanted to get across didnt actually work -- a trusted beta-reader will often suprise you.

After writing here for a while, I'm still pretty bad at getting my story out so that it reads the way I want it to be read.

But sometimes, readers simply get it wrong, and it's not your problem.

 

[Robin_Starveling]

The best thing about having your story beta-read is finding out that what you wanted to get across didnt actually work -- a trusted beta-reader will often suprise you.

A beta-reader is only human, shaped by a subjective worldview, preferences, and biases, and therefore never entirely trustworthy. In all the cases I’ve consulted betas, I’ve received mostly praise and a few timid notes on minor technicalities.

A writer finishing a deeply invested project is often in a mental frenzy, like a hormonally stormed mother after giving birth. The only true consultant is time: let a story rest long enough for emotional investment to settle, then return to it with cold, detached eyes.

 

[LexxRuthless]

I have a story in Loving Wives (yeah, I know .. the minefield) that's sitting at 3 with a few comments.

What's bugging me is that some of those comments make assumptions about one of the main characters that I think totally miss the mark. People are saying she must have already been cheating, or that it was her plan all along, but in my mind, that's not her at all.

Obviously she's fictional, but I know her motivations. To me, those assumptions are flat-out wrong. I'm not sure why I care, but I wrote her as a good person and it bothers me that people think she was duplicitous.

So my question:

• Should I reply to clarify her character and explain what I was going for?
• Or should I just leave it alone?

After all, it's not like anyone would necessarily see or care that I responded.

J4S

If we could actually reply to comments, I might.

I've had a few instances where someone left a scathing review in the comments section, but they had the intestinal fortitude to actually post it under their account. I attempted to send them a direct message, began by thanking them for taking the time to read and comment on my story, and then asked how they would fix the problems they had pointed out. Twice the person responded, and in both cases it led to a lengthy and valuable e-mail correspondence.

Obviously that doesn't work if the commentor was anonymous. As others have already pointed out, attempting to comment on their comment is probably futile. In LW, it might be even worse, if the trolls think they are getting to you.

If you can use the negative comments to take an objective look at your own work and try to see their perspective, you can potentially improve the clarity of your writing. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of anonymous commentors have invested next to nothing in your story. They may have spent a few minutes skimming your story, picked out a point or two that they didn't like, and posted a negative comment before moving on. There are a few prolific trolls who do that all the time.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I've had a few instances where someone left a scathing review in the comments section, but they had the intestinal fortitude to actually post it under their account. I attempted to send them a direct message, began by thanking them for taking the time to read and comment on my story, and then asked how they would fix the problems they had pointed out. Twice the person responded, and in both cases it led to a lengthy and valuable e-mail correspondence.

Obviously that doesn't work if the commentor was anonymous. As others have already pointed out, attempting to comment on their comment is probably futile. In LW, it might be even worse, if the trolls think they are getting to you.

If you can use the negative comments to take an objective look at your own work and try to see their perspective, you can potentially improve the clarity of your writing. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of anonymous commentors have invested next to nothing in your story. They may have spent a few minutes skimming your story, picked out a point or two that they didn't like, and posted a negative comment before moving on. There are a few prolific trolls who do that all the time.

Depending on how it's worded, I'll consider it, but shit talking is not how to get folks to consider ones opinion.

 

[Just4Sheets]

If you can use the negative comments to take an objective look at your own work and try to see their perspective, you can potentially improve the clarity of your writing. Keep in mind, though, that a lot of anonymous commentors have invested next to nothing in your story. They may have spent a few minutes skimming your story, picked out a point or two that they didn't like, and posted a negative comment before moving on. There are a few prolific trolls who do that all the time.

But that's the thing .. they aren't saying they don't like the story .. they are saying things about the characters as if they are real people .. about their histories and lives.

If someone says they don't like the story .. that's fine .. but if they say "obviously she was already cheating before the story started." They don't seem to realize that not only didn't that character exist before the story started, but they still don't and never will exist.

Anyway, I was just venting I guess.

J4S

 

[IWroteThis]

But that's the thing .. they aren't saying they don't like the story .. they are saying things about the characters as if they are real people .. about their histories and lives.

If someone says they don't like the story .. that's fine .. but if they say "obviously she was already cheating before the story started." They don't seem to realize that not only didn't that character exist before the story started, but they still don't and never will exist.

Anyway, I was just venting I guess.

J4S

You are correct, but you are also wrong.

If you look at your story as nothing more than a technical arrangement of words, you are correct that nothing exists beyond those specific words. And, if you're writing an English paper to demonstrate your knowledge and ability with those technical skills, that's appropriate. However, whether you spell it out or not, every character has a backstory that makes them who they are within the story.

I remember getting a very similar comment on one of my stories and getting annoyed. But, when I went back and looked at what I had written, I found that I didn't properly show that she was basing what she was saying on what her friends had been telling her rather than personal experience. So, while they were wrong in their conclusion, the fault was mine for leading readers to that incorrect backstory.

 

[Just4Sheets]

You are correct, but you are also wrong.

If you look at your story as nothing more than a technical arrangement of words, you are correct that nothing exists beyond those specific words. And, if you're writing an English paper to demonstrate your knowledge and ability with those technical skills, that's appropriate. However, whether you spell it out or not, every character has a backstory that makes them who they are within the story.

I remember getting a very similar comment on one of my stories and getting annoyed. But, when I went back and looked at what I had written, I found that I didn't properly show that she was basing what she was saying on what her friends had been telling her rather than personal experience. So, while they were wrong in their conclusion, the fault was mine for leading readers to that incorrect backstory.

In the case of my story, I wrote the wife as an innocent who was crushed by her husband's request to open the marriage. And yes, she did pursue her own "flings" outside the marriage, but not as a continuation of something that was already happening, but from her anger at what her husband had done to their relationship.

So when someone said she was already cheating, I was a bit offended on her behalf .. because she didn't and never would cheat.

Hope that makes sense as to what I was thinking.

J4S

 

[Cinnyperez]

I've run into the same thing (primarily also in LW), but I try to ignore it. No matter how you craft a character or build in their backstory, readers will still create their own version in their head. I chalk it up to how people in real life make assumptions about other people with little or nothing to support it.

 

[DeMont]

You are correct, but you are also wrong.

If you look at your story as nothing more than a technical arrangement of words, you are correct that nothing exists beyond those specific words. And, if you're writing an English paper to demonstrate your knowledge and ability with those technical skills, that's appropriate. However, whether you spell it out or not, every character has a backstory that makes them who they are within the story.

I remember getting a very similar comment on one of my stories and getting annoyed. But, when I went back and looked at what I had written, I found that I didn't properly show that she was basing what she was saying on what her friends had been telling her rather than personal experience. So, while they were wrong in their conclusion, the fault was mine for leading readers to that incorrect backstory.

@IWroteThis,
Good evening my dear colleague, I read your comments with some interest. Having been writing since high school (fiction, published anthology, technical manuals and commissioned) I have a somewhat different feeling in this matter. Our stories, here, and specifically for here, do not require "backstories" for the characters. It all depends entirely on the style of the story. I have published works here that strongly develop backstories for the characters and others that develop very little, to no, backstory for the characters.

I have a very well audience received story in which I developed, and wove throughout it, the characters stories. It received several most positive comments.

On the flip-side of the coin I have a six section "stroker", as they are referred to, which required absolutely no backstory, simply sex, sex, more sex and more again that received an "Editors Choice" accolade and has been added as a "favourite" by a number of the audience.

When I start a new idea I decide, right at the beginning, whether there will be character backstory or not and that, as the writer, is where I take the reader.
Deepest respects,
D.

 

[IWroteThis]

@IWroteThis,
Good evening my dear colleague, I read your comments with some interest. Having been writing since high school (fiction, published anthology, technical manuals and commissioned) I have a somewhat different feeling in this matter. Our stories, here, and specifically for here, do not require "backstories" for the characters. It all depends entirely on the style of the story. I have published works here that strongly develop backstories for the characters and others that develop very little, to no, backstory for the characters.

I have a very well audience received story in which I developed, and wove throughout it, the characters stories. It received several most positive comments.

On the flip-side of the coin I have a six section "stroker", as they are referred to, which required absolutely no backstory, simply sex, sex, more sex and more again that received an "Editors Choice" accolade and has been added as a "favourite" by a number of the audience.

When I start a new idea I decide, right at the beginning, whether there will be character backstory or not and that, as the writer, is where I take the reader.
Deepest respects,
D.

I think the problem here is that you tripped over my use of the word backstory and missed what I actually said.

First, let me reiterate that I specifically said I was not just referring to the backstories that are spelled out within the published text. From reading your reply, you completely missed that point.

Next, let's take a look at a typical stroke story as an example. Let's say that they get into it hot and heavy and he's playing her like a fine instrument until she's little more than a puddle on the bed. Now, while I agree there probably is no need to spell out his backstory, it's quite clear that his backstory involves a lot of experience to develop the skills he demonstrated on her. Even though those experiences were not spelled out, their existence is still evident from the story's action.

Here's where the problems can start. For example, as they are laying there in the afterglow, she says, "Not bad for a virgin." Sorry, but nobody is going to buy that without you spelling out a pretty convincing backstory to replace the implied one that just imploded.

The flip side can also happen, where a specific backstory is included, only for the character to behave in a way that causes the readers to question that backstory, such as happened to the OP and prompted this thread. Sadly, this is such a common thing to happen in stories, one type of it has been given a name: "Martian Slut Ray"

It all comes down to consistency. Do your characters stay true to themselves for the entire story? Yes, characters can develop throughout a story, but it's not the readers' fault when that change isn't believable.

 

[DeMont]

I think the problem here is that you tripped over my use of the word backstory and missed what I actually said.

First, let me reiterate that I specifically said I was not just referring to the backstories that are spelled out within the published text. From reading your reply, you completely missed that point.

Next, let's take a look at a typical stroke story as an example. Let's say that they get into it hot and heavy and he's playing her like a fine instrument until she's little more than a puddle on the bed. Now, while I agree there probably is no need to spell out his backstory, it's quite clear that his backstory involves a lot of experience to develop the skills he demonstrated on her. Even though those experiences were not spelled out, their existence is still evident from the story's action.

Here's where the problems can start. For example, as they are laying there in the afterglow, she says, "Not bad for a virgin." Sorry, but nobody is going to buy that without you spelling out a pretty convincing backstory to replace the implied one that just imploded.

The flip side can also happen, where a specific backstory is included, only for the character to behave in a way that causes the readers to question that backstory, such as happened to the OP and prompted this thread. Sadly, this is such a common thing to happen in stories, one type of it has been given a name: "Martian Slut Ray"

It all comes down to consistency. Do your characters stay true to themselves for the entire story? Yes, characters can develop throughout a story, but it's not the readers' fault when that change isn't believable.

@IWroteThis,
My dear colleague, I do beg your pardon. My apologies for having misinterpreted your meaning and intent.
Deepest respects,
D.