Is there a way to answer back to comments?

[smotp]

Is there a way to post a response to the comments that are submitted when readers vote?

I have a persistant Troll who calls itself LieghLilly but is identified only as anonymous from Texas and has not had the juice to e-mail me direct! Instead they leave zero votes and snide remarks. I have deleted them but they persist in leaving new ones and saying I am stifling criticism. I wouldn't mind if they were remotely interested in my writing but they only want to trash it not critique it!

Any ideas

 

[cloudy]

I'd just leave the comments there. Most of the time, comments like that are amusing in and of themselves. Deleting them just gives you a headache and pleases a troll no end, because then they get to leave new ones.

Ignore it, basically, and it'll eventually go away, just like your mom told you about the kids that teased you in grade school.

 

[S-Des]

You have four options....

1. Continue deleting and do not engage. They will eventually get tired of hassling you and move on to someone else.
2. Ignore completely, because anyone reading your story will see him/her for what he/she is. The comments won't really affect how others view your story.
3. Answer back by making your own Public Comment (if you want to be clever, you can create your own annonymous perona and comment about how clear their lack of understanding of your story is). The downside is that by giving the troll the attention that they crave, you risk making it even worse.
4. PM Laurel and let her know you're being harrassed. She may address it or might not, but it's an option.

No answer is the right one. Unfortunately, in a place like this, along with the good (free) exposure you recieve, you also get a lot of idiots who need to make themselves feel better by attacking others. Their criticisms may be based on what they believe, or they might just be hassling you because it's all that makes them feel good about themselves. Take your time, decide what's best for you, then stick with it. Nothing encourages a troll more than seeing that their actions affect yours.

 

[sr71plt]

"Is there a way to post a response to the comments that are submitted when readers vote?"

The technical answer is yes. You can sign in and leave a comment on your story as well. I've responded to comments attached to my stories that way.

In keeping with S-Des, though, I only do it to respond to a reasonable question or what I see as an honest misperception of what's in the story. I don't bother flaming back at flaming.

 

[CharleyH]

Is there a way to post a response to the comments that are submitted when readers vote?

I have a persistant Troll who calls itself LieghLilly but is identified only as anonymous from Texas and has not had the juice to e-mail me direct! Instead they leave zero votes and snide remarks. I have deleted them but they persist in leaving new ones and saying I am stifling criticism. I wouldn't mind if they were remotely interested in my writing but they only want to trash it not critique it!

Any ideas

I'm with Cloudy.

Trolls are a badge of honour. Leave it and mostly laugh at it.

 

[TxRad]

I to have been visited by this LieghLilly person. Most of the comments are good. She, I believe it is a she, has her own ideas on certain things and isn't afraid to voice them. Most if not all of her negative comments to me have a point. I might not agree with them but then what do I know, I'm to close to the story.

I don't think of her as a troll. She votes what she thinks is right from her point of view. Not all of her votes are 1's.

JMHO

ETA: and yes she checks back to see if you deleted her comment. I leave them anyway but she has commented on the fact that i didn't delete her negative ones.

 

[CharleyH]

I don't think of her as a troll. She votes what she thinks is right from her point of view. Not all of her votes are 1's.

JMHO

Interesting observation and one I agree with. I have not experienced her, yet I was trying to figure out how a "persistent, anonymous Troll" was named LeighLilly? How does one respond to an anonymous with a name? I should think that PM or feedback features would be appropriate.

 

[starrkers]

Presumably they're anonymous in that they are not a member here, but sign their comments within the comment field.

 

[S-Des]

Interesting observation and one I agree with. I have not experienced her, yet I was trying to figure out how a "persistent, anonymous Troll" was named LeighLilly? How does one respond to an anonymous with a name? I should think that PM or feedback features would be appropriate.

There are plenty of people who uses alts that do not accept PMs to comment on stories. They use them specifically for harsh criticism and trolling. Some people believe them to be authors who single out other authors they don't like or feel that they're "competing" against. Since the alt is used for nothing but the attacks, there's no way to address them except in the PC section. I could name you several authors who do this, but feel that they are only doing it to prevent people from trolling their stories in response.

Presumably they're anonymous in that they are not a member here, but sign their comments within the comment field.

No, just like the AH, there are readers who use several alts to make comments. As I said, there could be a number of reasons, but it does happen. If the person is giving this author 00% on every story, he/she is indeed a troll. The excuse that the person doesn't do that to everyone does not fly. A 00% is the worst score you can give, so it should be presumably reserved for the worst possible mess (and that's saying something). If a person read several stories from an author that they claimed was so bad, obviously they know the story is going to suck (in their opinion), so the only reason to take the time to read it, then comment would be out of spite.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Oh come one. You are supposed to LOVE your trolls. After all, reading the nonsensical crap they leave makes you feel superior to their third-grade mentalities.

 

[TxRad]

Presumably they're anonymous in that they are not a member here, but sign their comments within the comment field.

Eggzackully......

 

[CharleyH]

There are plenty of people who uses alts that do not accept PMs to comment on stories. They use them specifically for harsh criticism and trolling. Some people believe them to be authors who single out other authors they don't like or feel that they're "competing" against. Since the alt is used for nothing but the attacks, there's no way to address them except in the PC section. I could name you several authors who do this, but don't feel that they are only doing it to prevent people from trolling their stories in response.

Sigh.

 

[Recidiva]

I leave all my negative comments up. Partly for comedy value, and partly to remind me (as if I needed it) that I am truly not everyone's cup of tea.

 

[TxRad]

Oh come one. You are supposed to LOVE your trolls. After all, reading the nonsensical crap they leave makes you feel superior to their third-grade mentalities.

Like I said, This one isn't a troll and has a much higher education than even sixth grade.

The comments to me have been articulate and to the point, whether good or bad. They mostly seem to deal with my attitude toward women. The fact that I like women and it shows in my writing. So i would assume she might get down on someone who showed the opposite.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We ask for comments to tell us what is liked or disliked and then when we get it......

 

[slyc_willie]

Oh come one. You are supposed to LOVE your trolls. After all, reading the nonsensical crap they leave makes you feel superior to their third-grade mentalities.

I would agree, but I've had one recently who seems compelled to attack me on a personal level.

Funny thing is, after erasing a few of her ridiculous comments, she left one that was more critique and less personal. I decided to leave it up.

She did have a point, after all

 

[Guest]

Leighlilly has written to me and commented on my stories. She's always been very nice and occasionally she's disagreed with something I've written or called me on a plot foul up. Most of the time I have to agree with what she says. It's kind of a V-8 moment. Are her comments to you really that bad?

 

[smotp]

Thanks for the feedback on LeighLilly

I genuinely want critical feedback, One of the frustrations about this site is that the comments are usually very one dimensional 'Wow, great story' etc. Good for the ego but damn all else. I have joined Critical _writing and Rude_writing on Yahoo groups to get really useful Critiques.

What Royally Pi***s me off about this LeighLilly creature is that it is a personal comment & hasn't anything to do with the quality of the writing or the story per se. But is as someone else said, a comment on their perception of my atitude to women! On that basis He/She/it gives out zero scores! No opportunity to discuss as she signs in the body of the comment and is listed as Anonymous from Texas. Not one of her comments has been even remotely thoughtful only snide asides, with no content.

I have a series, Nicolette in BDSM and she doesn't like it because the MC was abducted and the plot line revolves around a forced introduction to BDSM. She panned it because she felt it was a 'bad thing' to write about and do to a woman, hoping that I would suffer the same fate. Gee lady it's only a story!

She lurked waiting for the posting of two episodes and banged in a zero as the first vote which I have found is a killer blow that no story recovers from! Dirty pool in my book. You make me think she/He/It is another author!

Talk to me about the merits or otherwise of a piece don't kill it out of hand, that's censorship and I thought not what Lit.com was all about?

Rant over

My stuff on Lit.

http://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=770476&page=submissions

 

[cloudy]

that's censorship and I thought not what Lit.com was all about?

That's not censorship. That's one person who doesn't like your story. *shrug*

 

[scheherazade_79]

In the past I've just answered people back in the public comment space, and made damn sure I get the last word.

I've never had a persistant troll, but if I did I should imagine that I'd start writing disclaimers at the top of my stories, naming and shaming the troll and turning them into an object of ridicule.

... Or maybe I'd write a farcical story that featured the troll in a very negative way.

Like you said, censorship isn't what Lit's about, so why go to the effort of censoring your own feelings when you could just let it all out?

 

[S-Des]

That's not censorship. That's one person who doesn't like your story. *shrug*

Agreed, which goes with the territory. Selena had a great stroke story called Babysitting The Baumgardners which got a low (for her) vote and negative comment on almost every chapter (there were 15) by someone who has a pregnancy fetish. Since no one in the story got pregnant, he constantly would leave "Great story, but could you make her pregnant" comments and a 3 or 4 score.

Still, as I said, if someone is sitting by their computer, waiting for follow up chapters to a story they've already said they hate, only to immediately give it low scores, that is absolutely a troll. I don't care if she's nice to everyone else, once she determined that she didn't like the subject matter, to continue reading (presumably) and voting a 1 on each chapter, shows a bias that can't be explained away. I'd point it out to Laurel (including the subject matter of the comments), she might wipe the low scores. If not, just remember that the person can only vote once on your story, so follow up comments mean nothing (and it could be fun to play with her by constantly deleting them ).

 

[cloudy]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We ask for comments to tell us what is liked or disliked and then when we get it......

My feelings exactly.

If you want free speech, its a little ridiculous to expect to write what you like, and then bitch about what people say about it.

You can't have it both ways.

Honestly, I'm not trying to be harsh at all, but my advice would be to put on your big boy panties, and deal with it. Leave the negative comments there.

eta: just checked the comments on your Nicolette series, and saw this on the last installment:

I have commented on your work and you have seen fit to have my constuctive critisisms removed. There was no personal attack on you. It appears that you only want comments that flatter and ratings of 100. It's a shame. Leighlilly

Gotta say, I agree with her, since you have very few comments on any of them, and every one of them is the attaboy type, even though you mention in the author's note at the beginning of a couple of them that previous chapters weren't well-received.

Can't have your cake and eat it too. She's not a troll.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

I leave mine up, unless they are personally attacking me. They stay up a day, maybe two or three even. . .giving the troll their moment in the sun. Then I delete it. If the comment is on the story and not on me the individual then the negative comment stands.

If Leighlily doesn't like his work... why would she keep going back to it? To vote it down and comment harshly, that's why.... Yeah, if she's consistently going back to one author's work, even after she's told him how he sucks (in her opinion) then she's a troll for him. How could she not be? Because she writes in full sentences? Pfft... She's trolling him. She knows she's not going to like his stories, yet she goes back.

Granted, he's deleted them all so we don't really know what she said and if it was/wasn't a personal attack.

 

[cloudy]

Granted, he's deleted them all so we don't really know what she said and if it was/wasn't a personal attack.

Going from what others have said about her comments, and from the comment from her that is still up, I have to believe that the others that he's deleted are in the same vein. It makes sense.

If she's giving constructive criticism, she's not a troll. Over in the feedback forum, I read stories I normally wouldn't touch, because people ask for feedback. Does that make me a troll?

Of course it doesn't.

He asks for feedback, good and bad, in the author's notes of his stories - I saw it - so when she gives him some criticism, he deletes it. Assuming that she's told him he "sucks" is a little much, don't you think?

She's not a troll.

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Assuming that she's told him he "sucks" is a little much, don't you think?

She's not a troll.

True... I did assume this.

Even if she writes constructive comments though, she's continually going back to his work, to do it. He's made it a point that he doesn't want her comments, so why continue to go back and tantalize him with her words and her critique. She knows it bothers him, yet she continues to do it.

I know it is a free site and in the end it is her right, just as it is his right to delete them. I guess he could post to her his own comment... Leighlily, please do not read my work. Granted, she doesn't have to honor his request.

 

[Guest]

If I have constructive feedback on a story, I always send it to the author by email instead of voting down his story. It's just a way to be courteous and not bash him publicly, even though free speech and all.

I have a wonderful troll right now. Not only is he not reading the story, he's not reading the title. He bashed a chapter I had out and then on a different chapter of a different story, accused me of deleting his comment. He votes so many times on my story that he knocks the scores down into the basement. Then they sweep and the story loses twenty votes and goes up to the range that I'm used to seeing them at.

Now that's a troll.