My stories are fictional!

[rosebud_6]

I've recently had a lot of negative feedback/personal attacks about my stories and i just wanted to tell people that my stories are fictional. they're not based on real people. they are just stories that i've made up in my head.

I joined lit because i wanted feedback on my writing skills, not about how people think that the character in my story is a slut and that she should never get married because it's a waste of money and she'll be single again within a year. that has nothing to do with why i'm here. i want to learn how to write erotic fiction properly and i'd like people's opinion on my writing style.

I'm wondering if anyone else also gets these personal attacks where people vote your story 0/100 because they don't like the main character? or is that what i should be focusing on? a more likable character? the only thing is that sometimes that not possible!

anyone else in the same boat as me?

 

[ellynei]

LOVING WIVES!

I just wanted to be first to say it

The tales of comments on loving wives stories are so legendary that even someone like me, who never reads from that category, seems to know aaaall about it.

Browse some random loving wives stories, skip directly to the end to check the comments, and I'm sure you will find that the comments you have received are in no way special or unusual.


(By the way, I didn't check if your story is in loving wives, I'm just guessing!)

 

[rosebud_6]

LOVING WIVES!

I just wanted to be first to say it

The tales of comments on loving wives stories are so legendary that even someone like me, who never reads from that category, seems to know aaaall about it.

Browse some random loving wives stories, skip directly to the end to check the comments, and I'm sure you will find that the comments you have received are in no way special or unusual.


(By the way, I didn't check if your story is in loving wives, I'm just guessing!)

what is loving wives? and do they receive good or bad feedback? do people really want to read stories about loving wives? or naughty stuff about cheating wives? lol.. hmm.. that would make an interesting poll!

 

[CWatson]

what is loving wives? and do they receive good or bad feedback? do people really want to read stories about loving wives? or naughty stuff about cheating wives? lol.. hmm.. that would make an interesting poll!

The answer is, Yes. Yes they do. And that's the problem with LW.

I personally don't know much about the stories that go there, because I've heard enough about its reputation--or rather, the reputation of its readers. Specifically, there are two types of readers in LW, and they want completely different things: some of them want traditional marital relations, whereas the others want the cheating. And these two readerships have been fighting a holy war over what LW should be, with the stories of hapless authors as their battleground.

Long story short: if you post to Loving Wives, you will get a 0/100 score, and you will get horrific feedback, regardless of whether the story itself is actually good or not. LW stopped being about stories a long time ago.

As to your original question of jerkass feedback... Well, unfortunately, it's par for the course here at Literotica. (It's probably par for the course at other sites too, but it seems loudest here.) Some people don't come to read; they come to feel good about themselves. And that means telling you how horrible you are because you'd dare write the story you did. I get the same thing, for different reasons--"How dare you write a story where people make mistakes! How dare you write something that isn't complete escapism so that I can pretend I'm a muscleman with a 19-inch cock! You suck and you're never gonna get laid!"

To which I respond, "Dear kettle: I don't know how to tell you this, but there's something that's been concerning me about your current hue..."

Seriously, hon, asshole feedback is just something you have to learn to live with. If you're a bad writer, you're gonna get it. If you're a good writer, you're gonna get more of it. A certain percentage of all feedback is asshole-flavored, and there's nothing you can do about it. So shrug, smile, and remind yourself that at least you've contributed something useful to the sum total of human art and knowledge. Which is more than your waste-of-oxygen correspondent can claim.

 

[rosebud_6]

thanks for your reply. i'm interested in this loving wives thing now. where do i find these stories? lol.

yeah, i guess that i'm just pissed off that most of the horrible feedback that i have received is from anonymous people and i dont get the chance to reply/ask them what they specifically didn't like about my stories.

i'm trying to take it with a grain of salt and i keep thinking that what i write about isn't everyone's cup of tea, which is why i started a poll asking people what kind of stories they like to read so i have a better idea of what people want and can try to not upset everyone with stuff that's a bit off the mark.

but it's good to know that i'm not the only one having these sorts of problems.

 

[ellynei]

i'm trying to take it with a grain of salt and i keep thinking that what i write about isn't everyone's cup of tea, which is why i started a poll asking people what kind of stories they like to read so i have a better idea of what people want and can try to not upset everyone with stuff that's a bit off the mark.

Wooh, easy there, fella.

If, for some reason, you are worried about upsetting people, (some other reason than anonymous hate comments,) then I recommend adding warnings in your foreword and always making sure to post in the correct category.

But actually changing your stories to not upset people???

Before you do that, you should lean back and stop to think about why you are writing at all.

Even if you should find out that you write to please as many people as possible, you should still think twice before going for the safest common denominator. There are many reasons why "controversial" isn't listed as synonymous with "bad" in any thesaurus I know of.

 

[rosebud_6]

Wooh, easy there, fella.

If, for some reason, you are worried about upsetting people, (some other reason than anonymous hate comments,) then I recommend adding warnings in your foreword and always making sure to post in the correct category.

But actually changing your stories to not upset people???

Before you do that, you should lean back and stop to think about why you are writing at all.

Even if you should find out that you write to please as many people as possible, you should still think twice before going for the safest common denominator. There are many reasons why "controversial" isn't listed as synonymous with "bad" in any thesaurus I know of.

yeah, i guess you're right. i like my stories. and i like writing them. but i guess i just want to write something that everyone's happy with? and yes i realize what i just said then. lol. i can't keep everyone happy all the time.

i guess i just want to hear that people like my stories (or dislike them and tell me why) rather than people telling me that my characters are doing the wrong thing and because of that they give me bad feedback that doesn't help me in any way.

 

[ellynei]

give me some long moments, ill read one of them and tell you exactly what I don't like and why


my opinion might not help you much to understand why others feel what they do or don't

but at least it will be honest and you get the chance to tell me straight up, that you disagree

 

[ellynei]

even before reading a single word, I can tell you that your paragraph size is an eye-killer for on screen reading.

Lucky for me, my computer's "speech" doesn't care about paragraph size.

 

[rosebud_6]

give me some long moments, ill read one of them and tell you exactly what I don't like and why


my opinion might not help you much to understand why others feel what they do or don't

but at least it will be honest and you get the chance to tell me straight up, that you disagree

ok. thanks. i hope that i wont disagree with you, but i'm looking forward to your opinion.

 

[JADED_ONE1969]

Hello Rosebud_6

I have read all of your stories from your first to your last .You are a very good writer. Please do NOT stop writing just because a group of readers don't like your characters.

I am not really qualified to critique how good or bad a writer is in a technical sense. After all I am not that good myself. But purely from a readers point of view I think you are very good. Your characters are believeable and that is possibly part of the problem. If a writer can make readers really believe that their story is true than that is job done by the writer.

Take for example last night I went to see Transformers at the cinema, great film, but people came out questioning why something happened in the film, they knew it was fiction, they KNOW robots can NOT turn into cars, trucks and jet fighters. Yet they still came out moaning about it.

Now to me that says that the Director of the film did his job, for 2 hours he made veiwers of that film BELIEVE these things can happen. That is what happened with your last story readers have accepted that what you wrote was real.

So really you should be taking it as a backhanded complement.

DO NOT stop writing, change your story to be more realastic if you wish to. But do it because YOU want to not because readers tell you to. First and foremost write what you want to write. I personally have 36 stories on this site and each story is a story that I like to read about. Other people dislike my style of writing and that's fine. That is their choice. A wise writer once said to me that you can only write for yourself if any one esle likes your work than that is a bonus.

That's how I write. If someone anyone reads my work I am pleased. Okay go write another story one that you like and hopefully other readers will like as well.

Good luck in your writing and I will continue to look for your stories.

Regards

 

[ellynei]

I chose to read "entrapment" since noncon fantasies is my fetish and I like it best when the female is the vic.

Personally I absolutely loved the first lit page.

The build up to how she got herself in such a bad situation retained a sense of realism.

I was briefly irritated right after she had handcuffed herself to the bed, wondering why she didn't just use her legs. As the description of her attempts at rescuing herself continued I understood, however. Maybe I merely wasn't paying sufficient attention at the point where she first handcuffed herself, or maybe a rearrangement of the order of the description would be in order.

If my eyes were better, I'd reread a couple of times to say, but right now, it's too troublesome, so I will have to settle with saying "Heads up, this might be a minor issue."




Anyhow, a minor, passing, moment of lack of faith in the narrator was all that bothered me on page 1. And it didn't bother me much, for I certainly was still absolutely fascinated and caught the story when clicking on to page 2, not to mention turned on by thoughts of what might happen next.

(Btw, I noticed two minor typos: "This would certainly spice things up for sure!" and "a few more minutes longer")


At page 2 your story started to disappoint.

The disappointment began right here:

"As he reached up to remove the gag he noticed Claire's vibrator sitting on the bedside table. He stopped in his tracks and looked down at her. Her eyes were red from crying. He wanted to do something nice for her. Ok, fair enough she had prepared everything for another man's arrival, but since he wouldn't be coming, why couldn't he be the one to give her some pleasure? After going to so much trouble of setting up the perfect environment and then getting stood up. He felt sorry for her. He grabbed the vibrator from the table and turned it on. It started buzzing. Claire's eyes lit up."


At that point your story went from good feel of realism to no feeling of believability. I was so disappointed.

I could have followed him feeling sorry for her that she had gone to so much trouble and then her date didn't come. I could have followed him looking at the vibrator and getting the idea that maybe she would like it if he took up the game, at least until seing her reaction. I could have followed him picking up the vibrator, too tempted by the horny of the situation to care what she wanted.

But I could NOT follow him picking up the vibrator, forcibly spreading her legs and using it on her, because he felt sorry for her and wanted to do something NICE.

There, I raised my voice

You get me all involved with such an alluring first page and then let down all my hopes on the second


Actually, at the point where he started forcing her legs apart, I had forced myself to forget the narrator's indication that he was doing it (whole or partially) for her sake. And was again sucking some enjoyment from the story, trying hard to regain faith in the author.

I never really managed to regain that faith... never really regained a feeling of understanding why the characters did as they did --hence didn't regain an ability to live myself into their situations.

I was so bothered by it that I didn't even get full satisfaction value from the stimulation beyond orgasm torture which I, normally, would consider very hot.




When I reached the ending, all I had left was disappointment, because it started so good, it could have been perfect, could have given me bliss, and then it just....



And, that was my personal experience when I read your story "entrapment."


Anyway, I am guessing you have deleted the comments which upset you so severely?

 

[rosebud_6]

I chose to read "entrapment" since noncon fantasies is my fetish and I like it best when the female is the vic.

Personally I absolutely loved the first lit page.

The build up to how she got herself in such a bad situation retained a sense of realism.

I was briefly irritated right after she had handcuffed herself to the bed, wondering why she didn't just use her legs. As the description of her attempts at rescuing herself continued I understood, however. Maybe I merely wasn't paying sufficient attention at the point where she first handcuffed herself, or maybe a rearrangement of the order of the description would be in order.

If my eyes were better, I'd reread a couple of times to say, but right now, it's too troublesome, so I will have to settle with saying "Heads up, this might be a minor issue."




Anyhow, a minor, passing, moment of lack of faith in the narrator was all that bothered me on page 1. And it didn't bother me much, for I certainly was still absolutely fascinated and caught the story when clicking on to page 2, not to mention turned on by thoughts of what might happen next.

(Btw, I noticed two minor typos: "This would certainly spice things up for sure!" and "a few more minutes longer")


At page 2 your story started to disappoint.

The disappointment began right here:

"As he reached up to remove the gag he noticed Claire's vibrator sitting on the bedside table. He stopped in his tracks and looked down at her. Her eyes were red from crying. He wanted to do something nice for her. Ok, fair enough she had prepared everything for another man's arrival, but since he wouldn't be coming, why couldn't he be the one to give her some pleasure? After going to so much trouble of setting up the perfect environment and then getting stood up. He felt sorry for her. He grabbed the vibrator from the table and turned it on. It started buzzing. Claire's eyes lit up."


At that point your story went from good feel of realism to no feeling of believability. I was so disappointed.

I could have followed him feeling sorry for her that she had gone to so much trouble and then her date didn't come. I could have followed him looking at the vibrator and getting the idea that maybe she would like it if he took up the game, at least until seing her reaction. I could have followed him picking up the vibrator, too tempted by the horny of the situation to care what she wanted.

But I could NOT follow him picking up the vibrator, forcibly spreading her legs and using it on her, because he felt sorry for her and wanted to do something NICE.

There, I raised my voice

You get me all involved with such an alluring first page and then let down all my hopes on the second


Actually, at the point where he started forcing her legs apart, I had forced myself to forget the narrator's indication that he was doing it (whole or partially) for her sake. And was again sucking some enjoyment from the story, trying hard to regain faith in the author.

I never really managed to regain that faith... never really regained a feeling of understanding why the characters did as they did --hence didn't regain an ability to live myself into their situations.

I was so bothered by it that I didn't even get full satisfaction value from the stimulation beyond orgasm torture which I, normally, would consider very hot.


When I reached the ending, all I had left was disappointment, because it started so good, it could have been perfect, could have given me bliss, and then it just....


And, that was my personal experience when I read your story "entrapment."


Anyway, I am guessing you have deleted the comments which upset you so severely?

first of all, let me say - thank you for reading my story and giving me your feedback on it. i really do appreciate it.

reading what you have written, i think i need to work on my storyline a little more, so that it doesn't fizzle out at the end? and you didn't like the part where he wanted to do something nice for her? ok. that's fair enough. i guess 'nice' doesn't fit into erotic story writing then? lol. i guess since it's a non-consent type story, i should have stuck to that theme. all things to think about. maybe i need to work on my consistency more? this story is actually part 2 of 'Bushwalking' and the characters knew each other beforehand so that's why i went with that angle.

and no i haven't deleted the negative feedback that i received. it was left on my story "Amy's last night of freedom".

thank you once again for the feedback. it's very constructive and i'm glad that you wrote exactly what you thought of it. it does help me to learn.

 

[ellynei]

I didn't mind that he wanted to do something nice to her.

What I minded was that I couldn't make myself believe that he believed that forcing her legs apart etc was nice.

 

[ellynei]

I can appreciate a case of mistaken noncon as much as anyone

(if you don't believe me, check out my "Temple of Lum")

 

[freshface]

thanks for your reply. i'm interested in this loving wives thing now. where do i find these stories? lol.

yeah, i guess that i'm just pissed off that most of the horrible feedback that i have received is from anonymous people and i dont get the chance to reply/ask them what they specifically didn't like about my stories.

i'm trying to take it with a grain of salt and i keep thinking that what i write about isn't everyone's cup of tea, which is why i started a poll asking people what kind of stories they like to read so i have a better idea of what people want and can try to not upset everyone with stuff that's a bit off the mark.

but it's good to know that i'm not the only one having these sorts of problems.

I agree with CWatson. You can't write to please everyone. If you wrote what you wanted and were happy with the result, that's the most important part. Judging from the comments, the Loving Wives crowd is taking their venom to the Group Sex category. Those comments don't look like they are aimed at your skills as a writer or your ability to tell a story.

While I wouldn't worry too much about upsetting people, this How-To entry is a nice guide for what seems to do well in each category.

 

[ericahope]

rosebud,

Yes, I've received similar feedback, particularly for my story about a married couple that decides to open their marriage to other couples. I got all sorts of criticism about how immoral my character in the story is and how I'd come to regret "my" actions in the future.

It's all fantasy. I would never sleep with someone other than my husband, but that doesn't mean I can't write a story about someone doing so. I don't get some of the commenters.

So no, you're not alone!

Erica

 

[johnnieblue44]

rosebud,

Yes, I've received similar feedback, particularly for my story about a married couple that decides to open their marriage to other couples. I got all sorts of criticism about how immoral my character in the story is and how I'd come to regret "my" actions in the future.

It's all fantasy. I would never sleep with someone other than my husband, but that doesn't mean I can't write a story about someone doing so. I don't get some of the commenters.

So no, you're not alone!

Erica

My two cents..

I think both of you, Rosebud and Erica are wonderfully erotic, vivd authors..Bravo.

Makes me wish I was in Fairfax County again, Erica...

 

[ericahope]

My two cents..

I think both of you, Rosebud and Erica are wonderfully erotic, vivd authors..Bravo.

Makes me wish I was in Fairfax County again, Erica...

Aw, thanks Johnnie. I appreciate the feedback! I hope you voted all Fives! haha!

Too bad you're not in Fairfax anymore. I love NoVa!

Erica

 

[slyc_willie]

As I am sure you've realized by now, Rose (may I call you that?), you are not alone when it comes to receiving critically negative and/or misguided feedback. Think of it as a badge of honor that someone -- or several someones -- have been affected enough by your stories to leave such flaming comments. It's the Lit equivalent of being a "made man." Or woman.

My first batch of stories to Lit were pure sexual fantasies, interlaced with a modicum of admittedly exaggerated realism. The sex was hot and heavy and the main focus of the story. That's what the audience wants, right?

Well, because many of those initial stories were written in the first person, the assumption was made by many who sent me feedback that the stories were recollections of actual events. I assume that's part of the fantasy among some readers, that what was written has actually occurred. I still get the wayward comment on stories posted two or more years ago that tell me what a lucky bastard I must be for having been sucked off by my sister, or took advantage of a naive young woman.

It's the nature of the beast when it comes to Lit. This site allows for anonymous comments and feedback, which opens the door for any and every type of reader, be they spiteful, deluded, or gushingly misguided. This is especially true for those who dissect a story bit by bit and explain in detail how your story wouldn't work, often amid an insulting rant which somehow becomes transmogrified into either a personal attack or an explanation of what is wrong in the world today.

Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous know they cannot be tracked, or otherwise held accountable for their posts. They cannot be censured except by you deleting their comments or ignoring their ugly feedback emails. The only reality is that they will always be out there, and some will actually follow you and bash every one of your stories. It's like having a personal critic that is never happy.

All you can do is think, "fuck off, idiot" and soldier on. If you ignore them long enough, they'll eventually look for more responsive pastures.

 

[rosebud_6]

I agree with CWatson. You can't write to please everyone. If you wrote what you wanted and were happy with the result, that's the most important part. Judging from the comments, the Loving Wives crowd is taking their venom to the Group Sex category. Those comments don't look like they are aimed at your skills as a writer or your ability to tell a story.

While I wouldn't worry too much about upsetting people, this How-To entry is a nice guide for what seems to do well in each category.

great how-to guide! thanks so much for that. much appreciated!

 

[rosebud_6]

rosebud,

Yes, I've received similar feedback, particularly for my story about a married couple that decides to open their marriage to other couples. I got all sorts of criticism about how immoral my character in the story is and how I'd come to regret "my" actions in the future.

It's all fantasy. I would never sleep with someone other than my husband, but that doesn't mean I can't write a story about someone doing so. I don't get some of the commenters.

So no, you're not alone!

Erica

thanks Erica. that's just what i wanted to hear. i'm not sure why people automatically think that my stories are true and feel that they have to teach me a lesson for my actions by giving me a very low vote.

 

[rosebud_6]

My two cents..

I think both of you, Rosebud and Erica are wonderfully erotic, vivd authors..Bravo.

Makes me wish I was in Fairfax County again, Erica...

well isn't that a lovely comment? thank you.

 

[rosebud_6]

As I am sure you've realized by now, Rose (may I call you that?), you are not alone when it comes to receiving critically negative and/or misguided feedback. Think of it as a badge of honor that someone -- or several someones -- have been affected enough by your stories to leave such flaming comments. It's the Lit equivalent of being a "made man." Or woman.

My first batch of stories to Lit were pure sexual fantasies, interlaced with a modicum of admittedly exaggerated realism. The sex was hot and heavy and the main focus of the story. That's what the audience wants, right?

Well, because many of those initial stories were written in the first person, the assumption was made by many who sent me feedback that the stories were recollections of actual events. I assume that's part of the fantasy among some readers, that what was written has actually occurred. I still get the wayward comment on stories posted two or more years ago that tell me what a lucky bastard I must be for having been sucked off by my sister, or took advantage of a naive young woman.

It's the nature of the beast when it comes to Lit. This site allows for anonymous comments and feedback, which opens the door for any and every type of reader, be they spiteful, deluded, or gushingly misguided. This is especially true for those who dissect a story bit by bit and explain in detail how your story wouldn't work, often amid an insulting rant which somehow becomes transmogrified into either a personal attack or an explanation of what is wrong in the world today.

Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous know they cannot be tracked, or otherwise held accountable for their posts. They cannot be censured except by you deleting their comments or ignoring their ugly feedback emails. The only reality is that they will always be out there, and some will actually follow you and bash every one of your stories. It's like having a personal critic that is never happy.

All you can do is think, "fuck off, idiot" and soldier on. If you ignore them long enough, they'll eventually look for more responsive pastures.

Hi Willie,

I just wanted to say that you totally read my mind and wrote down exactly what I was thinking!! thanks for the advice and i'm glad i'm not the only one experiencing this... although, it's not a good thing for everyone to be in the same boat as me. lol.

Rose.

 

[rosebud_6]

I must say that everyone here has been quite helpful towards me.

i especially want to thank Ellynei for taking the time out to read my story and give me her honest opinion first. i appreciate it.

and thanks to everyone else who made me feel like i was part of the group in a way that i have never quite felt before. it's nice to hear that other people are going through the same thing as i am, in a similar way.