Put off writing by low votes?

[Guest]

Thirty Minutes by jkoffe is, in my opinion, a very well-written story, submitted by (I guess) an Afro-American writer who writes so skilfully it's as though she's speaking.

Her story was utterly slammed in voting (and I guess probably with anon feedback too). I wonder if that put her off submitting anything else.

It reinforces my long-held opinion: If you don't like a story, DON'T FUCKING VOTE.

 

[Joe27]

Heh I think the voting is screwed up. I wrote my first story and posted it less than 2 weeks ago an within a few days I had a 4.5+ with 44 votes. It's still 4.5+. Not bad for having barely any story! LOL I read porn to get off, not looking for story. I wrote my story the same way. Waiting for 2 more to be accepted (under 5 pages each). Can't wait to see what they get!

 

[hiddenself]

You must be joking...

Thirty Minutes by jkoffe is, in my opinion, a very well-written story, submitted by (I guess) an Afro-American writer who writes so skilfully it's as though she's speaking.

It reinforces my long-held opinion: If you don't like a story, DON'T FUCKING VOTE.

The story did absolutely nothing for me. That shows you that different people have different tastes, and the voting simply reflects that. It doesn't mean that it's a bad (or good) story -- simply that few (or many) readers in this site liked it.

As for not voting if one doesn't like the story, you must not be serious. A writer has the option of turning off voting. But, as long as he/she wants to play the voting game, it's my right as a reader to express my likes AND dislikes. If you don't like it, tough.

hs

 

[peachykeen]

hi josh, how ya been?

I haven't yet read the story in question, so I can't say anything about it, but as far as voting goes, hey, it is what it is, hiddenself is bang on. A very well written story where the actions builds slowly will get low votes from people who are just looking for a quick wank and don't care/know how to recognise good storytelling technique.

I put more stock in the actual feedback I get than in votes, because then you can tell how seriously the person took your writing in the first place.

 

[NoJo]

Re: You must be joking...

It doesn't mean that it's a bad (or good) story -- simply that few (or many) readers in this site liked it.

Personally I vote like this:

5 - Loved it! (jacked off and hit the ceiling/laughed my ass off, whatever).

4 - Nice story -- I'll read more from this author

3 - (I never vote 3)


2 - (I never vote 2)


1 - This author is a sick fuck/The story is so bad it's good.


(Josh) I'm fine, PK -- Josh likes getting on his high horse. Unlike me who just likes getting high, with or without a horse. Joe

 

[Guest]

Thirty Minutes by jkoffe is, in my opinion, a very well-written story, submitted by (I guess) an Afro-American writer who writes so skilfully it's as though she's speaking.

Her story was utterly slammed in voting (and I guess probably with anon feedback too). I wonder if that put her off submitting anything else.

It reinforces my long-held opinion: If you don't like a story, DON'T FUCKING VOTE.

______

Sorry, Josh.

Your logic borders on the bizarre. So what are you suggesting, that we only use 5, 4, and 3? And then, at what point do you come back and say, that a 3.2 is unfair and the story is getting slammed!

Uh-uh.

5=Excellent, 4=Good, 3=Average, 2=Below Average, and 1=Bad.

And I've voted in all 5 categories. Why, because the stories I read can easily fit into these categories I'm familiar with.

Now, the story in question? Jkoffe does and admiral effort to tell a story in first person, but there are many technical writing mistakes, bordering on annoying. That aside, I tend to agree with your initial assertion. The story should receive a better rating for the effort. I voted a 4.

Feeling better now?

 

[NoJo]

That story had a 2.0 score earlier! Yes, I feel much better now. Thanks.

To be honest, I was annoyed because I smelled racism in the voting, because of the, well, the totally uncompromising blackness of jkoffe's story -- the only one like it I've read on Literotica.

I vote because I want to get more people (or rarely, fewer people) to read the story. 2's or 3's don't really have much effect.

 

[CantSayNo]

I understand how the african americans need their stories, and the whites just read anything, but this story doesn't merit a five score! How can you merit anything over a five when the writer doesn't even value proper grammar, spelling, or slang usage outside of direct quotes? I understand what you mean, but from the first sentence of this story, I was put off. Sorry. If you don't want people to vote on your stories badly, just make them "I don't want voting" when you submit them, and even afterwards, you can go back and change the voting thing if your story is bombing!

I'm sorry.
~CantSayNo~

 

[Guest]

That story had a 2.0 score earlier! Yes, I feel much better now. Thanks.

To be honest, I was annoyed because I smelled racism in the voting, because of the, well, the totally uncompromising blackness of jkoffe's story -- the only one like it I've read on Literotica.

I vote because I want to get more people (or rarely, fewer people) to read the story. 2's or 3's don't really have much effect.

______

Sub Joe, IMHO, there is a unwarranted tendency for us to place a lot of emphasis, on this very free and wide-open site, on the value of the "scoring" and "voting" here.

The thousands upon thousands of people that visit Lit from all around the world, among all kinds of cultures, with all kinds of motivations vote for all kinds of reasons.

And it likely will not change (and who would want to change it, anyhow?).

More importantly, I think, is that if one posts as a serious (or even a semi-serious) author on Lit, and engage yourself with the community of other Literoticans, I think you will find that thoughtful interaction and commentary with real people on these Boards and on these threads are far more valuable and precious than a cold, hard number tallies. The common camaraderie we all seek with our fellow writing peers is far more important and rewarding than a very subjective scoring system.

My advice for anyone is not to get too, too upset about such mundane and unimportant things. Do the best you can, take an interest in what others have to say about your work and craft, and then, try to improve. That will get far more "votes" as a friend and colleague, and not a volatile number in some numeric counter.

Come join us, erotic authors all, and have fun.

 

[DarlingNikki]

How can you merit anything over a five when the writer doesn't even value proper grammar, spelling, or slang usage outside of direct quotes? I understand what you mean, but from the first sentence of this story, I was put off.

If you didn't like this story, that's valid. But this was not a case of someone being unclear on the finer points of English grammar or spelling, it was a story written in dialect, which is a whole different category. I think it worked well.

 

[Couture]

The story wasn't bad, but really, you have to understand how people vote, you can see why it scored so low. It violates several rules related to high vote getting.

Rule 1. Choose a good name. Instead of Jkoffi, should have used Cuteblackhoni

Rule 2. Give them what they want. The cliche' is good, not bad. This story does a poor job of sticking to the cliche', I mean, hell, there is a black guy in it and she never mentions he had a twelve inch schlong.

Rule 3. Avoid writing about black folks. The rednecks are gonna vote you down and on top of that the PC folks are gonna vote you down because the story says "nigger" in several places.

Rule 4. Don't be experimental Writing with so much dialect is probably too experimental to get a good vote.

Rule 5. If you use dialect, be sure to use it right. There are a bunch of places where the dialect isn't consistent or doesn't fit.

All that aside, it was a good piece, but not a good vote getter. There is actually some very very funny lines in there. "Benedict cunt." I love it.

 

[hiddenself]

heh heh

Rule 2. Give them what they want. The cliche' is good, not bad. This story does a poor job of sticking to the cliche', I mean, hell, there is a black guy in it and she never mentions he had a twelve inch schlong.

... but then I'd vote it a straight "1" (closed eyes)... But I guess not too many people think likewise? So, there might be a net gain after all.

Still, I say avoid cliches as if your life depended on it. You can get high scores without them (sometimes). Plus, the satisfaction that you don't go where everyone else has gone before...

hs

 

[the_bragis]

The reason I couldn't read this story? One word - 'nigger'.

It's one of the ugliest words in the English language.

Alex

 

[Couture]

Hiddenself, the cliche' bit might be pushing it and perhaps I could be off on it. I have found that by pushing the boundaries, there is a tendency to piss people off. My stories that offend the least amount of people tend to be the ones that get higher votes.

On another tact, the stories that offend the most people are the ones I get feedback on well after the others have been forgotten.

 

[arurial]

Quite so. Thirty Minutes is a well-written story. Perhaps not the most erotic I've ever read but it's much better literature than most on this sight.

 

[Guest]

Hmmm, since I want to get into the meat and gristle of Lit, I don't suppose I can remain silent on subjects that interest me.

Personally, I'd been put off by low votes with my own story simply because for all the great feedback I'd been getting, I received very few votes...or reads. I later discovered that was due to my using the Chat rooms exclusively to promote my writing (not familiar with bulletin boards, I didn't give the forum a first thought, much less a second). So, off the bat I acknowledge that my own low votes and readership was due to my own laziness and ignorance of the lit community.

Now, as far as rules of writing go, anyone subjecting their work to as varied an audience as readers of Lit must understand that they're going to miss with a lot of readers. Most readers actually. If you take risks, you may fail to hit your mark and you can count those readers lost as well, not to mention the ones you lose simply by having the temerity to take a risk in the first place.

However, these are the risks we take. All you can really do about it is shrug and accept it and acknowledge that you won't like everyone's work and everyone won't like yours. Some writers are more skilled than others. Some writers posess far more unbridled natural talent and still others write with a passion that tends to disregard craft. This is a good thread in that it gets us talking about why we read what we read and...most important to us authors, why we dont.

 

[NoJo]

Writing is a lot like sex. At first you do it because you like it. Then you find yourself doing it for a few close friends and people you like. But if you're any good at all...you end up doing it for money.

Actually, I tend to do it mainly for myself.

 

[maggie2002]

Voting and how it works

Story aside, I will have to read it. I want to thank everyone for the long explanations on how the voting works. I have been wondering. I vote somewhat differently. I seldom pay attention to the mistakes because as hard as I try I still make so many. I write mostly for me. Terrible thing I suppose and once into it usually don't stop until done. I do use word and I do edit but I find unless someone else does as well I just dont see the errors. It isn't from lack of education it's form wanting to get on to the next project I thinklol! ANyway I vote on what I read by did it interest me enough to finish it. Did it tell a consistent story. Did it make sense. Did it make my panties wet;-). If it annoyed me, or if it upset me, or if it made me want to barf. I usually just don't vote on it. I most always send feedback especially positive because enough people will send the negative. I appreciate the feedback I get both good and bad and will say that bad usually comes from the same people who I don't see posting stories in here so that tells me how much to take their opinion to heart.

To those of you who have given constructive crits Thanks I need them and I do pay attention. I am glad to have found this place and enjoy the people and the stories

 

[flyingcarpet]

<i>If you don't like a story, DON'T FUCKING VOTE.</i><P>I have a story out there with a score of 4.6. 15,000 people have looked at it, 83 have bothered to vote. Less than 1/2% of the readers bothered to tell me what they thought. Now, perhaps they followed your advice and my story is really crap but they're too polite to say so?<P>All I know is that 83 people thought enough of my effort to vote, and 14,*** didn't. I'll thank every last one of the 15000 for reading what was my second attempt at writing erotic fiction, though my appreciations are double for those that bothered to give me feedback.<P>If I wrote a real dog of a tale, I'd want feed back to let me know I flopped.<P>Since I'm not being paid, I write for me, ultimately.<P>Oh, yeah. <a href=http://literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=78367>Sally's Reprogramming</a>

 

[flyingcarpet]

And I guess I'll have to learn new posting habits for a board new to me. Sorry about the html codes.

 

[Whispersecret]

I don't see how one could possibly smell racism if one looks only at the vote total and the fact that the author is/appears to be black. If the author got some feedback that specifically indicated that they voted a certain way because of race, then that's different. Otherwise, it seems an illogical conclusion.

 

[NoJo]

Whisper, I guess it's possible I have "nasal halluciantions".

But I think that basically people were put off by the "thug" patois of the story . It's a pretty rude way of speaking, and is aggressively isolationist ("we're black, you're white"). The story quite obviously was not bad at all. But It was panned. I mean hit on very hard by one or more people who decided it was not going to get anywhere. Try to find other stories with a 2.0 vote. They're pretty rare, and usually are grossly offensive or unbelievably poorly written.

So, yes, I came to the racism conclusion.

 

[~Elizabeth~]

 

[Guest]

<i>If you don't like a story, DON'T FUCKING VOTE.</i><P>I have a story out there with a score of 4.6. 15,000 people have looked at it, 83 have bothered to vote. Less than 1/2% of the readers bothered to tell me what they thought. Now, perhaps they followed your advice and my story is really crap but they're too polite to say so?<P>All I know is that 83 people thought enough of my effort to vote, and 14,*** didn't. I'll thank every last one of the 15000 for reading what was my second attempt at writing erotic fiction, though my appreciations are double for those that bothered to give me feedback.<P>If I wrote a real dog of a tale, I'd want feed back to let me know I flopped.<P>Since I'm not being paid, I write for me, ultimately.<P>Oh, yeah. <a href=http://literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=78367>Sally's Reprogramming</a>

_______

Your assumption that 15,000 people actually "read" your story is incorrect. That counter tallies the number of "views" your story got, and does not represent, in any fairest measure, how many people actually read your story (or anyone's story), first word to the last word. The majority of views are simply those clicking a mouse skimming and scanning over the pages, for whatever reason.