Since I've been trolled lately....

[SEVERUSMAX]

...with several of my recent, hard-worked stories being one-bombed to absurdly low ratings like 2. 17 (my most recent fate), I have decided to start a game here, along the lines of Jeff Foxworthy's "You Might Be A Redneck". It's called, "You Might Be Under Troll Attack".

I'll go first, as I said.

If your normal rating is between 3.5 and 4.5 (red H territory), but your average for the last few stories is between 2 and 3.5, you might be under troll attack.

 

[LadynStFreknBed]

If you know Anonymous better than your own spouse, you might be under troll attack.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

If you know Anonymous better than your own spouse, you might be under troll attack.

That is very true, sadly. What can be done about these turbulent trolls? Oops...eerily close to what Henry II said about Becket...but these men are not well-meaning at all...well, not men but boys...overgrown boys with unkempt hair and Spock ears, living in their parents' basements.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

If you are blasted in other authors' public comments, you might be under troll attack.

 

[damppanties]

That is very true, sadly. What can be done about these turbulent trolls? Oops...eerily close to what Henry II said about Becket...but these men are not well-meaning at all...well, not men but boys...overgrown boys with unkempt hair and Spock ears, living in their parents' basements.

If you have a detailed picture of a Lit troll in your head, you might be under troll attack.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Both true, Crim and dampy...lol.

 

[TxRad]

If you have a new story posted or have ever posted a story, you are probably under troll attack. There ain't no maybe to it.....

 

[poppy1963]

If you have several newbie's all at once venomously lambasting your ability to write well for no apparent reason.....you might be under troll attack.

*Note: I don't submit my stuff formally because of trolls. Who needs THAT on a formal basis?

 

[Liar]

If you ever post anything on the Internet...

 

[Recidiva]

How dar U writ Lick thiz! Yu suk.

 

[TxRad]

How dar U writ Lick thiz! Yu suk.

Hey wait a minute, I recognize that handwriting......

 

[Recidiva]

Hey wait a minute, I recognize that handwriting......

I admit it. I AM every anonymous troll.

AHAHAHAHA!

AHAH!

Ah.

No, really, I have a life.

 

[glynndah]

If you own a S.W.A.T.{(Sex With A Troll, (Thanks, Dampy.)}t-shirt...

 

[TxRad]

If you own a S.W.A.T.{(Sex With A Troll, (Thanks, Dampy.)}t-shirt...

I have a Swat t-shirt but it has a picture of a naked lady laying across my lap and my hand raised....... On the back it say, "Want to....."

 

[jomar]

If your score goes back up suddenly, you may have been trolled.

 

[BlackShanglan]

If you assign any real significance to the vagaries of a story's numerical rating ...

Oh, wait. Sorry, that was for the "You know you've let the trolls win" thread.

 

[starrkers]

If all the stories you had with an H have suddenly gained votes and lost points, you've probably been trolled.

 

[Liar]

I have a Swat t-shirt but it has a picture of a naked lady laying across my lap and my hand raised....... On the back it say, "Want to....."

I have a sweatshirt. Is that short for Sex With An Evil Troll?

Correction: Sex With Evil-Ass Troll

 

[DerelictionOfSanity]

If you have just been eaten by something large, green and smelly, you may have been trolled.

Sorry... being literal-minded amuses me sometimes.

 

[Sapphire_O]

If, you're new story gets a nice shiny E, but sits at a rating under 3, you've been trolled.

 

[BlackShanglan]

If, you're new story gets a nice shiny E, but sits at a rating under 3, you've been trolled.

I disagree - and feel a certain liberty in doing so because I've had the same thing happen. The E quite surprised me. I knew that the story wasn't really "erotic" in the traditional sense, and I was playing around with the narrator's perspective more for my own interest than anyone else's. Would I personally rate the story higher than the 2.45 it was at the day it came out? Yes. Do I believe that people could honestly believe it deserved a 1? Yes as well. I wanted quite different things from the story than most of its readers were likely to.

I don't deny that trolls exist. But when we blame every negative score on them, we do ourselves a disservice. Sometimes a low score is a sign to us to go back and reconsider our decisions when writing a story. Sometimes it's a nudge reminding us that not every story is written for a broad audience, and that when we write what best pleases us, we have to set our own standards and accept that others are looking for something else. Those are both important messages to anyone who really wants to improve as a writer, and sometimes we need to let our defenses down and hear them.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

When you've put your blood, sweat, and tears into a story, for days, and it gets not only one-bombs, but nasty comments from anon that have no specific critique. If they have a real literary issue, say so. As to the content....well, no one can say that they weren't warned of kinks that they might not like.

 

[miwoodsman]

I've noticed odd behavior in the rating system. I'll have a story riding high in the rankings, in the top 10 of a particular category, then it will plummet in the next few votes. Someone out there jealous? Who knows.

One of my stories definitely falls into the love it / hate it category but I expected that when I submitted.

Personally, the trolls have never left feedback for me - I assumed they didn't know how to type.

Oh, and Anonymous, if you're reading this, thanks for all kind words.

-lg

 

[Recidiva]

I disagree - and feel a certain liberty in doing so because I've had the same thing happen. The E quite surprised me. I knew that the story wasn't really "erotic" in the traditional sense, and I was playing around with the narrator's perspective more for my own interest than anyone else's. Would I personally rate the story higher than the 2.45 it was at the day it came out? Yes. Do I believe that people could honestly believe it deserved a 1? Yes as well. I wanted quite different things from the story than most of its readers were likely to.

I don't deny that trolls exist. But when we blame every negative score on them, we do ourselves a disservice. Sometimes a low score is a sign to us to go back and reconsider our decisions when writing a story. Sometimes it's a nudge reminding us that not every story is written for a broad audience, and that when we write what best pleases us, we have to set our own standards and accept that others are looking for something else. Those are both important messages to anyone who really wants to improve as a writer, and sometimes we need to let our defenses down and hear them.

The piece I did that had an E got the worst trolling. And the comments about it were specific about being irritated at editors who pass out E's to this and not that.

It wasn't about the piece, it was about the E, quite a bit of it.

I know the difference between when someone just doesn't like "a story" and when people have a ton of comments about how "stupid" people are at Lit, and how the editors are fools. It really isn't about what I did.

 

[amicus]

Had my first troll in a long while just today, but then I haven't posted anything new in quite some time.

However, the trollee...referenced following the links in my sig line to Amazon and neither of the two books are posted here anymore....hmmm...ya think someone on the forum doesn't like Amicus?

hmmm...


amicus...