Understanding anonymous comments from readers - questions from a newbie

[Handprints]

I hope I've found the right thread to ask these questions: I've only been reading this forum for a couple of weeks and only started posting yesterday...

I've posted two stories to the BDSM section of the site. I got nothing but nice (and flirty) comments for the first one. The second one was just posted (it's perhaps a little softer/more vanilla than the first one but only just) a couple of days ago and I've got an inbox full of angry comments that I can only describe as anti-BDSM.

They're not threats and there aren't so many of them that I'm suspecting a deranged mind writing them, so they're not something I'd consider reporting.

Typical comments include: "You are a disgusting writer and you should be locked up for the things you think," and not in the nice way, if you know what I mean. "People who write things like that should be reported to the police. If they had a zero that's how I would have voted for this." I've also noticed that the number of votes for my first story is climbing, after having levelled off for a week or more, while the voting average is dropping. I can only make the math work for the second story's voting by adding in a handful of ones. I think there's likely a connection between recent comments and recent voting.

My question is: is this common? Are there people who go to the BDSM stories specifically to express their disapproval of them? Have I attracted a couple of oddballs (ok, the wrong kind of oddballs - it is BDSM) or is this just part of the normal experience? I don't really expect constructive criticism from anonymous comments, but these don't seem to refer to the story itself, just the genre...

At least none of them said nasty things about my writing style. That would have hurt!

I'd be delighted to hear advice on how I should think of this.

Thanks,
H

 

[DeeZire]

If you do a search of threads with 'troll' or 'one bomb' in the title, you'll find a wealth of information. The thread 'you've been trolled' from a couple of weeks ago (might have been in the 'story feedback' forum) was so inspiring, I actually wrote a story/satire with the same title, which will post any day now.
Many people consider negative comments a badge of honor. It proves that your work is eliciting an emotional response, which should be our goal, as writers. (I think that's our goal?)
I'm too new around here to offer more, but I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses.

 

[Handprints]

Thanks - I'll look for it. And thanks for replying.

H

 

[reignophelia]

I hope I've found the right thread to ask these questions: I've only been reading this forum for a couple of weeks and only started posting yesterday...

I've posted two stories to the BDSM section of the site. I got nothing but nice (and flirty) comments for the first one. The second one was just posted (it's perhaps a little softer/more vanilla than the first one but only just) a couple of days ago and I've got an inbox full of angry comments that I can only describe as anti-BDSM.

They're not threats and there aren't so many of them that I'm suspecting a deranged mind writing them, so they're not something I'd consider reporting.

Typical comments include: "You are a disgusting writer and you should be locked up for the things you think," and not in the nice way, if you know what I mean. "People who write things like that should be reported to the police. If they had a zero that's how I would have voted for this." I've also noticed that the number of votes for my first story is climbing, after having levelled off for a week or more, while the voting average is dropping. I can only make the math work for the second story's voting by adding in a handful of ones. I think there's likely a connection between recent comments and recent voting.

My question is: is this common? Are there people who go to the BDSM stories specifically to express their disapproval of them? Have I attracted a couple of oddballs (ok, the wrong kind of oddballs - it is BDSM) or is this just part of the normal experience? I don't really expect constructive criticism from anonymous comments, but these don't seem to refer to the story itself, just the genre...

At least none of them said nasty things about my writing style. That would have hurt!

I'd be delighted to hear advice on how I should think of this.

Thanks,
H

Hi, I just finished reading both stories. I really enjoyed the first one. Your writing style is fantastic. I'd have to say that I liked the first story better than the second, but I don't think that the second one is worthy of such disparaging comments.

The second one fell slightly flat in that I think readers were looking for more emotion. I know you said that it was more vanilla, and thus not quite so intense, but the relationship fell flat as well. In my opinion both were quick and enjoyable reads. I gave them both high scores when I voted.

There is also something to be said for the troll theory. You're a good writer. Don't take the negative comments to heart.

 

[Handprints]

Hi, I just finished reading both stories. I really enjoyed the first one. Your writing style is fantastic. I'd have to say that I liked the first story better than the second, but I don't think that the second one is worthy of such disparaging comments.

The second one fell slightly flat in that I think readers were looking for more emotion. I know you said that it was more vanilla, and thus not quite so intense, but the relationship fell flat as well. In my opinion both were quick and enjoyable reads. I gave them both high scores when I voted.

There is also something to be said for the troll theory. You're a good writer. Don't take the negative comments to heart.

Thank you very much for those kind words, which I have quoted in their entirety for the pleasure of seeing them twice...

I think your diagnosis of the problems in the second chapter is spot-on: I have to learn how to spread the important ingredients equally between chapters. No doubt, if you keep reading, I'll overcompensate massively in Ch.3.

Thanks again,
H

 

[reignophelia]

Thank you very much for those kind words, which I have quoted in their entirety for the pleasure of seeing them twice...

I think your diagnosis of the problems in the second chapter is spot-on: I have to learn how to spread the important ingredients equally between chapters. No doubt, if you keep reading, I'll overcompensate massively in Ch.3.

Thanks again,
H

Well, thank you.

I will keep an eye out for the third chapter.

-Ophelia

 

[emap]

I commented on this in an earlier thread along the same lines. I am to lazy to go find the thread, however you are in luck i'll just run through it again and hope you find the complete version later.

There are certain genre's that people feel guilty for enjoying, so when you write a story in one of these genre's you can expect to get the feedback you did. namely it is such a messed up storyline and whatnot, you got the emails already so i am sure you know what I am talking about.

These actually are something of a badge of honour because it tells you this person enjoyed your story enough to have an orgasm or more. Which makes them feel guilty and then they attack you for making them feel guilty.

I did a nonconsent story, called Photo Shoot if you feel like looking it up for a read. I received alot of 'bad' reviews through email. now of course they never said the writing sucks or it's not beleivable and whatnot. Instead I got a couple that said, both almost exactly the same, 'And they both got AIDS and died.'

I still giggle when i think about those two comments. I never said it was something I want to have done to me or anything. I honestly think that if i found myself in a similar I would insist as much as possible on condom use. But the best part, they attacked the basis of the story, a woman who is taken control of by the guy who hired her for the photo shoot and is used for sex by several men. No other negative comments. Well OK I had a few more that said it was disgusting and I need therapy for writing it, it was requested on the story idea's section and I decided to do it.

However every single one of those I sat there thinking well thank you for enjoying it. Well except for the need therapy one, that was a tiny bit insulting. I got a couple positive, one from a very nice lady who confessed she read it over the day and had at least 4 orgasms.

Oh yeah, the genre's to avoid with thin skin are nonconsent, BDSM, loving wives and to a much lesser extent incest. I don't know why but the incest ones seem to get the nicest of the trolls.

Note: this is based on comments in threads I have viewed or participated in over the years and I could be wrong so don't hold me to it.

 

[Handprints]

I commented on this in an earlier thread along the same lines. I am to lazy to go find the thread, however you are in luck i'll just run through it again and hope you find the complete version later.

Thanks - nice to hear I haven't been singled out. I do find it funny that the thin-skinned are reading (and commenting on) non-consent and BDSM. Maybe they think the "no blood, no foul" rule ought to apply here, too...

 

[jomar]

Congratulations Handprints, you've been trolled! Carry them as a badge of honor. Seriously, we all get them. and if they vote more than once from the same IP address the Literotica software sweeps the one-bombs away. Loving Wives is notorious for its trolls. You do get bonus points for not asking THE QUESTION (i.e., how long does it take for a story to be approved?). Welcome to the AH. Oh, and put a link to your stories in your signature, we're mostly lazy that way.

 

[Handprints]

Congratulations Handprints, you've been trolled!

Oh, and put a link to your stories in your signature, we're mostly lazy that way.

Thanks for helping out. I'll add the link the next time I bring myself up in a post. I hadn't seen it done in a posting here and thought it might be misconstrued as self-promotion. When I self-promote, I don't want anyone accusing me of subtlety...

H

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Congratulations Handprints, you've been trolled! Carry them as a badge of honor. Seriously, we all get them. and if they vote more than once from the same IP address the Literotica software sweeps the one-bombs away. Loving Wives is notorious for its trolls. You do get bonus points for not asking THE QUESTION (i.e., how long does it take for a story to be approved?). Welcome to the AH. Oh, and put a link to your stories in your signature, we're mostly lazy that way.

YES! Do ask THE QUESTION. I so love answering it

On Lit - To be trolled means you have arrived. Congrats

 

[jomar]

Thanks for helping out. I'll add the link the next time I bring myself up in a post. I hadn't seen it done in a posting here and thought it might be misconstrued as self-promotion. When I self-promote, I don't want anyone accusing me of subtlety...

H

You're welcome. And don't worry, self-promotion is never misconstrued.

 

[TxRad]

You're welcome. And don't worry, self-promotion is never misconstrued.

Only if ya go way over board......

and then it becomes a joke.....

 

[BlackShanglan]

My question is: is this common? Are there people who go to the BDSM stories specifically to express their disapproval of them?

My most cherished comment of all time:

"DEATH TO ALL POOFS!"

It came, of course, in response to a story posted in the "Gay Male" category. Indeed, we seem to have some readers who work their way through categories with the express intention of being offended by everything in them. "Loving Wives" is particularly notorious for this sort of thing.

God bless you for not asking "the question." I'll offer an advance answer to the next most likely one, just in case. You may in the near or distant future notice that the vote count on some of your stories drops. Happily, this is typically accompanied by a rise in the average rating of the story. That sort of thing is the result of periodic sweeps designed to weed out "trolls" or "one-bombers" who deliberately attempt to sink a story's ratings in order to validate the unbearable barreness of their miserable existences. It's nothing to worry about.

 

[cloudy]

My most cherished comment of all time:

"DEATH TO ALL POOFS!"

or the classic that Dran got that time:

"you're so stupid you're so stupid you're so stupid you're so stupid you're so stupid"

 

[BlackShanglan]

or the classic that Dran got that time:

"you're so stupid you're so stupid you're so stupid you're so stupid you're so stupid"

Damnit! If only it had been "your so stupid."

 

[Handprints]

You may in the near or distant future notice that the vote count on some of your stories drops. Happily, this is typically accompanied by a rise in the average rating of the story.

Happened this morning!

Thanks,
H