Unexpected Reader Reactions

[countdowntolov3]

Do you ever get reader feedback that really surprises you?

Not the usual-drive by hate, or a negative reaction to a story you thought was good, but something you didn't see coming. Maybe readers reacting outside of the stereotypes we tend to ascribe them.

Share it!

 

[countdowntolov3]

Here's mine:

I've written a story about a S&M dungeon sort of place. The clientele are strapped to sex machines, and the story is told by the girl running the place. She's a look-don't-touch part of their experience. Buuut, by the end of the story, the plot contrives to gets her some action of her own.

Honestly I didn't think much of it. Pretty girl gets sexed. Everybody happy! Unga bunga, caveman brain want oxytocin.

But I've gotten multiple comments sounding let down by that choice. One even came out and said that the better ending would have been a sequence where she's just cleaning up at the end of the day. I think they're probably right.

 

[onehitwanda]

Lots(*) of readers contact me via email to either ask me if I'm really at Bishop Rock Lighthouse, or else to tell me in graphic detail precisely how much I made them cry.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/bc/91/b5bc9132fa7bcf41c7ae8ad248ffe5d1.gif

* more than 2

 

[YmaOHyd]

or else to tell me in graphic detail precisely how much I made them cry.

Hey, I'm not ashamed to say I teared up when Rose screams at Lea on the hockey pitch in Simplicity of Words.

 

[Erozetta]

Yeah, I just posted one over in "Comments that make your day."

 

[krystalg]

I'm new to writing on Lit, but I've been an erotica writer for more than a few years. One breed of comment that is typically unexpected, but always gives me pause, is when somebody comments on the plot beats, emotions, or other facets aside from the heat. For me, there's a certain satisfaction from realizing that you not only told a decent tale, but you've also made the reader become invested in the actual story and/ or the characters. Granted, I also get lots of off-the-wall commentary, some of them downright head-scratchers.

 

[StillStunned]

Both @Eosphorus and @Omenainen commented that they were surprised by how hot the sex scene in Dungeon of Desire: Level 1 was. I'm glad, but I'm still not entirely sure what made it so hot.

 

[PennyThompson]

I think I get most surprised by the things that readers latch onto and connect with!

I wrote a throwaway jokey bit in one of my stories with a couple of ditzy girls named Eighmey and Britteneigh, they only had one line of dumb dialog... and like five different people in comments and messages expressed their deep love for those two idiots (and also visceral hatred of their names)! I ended up bringing them back for brief cameos in two other stories, and then gave them a 750-word story of their own

Another surprise is that my most-commented story is the first chapter of a pretty successful series (that's not the surprise), but my SECOND-most-commented story is a dumb little 750-word light-exhibitionist story about a furniture sales girl, and I have absolutely no idea why people like that one so much

 

[countdowntolov3]

I wrote a throwaway jokey bit in one of my stories with a couple of ditzy girls named Eighmey and Briteneigh, they only had one line of dumb dialog... and like five different people in comments and messages expressed their deep love for those two idiots (and also visceral hatred of their names)!

I feel like I've every fandom has that character that the readers "randomly" latched onto and the author is just over there shaking her head like, "What am I going to do, kill them off?"

 

[SimonDoom]

I have readers of my incest fantasy stories from time to time tell me they enjoy the stories because they bring back happy memories of their own saucy experiences with mom, and I'm not quite sure how to respond.

 

[StillStunned]

I feel like I've every fandom has that character that the readers "randomly" latched onto and the author is just over there shaking her head like, "What am I going to do, kill them off?"

Irish author Derek Landy has a series of books called Skulduggery Pleasant, with a swordswoman called Tanith Low, who was supposed to die in the first book. But the editors thought she'd be too popular (and so it proved), so instead he gets her to be horribly wounded in every book.

 

[Omenainen]

Both @Eosphorus and @Omenainen commented that they were surprised by how hot the sex scene in Dungeon of Desire: Level 1 was. I'm glad, but I'm still not entirely sure what made it so hot.

We have this saying in Finnish, joskus sokeakin kana löytää jyvän. It means even the blind chicken finds a grain every now and then

Seriously though, I don’t think aiming to cater to my personal preferences is a very good strategy, at least it seems very few people are doing it which makes me think very few people are wired the way I am. Which makes it all the sweeter when it happens.

 

[onehitwanda]

I have readers of my incest fantasy stories from time to time tell me they enjoy the stories because they bring back happy memories of their own saucy experiences with mom, and I'm not quite sure how to respond.

https://media.tenor.com/8ed31b3DtYEAAAAM/vomiting-cat-bleah.gif

 

[PennyThompson]

https://media.tenor.com/8ed31b3DtYEAAAAM/vomiting-cat-bleah.gif

The I/T category and the Loving Wives category both seem to involve a level of reader trauma that I am not equipped to deal with

 

[yowser]

Always interesting what will strike a chord.

Anon, for my latest:

Oddly relatable as I will be 35 in a few weeks and keep "hopping from one fellow to another".

The end-of-summer vibe is very sweet and I appreciate the literary references (even though I'm sure I didn't get most of them)

 

[SimonDoom]

https://media.tenor.com/8ed31b3DtYEAAAAM/vomiting-cat-bleah.gif

I suppose if I had a more advanced sense of decency this would be my reaction, but, well . . .

 

[Nynah]

The main story series I'm working on now features a pair of roommates who are ratcheting up the ante in their relationship with each installment. Most of the comments are very supportive and kind while expressing eagerness for the next chapter. I have noticed that there are a few commenters who also like to share their speculations on what will happen next, with varying degrees of specificity. I'm not sure if they're trying to subconsciously (or maybe not so subconsciously) influence my writing but I still find all of them quite flattering since they are invested enough to try and guess where things will go.

 

[Erozetta]

Here's another: I've been informed via email that my voice gave someone a hard on.

Now *that* I don't believe for one second.

 

[AG31]

This is part of a long comment by Stacnash a few days ago. It was really unexpected because I get very few comments and because it was so spot on to how I see my own writing. Also, shortly before there'd been a thread with a lot of back and forth about how negative she was. Go figure.

"I’d be happy to read more of your stuff because there’s a wholly uncompromising nature to the way you write. I get the impression that you don’t really care about anything other than depicting your own fantasy on the page, but you’ve found a way for it to work with short-form content like this. You could end up as one of the most potent writers of strokers on the entire website."

Edit: On reflection, I realize that I've written a fair number of self-analytical posts over the last four years. Perhaps Stacnash saw them and consciously or sub-consciously based her reaction on them. My self analysis didn't include me becoming "one of the most potent writers of strokers," as my niche is quite narrow and I think I'm finished with writing.

 

[OddLove]

I have a story called 'Sam Finds The Kinky Promise Land' and it only has one comment, but the person said they adored Sam and was hoping that Sam would get his hard drive back so all his stories and art could be recovered after his room mates smashed his laptop.

I caught me off guard cause it showed that at least one person was invested in the story and characters rather then just enjoying the kinky sex scenes.

It also inspired me to start working on a part 2.

 

[PennyThompson]

This is part of a long comment by Stacnash a few days ago. It was really unexpected because I get very few comments and because it was so spot on to how I see my own writing. Also, shortly before there'd been a thread with a lot of back and forth about how negative she was. Go figure.

"I’d be happy to read more of your stuff because there’s a wholly uncompromising nature to the way you write. I get the impression that you don’t really care about anything other than depicting your own fantasy on the page, but you’ve found a way for it to work with short-form content like this. You could end up as one of the most potent writers of strokers on the entire website."

"Potent Strokers" would be a great name for a grungy punk band from the 1980s

 

[Bamagan]

I have readers of my incest fantasy stories from time to time tell me they enjoy the stories because they bring back happy memories of their own saucy experiences with mom, and I'm not quite sure how to respond.

I recommend writing a fanfic, called Motherfuckers on a Plane, featuring Samuel L. Jackson complaining about how he's had it with all these motherfuckin' motherfuckers on this motherfuckin' plane. The flight is overbooked, so there are lots of moms having to share tiny airplane seats with their sons.

 

[YmaOHyd]

"Potent Strokers" would be a great name for a grungy punk band from the 1980s

It'd be a good name for a '50s rock group or maybe a funk act, too -- Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Sly and the Family Stone, Penny Thompson and the Potent Strokers.

 

[Bamagan]

Lots(*) of readers contact me via email to either ask me if I'm really at Bishop Rock Lighthouse, or else to tell me in graphic detail precisely how much I made them cry.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b5/bc/91/b5bc9132fa7bcf41c7ae8ad248ffe5d1.gif

* more than 2

Her tears sparkled on her eyelashes, hanging and swaying like tiny breasts catching the moonlight.
Hey, if some breasts can be described as tear drops, then ipso facto, at least some tears can be described as boobs.

 

[SimonDoom]

I recommend writing a fanfic, called Motherfuckers on a Plane, featuring Samuel L. Jackson complaining about how he's had it with all these motherfuckin' motherfuckers on this motherfuckin' plane. The flight is overbooked, so there are lots of moms having to share tiny airplane seats with their sons.

I like this idea, but I'd probably adjust the title to Moms On A Plane. That fits my general rule that stories about moms MUST have the word Mom in the title.

I like the Samuel L. Jackson character idea. "What's with all these mother fuckin' moms on the plane?"

One of the best things ever, if you haven't heard it already, is Samuel L. Jackson reading "Go The Fuck To Sleep." You can find it online easily.