What response do you seek for your story

[TonyG]

While reading the stories here at Lit I wondered what responses the authors truly seek. Do you want email sent to you all the time? How honest should the response be? If you author highly erotic stories do you want to know if your story caused the reader to masterbate? Or if a couple wound up screwing after reading your story? Or does the reader romanticize about a character in your story? Or you the author? Or is a number all you seek? How much response is too much or not enough?

Since I am not an author I have no real idea on how much and what ways I should respond.

 

[Nicole]

I've written once to an Authour, and I sent an Email praising her work. I let her know that this was the first time I'd ever written to an authour and that her story related to me in some ways.

The response I got from her was fantastic to say the least, she explained that it was so good to have a "chick" write to her, as all her responses had been from men. There was more to it but I won't go into that here and now.

So I would suggest you just let them know if you liked their work, if they want more they will let you know in return.

Good Luck Tony.

 

[Guest]

Good question

 

[KillerMuffin]

I would like to know what people thought of my stories. If the story touched them in some way, or if they just liked it. I would specifically like to know what they liked or didn't like about it.

I like the emails that I receive that say, I really liked "Coming Home" the diary format was cool and it was great how she used old language and kept calling him Mr. Jordan, just like she really would.

Or one that I got for Alexandra's Odyssey Ch. 2. I like your writing, but I didn't like this story. The characters seemed kind of fake to me. Would a cop really do that?

 

[Countess DeWinter]

I write because I'm a writer. If someone else likes it, so much the better, but that's not why I do it. I HAVE to do it or something will explode. lol

With that in mind, I like to hear that someone liked my story (or poem). I like hearing that someone made a mess out of their keyboard or went and attacked their wife/husband/SO after reading what I've written.
Negative feedback...well, if it's not constructive, it goes in the trash can.
It's a little different than the feedback I like/get for my pictures. I already like what I've written and don't need validation from others. With the pics, yeah, I like validation, but constructive criticism is appreciated there too.

 

[JadedHeart]

I have only submitted one story here, and that was very recently, so I don’t know if my opinion counts as much as the others. I have received several feedback e-mails and so far they have all been positive, but I think I would appreciate a few that contained constructive criticism.

Since I am new at this I think that this type of feedback would help me to know which story I should submit next, and maybe influence my future writing. Of course this is easy for me to say now, after I get a few e-mails that say, “Your story sucked!” I may change my mind!

 

[MunchinMark]

Foremost I write for me. I could happily type away and not let anyone see anything. But I like to hear opinions; "I liked this" or "I didn't like that". If theres reasoning it could make me a better writer (providing I can actually do it).

E-mails are better than just pressing one of the vote buttons (do that too, how long does it take?), they're more personal. If all the mails were constructive, there could never be to many, but look at my signature line.

The best bit is knowing that you made someone smile by writing. That is a euphoric experience.

[Edited by MunchinMark on 01-23-2001 at 05:53 PM]

 

[CreamyLady]

I like emails. I've averaged two per story, and they were very supportive. True, a few were from men wishing to be better acquainted, but they liked the stories.

Seriously, my work does not appeal to everyone, and the voting system in place doesn't tell me much except that not too many people either read it and/or vote on it. Emails are the only way that I know that anyone is reading.

 

[Whispersecret]

I've gotten many different types of responses, all about Hostile Takeover, my only fictional story here. I never seek anything specific. I appreciate anything people want to tell me about my writing. ANY response is better than NO RESPONSE.

Being the grammar/spelling hound I am, I like hearing that people appreciate my proper use of the language. People have compared me to romance authors that I admire. That's a big kick! I really love getting are the ones where they say that I'm the first author they've ever written to. Or that they'd BUY a copy of it. (Good news there, Laurel! <wink wink>) One man told me he cried (twice) while reading it, and another couple acted out parts of the story. That truly amazes me.

I also get a big kick when people express that they were uneasy with the rape aspect, but got sucked in and ended up enjoying the romance. That makes me feel successful as an author. I got someone to enjoy my writing despite the fact that they didn't like my theme. WOW.

Conversely, I get constructive criticism too. Some felt I didn't have enough sex in the final chapters. One person was disappointed that Fiona never got it up the ass. I tended to agree with that. One guy suggested that Fiona needed to be gangbanged by a bunch of big, black men in one of the chapters. LOL. Someone else thought Rockwell had not stayed true to character and relinquished his sexual dominance at one point. I did give that some thought and I really appreciated that someone had analyzed my character deeply enough to come up with that comment.

On the personal side, someone suggested that I would truly enjoy being taken forcibly, which is ridiculous. Men have offered their sexual services to me, which I find flattering. People have shared their various physical responses to my story, and I find that flattering as well.
Some write me wanting to collaborate on a story or trade stories. They send me stories of their own, and they ask for my feedback.

I love hearing it all, really. It means that my writing moved someone enough that they felt the need to write me.

 

[SpecialK]

I write because I'm a writer. If someone else likes it, so much the better, but that's not why I do it. I HAVE to do it or something will explode. lol

I hear ya, Countess. I write for me. I love it. I get such a rush from writing, it's like a rush someone else might get from bungee jumping, or sky-diving. Writing has always been my primary choice of expression.

So, while I post the stories, I don't post them so that people can validate me and tell me how wonderful I am. I don't write simply for a response from others. I write because I really enjoy it. It's a part of who I am.

Conversely though, since writing is so much an expression of who I am, getting responses is necessary too. I hate to be ignored. Writing a story is one of my ways of communicating with others. And in that regard, the responses are necessary, not to validate me in the sense that I'm a superwoman or anything, but merely to signify that I'm worthy of being listened to.

(I feel like I should have not responded to this at 2:21am, while feeling a bit ill. I fear I haven't made one whit of sense.)

Anyway, I love the responses! The more detailed the better. Tell me what you liked, what you disliked, what you disliked but nevertheless could appreciate, how the story made you feel, what you did about how you felt, suggestions or ideas for further stories.... heck, anything!

Like Whispersecret said, any response is better than nothing. Because even though most writers probably don't write because they seek fame and fortune (at least not on this site), when they put up a story, they do seek acknowledgement.

My $0.02.... which probably could have been better spent on a millilitre of gas.

K

 

[Andra_Jenny]

I write for me. Most of it tends to be autobiographical/fantasy. Kind of a cleansing and a reliving of the past. It is nice to get feedback and I have been blessed with nothing negative. When time allows I like to send a note to those whose stories I enjoyed, or would have really enjoyed if just a few corrections were made. But mainly, I love to write and this is one facet of it. (Hell I even love to write AND DOCUMENT computer programs. Sometimes so much documentation that I loose the code!).