What's a good average score?

[BarondeSade]

What is a good average score for story? 4.5 or greater? I realize that the fewer stories written, the greater possibilty of deviation as one troll could wreck everything. It would be nice if there was some type of software that could eliminate all votes that show a deviation of greater than four. That would eliminate "Anonymous", well maybe not eliminate, but certainly soften the blow he/she wreaks on some of the authors...

 

[JamesSD]

It's somewhat category dependant. Getting a 4.5 in Erotic Couplings is far more difficult than a 4.5 in Romance. Of course, a lot of stories don't get enough votes for the score to be particularly meaningful statistically.

Really, your best bet is to write a few stories to establish a "personal average". 4.5 isn't a bad target either, as you get the swanky little red H by the story.

(There are others who will tell you not to worry about your score, but I leave those comments for those others to make)

 

[Darkniciad]

It is very category dependant. It is much easier to keep a high score in some cats, while in others, very few stories will ever garner that magical H.

A peek at the toplist for the category you're writing in will tell you pretty quickly how critical the readership is. If the whole first page is full of stories with 4.9 or higher, then you can pretty much say 4.5 is a solid score. ( Sci-Fi, Romance, Novels and Novellas are good examples )

If the toplist first page drops down to 4.8 or lower, then a 4 is probably a solid upper level score. ( Loving wives, Incest )

If you make the toplists for your cat, you're doing well. If you make the toplist in a widely contested and highly read cat like Romance, Loving Wives, or Erotic Couplings, then you're probably doing really well.

Even if you don't make the toplist, you may still be doing very well. Trolls like to attack from the top of the list down, and it may be quite some time before you have the regular readership to cancel out those bombs. A 4.95 with less than 20 votes can be in the barely H territory with one bomb.

The feedback is what counts. If you're getting praise, then you're hitting your audiance. If you're getting constructive critique, then you've hit the audiance and they like you enough to want to see improved work from you.

Your scores do have meaning, but you have to consider the things that make scores only a somewhat accurate reflection of your writing. ( Trolls, regulars who love everything you write, etc. )

Just me rambling thoughts on the subject with too little sleep for several days

 

[S-Des]

I'd say be happy with anything over 4.0, at least as a starting point. More important than the category itself, is understanding your category. LW, for instance, is less tolerant of stories that make huge leaps without explanation. I've seen stories with a ridiculous premise in Romance get very high scores without a single question about a plot device that is ludicrous. Once you understand what readers in a category react to, it's much easier to know how well your stories will score. It will even give you the option of tailoring your story to a specific audience.

It's also a question of how much time and effort you put into a story. Some authors put out a story a week, others take more time. Obviously if you spend a lot of time and effort on a story trying to tweak every last detail and make the spelling and grammar perfect, you are hoping for a higher score (otherwise, why bother). Most authors use 4.5 as the standard, but that can be hard to achieve (since anyone can vote you down for any reason they like). Others count on votes, views and comments more than the scores. In the end, does it matter if you have a high score when no one read or voted on it?

It's your call. I kind of use a combination of all of it. Everyone is different and decides different ways to establish value for their stories (including contests). Some really don't care what the scores are and even turn off comments (or just don't allow the anonymous ones). This can be helpful to higher scores (not as much fun to torpedo someone's story when you can't take credit for it, I guess). Mostly, I talk to other authors (privately, where I really here what they think). That's where I've learned the most.

Good luck,
....S-Des

 

[Boota]

I just checked my score on The Man In The Woods for the first time in forever. It's in Erotic Couplings and has a 4.74. Pretty good. But in that category it's not even in the top 500.

 

[S-Des]

I just checked my score on The Man In The Woods for the first time in forever. It's in Erotic Couplings and has a 4.74. Pretty good. But in that category it's not even in the top 500.

I don't care what the category, 4.74 isn't average...it's exceptional. I've got to read one of yours soon (although I did listen to the audio on your site...thumbs up ).

 

[matriarch]

All my stories are in the lesbian category, my highest is 4.75 which was a co-write with Emerald Kitten, and my personal highest is at 4.72 which was written as part of a Rainy Day Challenge here in AH. Thase stand at 218th and 340th in the top 500. Its a very challenging category, scorewise.

Like others have said, I take more interest in the comments and feedback I get from readers, fans and other writers on Lit. The scores are very arbitrary and highly subjective.

 

[kendo1]

Donal' 3 is at 4.02 which puts it in about 70th place in Novels and Novellas.
The first part scores 4.67 if I remember correctly.

An average score is round about a 4.

I tend not to read any story under a 4.

Ken

 

[Weird Harold]

What is a good average score for story? 4.5 or greater? I realize that the fewer stories written, the greater possibilty of deviation as one troll could wreck everything. It would be nice if there was some type of software that could eliminate all votes that show a deviation of greater than four. That would eliminate "Anonymous", well maybe not eliminate, but certainly soften the blow he/she wreaks on some of the authors...

When you reach the magical ten votes required for you story to be ranked in the Top Lists, the possible vote totas ranges from 10 to 50 -- averaged to 1.00 to 5.00 -- A striclty mathematical "average score" would be 3.00.

Personally, I consider anything above a 3.5 as a "good" score, anything above a 4.0 a "very good" and anything over 4.5 as an "Excellent" score -- but I'm not a person who has my ego wrapped up in other peoples' opinions so I'm rather tolerant of low scores.

As othes have noted, many categories require "Excellent" scores just to make the top 500 list -- anywhere on the top 500 for the category is a "good average score." In most categories, the top 500 list is better than the top ten-percent of stories in that category since most of the categories have more than 5,000 stories.

 

[Softouch911]

We write for ourselves, true. And we also write to be read ... the reason (for me) the vote counts is not so much a matter of ego as it is of gaining readers. Fact is, things at the top of the toplist get more attention by far than a story that isn't on it at all.

A story in, say, the top 100 or so on the toplist seems to continue to gather votes (very slowly) even over a year or more -- and that's why I bother posting the stories at all.

If I only wrote for myself, as some writers insist, I wouldn't use up Lit's bandwidth.

ST

 

[BarondeSade]

Thanks for all the comments...

I appreciate everyone's insight into the scoring system. I guess I'm doing a little better than I thought, so guess I'll keep it up (pardon the pun...)

 

[sethp]

write for the feed back

The story I thought was my worst is my lowest scoring story "megan".. I feel that if any of my story's drops near 4 than it's not a great work.

having said that I have 5 hot ratings but realize that 1 has only 13-14 votes..is it really that good? probably not.

1 troll can wreck sink a rating pretty good also

I mainly write for the feedback. Most people that hate your story will just give it a low score, a few of those will give you nasty feedback. Most feedback will be honest and heartfelt. That's based on my experience here so far.

 

[CharleyH]

What is a good average score for story? 4.5 or greater? I realize that the fewer stories written, the greater possibilty of deviation as one troll could wreck everything. It would be nice if there was some type of software that could eliminate all votes that show a deviation of greater than four. That would eliminate "Anonymous", well maybe not eliminate, but certainly soften the blow he/she wreaks on some of the authors...

If 5 = a perfect 10 and 4.5 = 90, then I'd think that a good average score would be 3.8.

 

[rgraham666]

If 5 = a perfect 10 and 4.5 = 90, then I'd think that a good average score would be 3.8.

That's how I always do it. Multiply the score by twenty. Gives me a percentage. So an average score of 4.5 would be a 90%. Which would be cause for celebration if that was your mark on a university paper.

 

[Aurora Black]

That's how I always do it. Multiply the score by twenty. Gives me a percentage. So an average score of 4.5 would be a 90%. Which would be cause for celebration if that was your mark on a university paper.

Delicious.

 

[CharleyH]

That's how I always do it. Multiply the score by twenty. Gives me a percentage. So an average score of 4.5 would be a 90%. Which would be cause for celebration if that was your mark on a university paper.

Well you all complain so- there is an average for you.

 

[BarondeSade]

Okie-Dokie

Thanks a lot for the insight and keep on keeping on...

 

[BarondeSade]

One more little question...

Oh, by the way, another question. Which at is more gratifying to you? Would your rather receive a good feedback from one individual, indicating that you have pleased one reader above and beyond? Or receive a high total score indicative of pleasing the whole audience of your chosen cat? And one other small item. How can I become a nonvirgin without being sodomized?

 

[rgraham666]

Oh, by the way, another question. Which at is more gratifying to you? Would your rather receive a good feedback from one individual, indicating that you have pleased one reader above and beyond? Or receive a high total score indicative of pleasing the whole audience of your chosen cat? And one other small item. How can I become a nonvirgin without being sodomized?

I like both. I swing both ways.

And you need 30 posts to no longer be a virgin.

 

[MzDeviancy]

90% might be good in school, but on Lit - depending on the category - it's fuck all.

I've seen stuff in incest that barely qualifies as English and yet averages 4.5. On the other hand, an extremely talented author whom I won't name because she doesn't seem the type to love doting praise (no, I'm not referring to myself) averages (last time I peeked at her stories) scores ranging between 4.6 and 4.77. The gap between the two should be huge, but it's only a few measly percents.

The scores are a semi-decent indicator, but the feedback is better. I had a story posted one day, and I looked at the rating within an hour or so of its being posted - 7 views, 11 votes, score of 3-point-something (seem fishy to you?) The feedback was a much better indicator of what was going on.

You can easily divide your feedback into groups by looking at the content too; the empty praise because they can wank off to anything group, the in possession of brains and still thought your story was good group, the negative comments with valid reasons group, and the idiots (subdivided into trolls and people who don't read disclaimers). However you'll also get people from group three who toss in an idiotic comment, and people from group four who toss in a valid comment; be careful not to disregard their criticism, tempting as it is.

 

[Weird Harold]

7 views, 11 votes, score of 3-point-something (seem fishy to you?)

Nope, not very fishy at all -- the votes update in near real time, at least once an hour, but the views only update a couple of times a day -- every six hours at most. The seven views were probably from the approval process or you chicking on your story before it posted; by the time the first public views are added, you should have a thousand or so for that many votes.

 

[Trombonus]

Ok, so I recently posted my first story and the score levels out between 4.40 and 4.38. I've got 47 votes, and only 2 comments. How do I get feedback from people? I'd like to know how I can improve my writing, because it's right there on the verge of a 4.5, and the people that commented on it seem to enjoy it. I'm happy with my score, but as a new writer, I know I have a lot of untapped potential, and want to be able to grow and get better.

Trombonus

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Ok, so I recently posted my first story and the score levels out between 4.40 and 4.38. I've got 47 votes, and only 2 comments. How do I get feedback from people? I'd like to know how I can improve my writing, because it's right there on the verge of a 4.5, and the people that commented on it seem to enjoy it. I'm happy with my score, but as a new writer, I know I have a lot of untapped potential, and want to be able to grow and get better.

Trombonus

I RCV'd you... suggestions: shorter paragraphs ('Rora noted that one) and also... stats of any kind ("I'm 24 years old, 5'11", and athletic, not skinny, not fat, and not overly muscular.") even followed by "I'm just your average decent looking college kid." will make me backclick almost every time. Try not to use 'em...

Also, you've got a lot of telling-not-showing at the beginning... you could have cut out all the exposition before "Do you mind!?" Jenny screamed.. that opening would have caught my attention more. Of course, the "She was a little taller than Lisa at 5'7", and she was 23 years old" right after it has to go.....

 

[Trombonus]

I RCV'd you... suggestions: shorter paragraphs ('Rora noted that one) and also... stats of any kind ("I'm 24 years old, 5'11", and athletic, not skinny, not fat, and not overly muscular.") even followed by "I'm just your average decent looking college kid." will make me backclick almost every time. Try not to use 'em...

Also, you've got a lot of telling-not-showing at the beginning... you could have cut out all the exposition before "Do you mind!?" Jenny screamed.. that opening would have caught my attention more. Of course, the "She was a little taller than Lisa at 5'7", and she was 23 years old" right after it has to go.....

Actually I'm relieved to hear that. I thought it was important to give a visual picture for the reader, but I hated writing that statistical stuff. I actaully got rejected at first for my long paragraphs, and I sent it to an editor and it got accepted the second time, but after reading it in the site I agree that they're too long. I've kind of reached a block with the second chapter, which is why it's taking so long to write, but hopefully I'll be able to use some tips that I've gotten to move it along.

Also, is it ok to keep the opening exposition, if I had started with the line you suggested? I'm thinking of re-writing it starting that way and then reliving the exposition from a flashback perspective. What do you think?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Actually I'm relieved to hear that. I thought it was important to give a visual picture for the reader, but I hated writing that statistical stuff. I actaully got rejected at first for my long paragraphs, and I sent it to an editor and it got accepted the second time, but after reading it in the site I agree that they're too long. I've kind of reached a block with the second chapter, which is why it's taking so long to write, but hopefully I'll be able to use some tips that I've gotten to move it along.

Also, is it ok to keep the opening exposition, if I had started with the line you suggested? I'm thinking of re-writing it starting that way and then reliving the exposition from a flashback perspective. What do you think?

I don't think you need all that exposition... I think it could get easily incorporated into dialogue... what do you really tell us in those paragraphs? College kid (band geek who doesn't like himself very much) gets dumped by his girlfriend and walks in on two sorority girls... right? All we need to know can be teased out in the course of the action... it can be revealed a little at a time, instead of in one fell (and rather long and a little winded ) swoop... for example, the getting dumped thing could come out when he discovers the two girls. Instant turn-on (of course) and he could think to himself that it was a reminder that he hadn't been with a girl since what's-her-name... and a BRIEF exposition of what happened between them as he's standing in stunned silence at the nubile young flesh in front of him...

And I don't know who edited for you but they missed this one: "Everyone new Jenny was a wild girl" New should be Knew...

HTH!