What's the difference between constructive criticism and being insultive?

Lolita30

Experienced
Joined
May 9, 2002
Posts
88
Since I've posted my stories, I've received more negative responses than postive. Why is that? And also, no one has bothered to show me where I went wrong. Before anyone starts sending me feedback, I suggest you analyze the story and tell me why you did/didn't like it. Spewing personal attacks is not the mature way to get your point across.
 
I think you can be certain that any serious author at Lit will include both positive comments as well as negative when giving you feedback. The feedback will also include their reasons and possibly a suggestion or two. Such has been my experience in every case. As for others, I would ignore them.
 
pfffffft

i ignore all the negative garbage unless its actually constructive. i guess some people just dont know how to look for the good stuff *shrug*
and now im off to read your stuff! i promise only nice things to say :)
 
Lolita: Go put your story up on the Feedback board or the Story Discussion Circle. Then you'll get definite feedback from people who actually want to help. If you go to the SDC and ask nicely, KillerMuffin will put your story up to be discussed by serious authors. Ignore idiots who send anonymous feedback. I've discovered the only feedback I want is either gushing ("your story's so great, it made me cum 5 times in 2 minutes") or constructive. Poison pen is just worth ignoring.

The Earl
 
It's not all that bad. Your primary problem is paragraphing. The way you have it written is extremely confusing because we use paragraphing standards in a way that you ignored.

Yours:
"Uh, no, no one's sitting here," I replied, the words choking my throat. "Thank you," he replied as he sat to my right, the very last seat. I was surprised that no one noticed him. Ah who cares! I was sitting next to one of the cutest guys in Hollywood! I checked my watch. Only 9:30. "You still have time," he said smiling. I smiled back. "Thanks" was all I could muster. An awkward silence followed. Finally, I broke it. "So, what brings you here?" Toby took off his sunglasses before replying. His eyes were aqua blue and they penetrated my brown ones. Almost instantly my nipples began to harden and it wasn't because of the air-conditioned room let me tell you! "Well," he began. "I didn't feel like being bothered with the press at the premier in Tribeca so I thought I'd watch it here, where no one would recognize me and pester me for autographs." Shit," I thought. There goes my wish.

Corrected:

"Uh, no, no one's sitting here," I replied, the words choking my throat.

"Thank you," he replied as he sat to my right, the very last seat. I was surprised that no one noticed him. Ah who cares! I was sitting next to one of the cutest guys in Hollywood! I checked my watch. Only 9:30. "You still have time," he said smiling. I smiled back.

"Thanks" was all I could muster. An awkward silence followed. Finally, I broke it. "So, what brings you here?"

Toby took off his sunglasses before replying. His eyes were aqua blue and they penetrated my brown ones. Almost instantly my nipples began to harden and it wasn't because of the air-conditioned room let me tell you!

"Well," he began. "I didn't feel like being bothered with the press at the premier in Tribeca so I thought I'd watch it here, where no one would recognize me and pester me for autographs."

Shit, I thought. There goes my wish.

Which is easier to read?

There are still some problems in the writing, such as repetition, the overuse of attributives, and character motivation, but overall I don't see why it should get hatemail. Writing takes practice and lots of it. You'll get better as you go. I would suggest that you go back over the stories that you think are fabulous and take them apart. Find out what made them work for you and what didn't. When you come across stories that you don't like reading, instead of back-clicking, take them apart, too. Figure out how they could improve and then apply it to your own writing. Critiquing others is a great way to learn.
 
Here is my take on criticism

If your story gets 3 reasonable responses consider that a strong compliment.
If you get just one well thought out comment by someone that is clearly a writer as well, stand up and do your victory jig.

As for the negative anti social responses, ignore them as they are worthless regardless of the painfull levels of justification some authors will go to in trying to make them seem useful here on the site.

There is never any worth to a negative comment from a person that has done nothing to demonstrate they even care in the slightest. Destructive criticism will never perform any service to you.

I write, hence I speak as a writer. I am not an anonymous reader more interested in getting off, than appreciating your efforts. My post here for instance is me stating in the open my views.
 
Here's my thoughts

Dear Lolita30
Toby McGuire was a good story, a fun read. You handled the imagery and conversation well.

I starting writing seriously about a year ago. Here's a few ideas I've picked up along the way.

Format is important. Each narative and voice gets a new, separate paragraph, otherwise the story is a slog. That's not a "u".

Write tighter, no unnecessary words or phrases. What's wrong with this sentence? "I brush the teeth in my head." Be careful not to state the obvious.

Avoid the passive voice, the words 'then', 'proceeded' and exclamation points. Write with the words you use and hear everyday. Describe, tell us what you hear, feel, smell. Illuminate your personal view, that's what a reader finds interesting, your POV. Be careful of repetition. Wear out your thesaurus. How does a Jersey girl sound compared to a girl from Queens? Nanny flashback; Fran's phrasing compared to CC's.

A writer reads, watches and listens, storing scenes away like a scavenging squirrel.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You can't get there from here, but proofread, proofread, proofread.

I will email you an edited version of your story. Remember, editing is not rewriting so much as fixing booboos.

Cal
 
Ignore the ones that they don't put their email address with...

they aren't worth reading.

Personally, I don't really want to hear my story made them cum X times. What I hear, and maybe it isn't what most erotic writers want to hear, is that my story made them cry, laugh or think. then I know I did something good.

Good luck
Mlyn :rose:
 
Insulting, not insultive, criticism will often include namecalling and vague comments, like "Your story was stupid."

Constructive criticism (criticism that can help you improve) will point out specific flaws. "I didn't like your story because _____." "Your grammar is bad. There were so many incomplete sentences I couldn't read the whole story."

Of course, there are varying degrees of how harshly the constructive criticism can be given and received. Accepting criticism is a learned skill, I think. It takes practice to separate yourself from your work.

Also, I suggest that you look at your first post. You come across as if you're entitled to some constructive criticism and are insulted that no one has bothered to take the time to tell you how to improve. Frankly, if I read a bad story, I just back click. Why should I take the time and effort to tell some stranger where they're going wrong with their writing? I have better things to do. Besides, most of the time I don't think the "writers" here would even value any pointers I might send them.

This discussion board is an excellent place to get and give help.
 
Last edited:
:) Stay happy.

Hi Lolita,

Every single author here posts their story/stories in the hope that they will be read and enjoyed by others. Some have great contents, others are superbly written, while a few are a wonderful and talented mixture of both.

Alone for the time and effort authors spend writing these stories, good and not so good, they all deserve a little encouragement and respect, along with any criticism.

Like Charles De Gaulle said, "In a country where alone there are over 700 varities of cheese, it is impossible to please everyone."

It's much the same here. Not every single story is going to appeal to every single reader.

I agree, people who give negative feedback without balancing it with some positive recommendations just aren't worth worrying about.

Consider this too. Maybe the person sending the negative feedback just had a bad day? Maybe the story just isn't to their liking? Or maybe they just like having a good bitch every so often, and you got caught up in it? Who knows?


Chin up. Have good day,

Alex(fem)
 
Re: Here's my thoughts

cd_riter said:
Dear Lolita30
... Write tighter, no unnecessary words or phrases ... Write with the words you use and hear everyday ...
Good, sound advice. A bit of "how to" advice I was given long ago when I wrote only non-fiction was, Wait 24 hours, then read it aloud. You will hear what is wrong with it then, before others depress you by pointing out what becomes obvious to you when they have said it. At the very least it works for me.
 
Last year I joined a writing community online which offered writing classes. There weren't any teachers so everyone was expected to critique everyone elses work.

It is a very difficult thing to do and I find I'm not very good at it. I know what I don't like but I don't know how to explain why I don't like it. Sometimes it's obvious but other times it's not. There are so many different elements that go into writing and if you really don't understand them it makes it extremely difficult to break things apart and explain to someone else what they did wrong.

There are some people that are great at it and if you run into one of them you thank them and learn from them because they'll help you to become a better writer. As for the others.......well most of them I would just ignore. Don't get mad, don't get upset, just realize that they don't have a clue and move on.

If you see a partern though, where alot of people are saying the same thing, then you should go back and look your story over. Sometimes people don't know how to explain things, but if you're getting alot of people saying your story is confusing or a certain paraghraph didn't make sense, then there might be something to it and you should take a second and third look and try to figure out what's causing the reaction.



CatEyes
 
Back
Top