Write a controversial opinion

[cw5523729]

I will admit that I have thanked people for commenting. But it was a single comment going thank you everyone for the great reception of my first story.
Or because I was answering something substantive, but thanking the person for commenting at the same time - again once.

Thank you for saying this

 

[billrokra]

I love most everything Bram Stoker wrote (not his travel books, though he never traveled to the places he wrote about), and only one book was bad, but it is almost at the top of my list. Lair of the White Worm, the only thing worse was the film adaptation of it. But it was so, so bad, it was good.

It is amazing that Stoker managed to write one of the best novels in English and, later, one of the worst novels in English. His short stories are great.

 

[lovecraft68]

Thank you for posting this.


Feel free to thank me for thanking you.

Thank you for thanking me about my post where I eschew thanking people for thanking me.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Brave is, simultaneously, the best Disney film AND the best Pixar film.

I will not be answering questions at this time.

While I appreciated the Red-Head representation that has been sorely lacking in Disney and Pixar.
The Incredibles is the best Pixar film.

 

[YmaOHyd]

Hail, Caesar! is the great Catholic movie of our times.

 

[Off_base]

People who feel the need to reply to every single comment-not one or two that intrigues them but every damn one- on their story present themselves as being needy and desperate for attention.

It's like that touchdown analogy my uncle used when telling me not to act like an idiot and run around telling everyone I had sex with a girl. Act like you've been there before and will again because if that's how you act, you will be.

I'm glad someone takes a minute to comment, but they are commenting on something I provided for them to entertain them and for free. I see a comment-decent one anyway-as their thank you to us, the author, we don't need to thank them for thanking us.

I see a story has sixty comments, I think, hey, this has some buzz, let me check it out, then 30-literally half-are from the author I then click off of it, its lame as all hell. I also doubt readers ever see that anyone does it. They'd have to decide to come back to the story and search through the comments. Maybe some authors here who need attention as well return to look, but doesn't seem like many readers do that, so what's the real point?

Now, seeing it as needy is my opinion. That's what this thread is about.

But there is a factual issue with it as well.

Comments can push a story up in the searches as its activity so when every legit comment becomes two comments, it's playing that system. I think this can be yet another of the endless factors in contest stories and more of an issue there than random submissions.

I want whatever comment total someone sees on my story to be legit, not padded and if the number is small, it is what it is.

I respond to thoughtful comments because it's polite.
I could care less if other authors view it as needy.

 

[AwkwardMD]

While I appreciated the Red-Head representation that has been sorely lacking in Disney and Pixar.
The Incredibles is the best Pixar film.

It's tough to top Helen Parr. And yet.

 

[Britva415]

Thank you for thanking me about my post where I eschew thanking people for thanking me.

With a mask on, I hope

Gesundheit!

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Thank you for thanking me about my post where I eschew thanking people for thanking me.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Chernobyl (2019) was the last really good TV show.

 

[Off_base]

Chernobyl (2019) was the last really good TV show.

The Queen's Gambit - 2020
The Diplomat - 2023
The Tourist - 2022

Of course, what's  good is subjective, but these are all really good and worth the time to watch, in my opinion.

Honorable mentions to Killing Eve, and Orphan Black.

 

[Off_base]

The Queen's Gambit - 2020
The Diplomat - 2023
The Tourist - 2022

Of course, what's  good is subjective, but these are all really good and worth the time to watch, in my opinion.

Honorable mentions to Killing Eve, and Orphan Black.

*killing eve and orphan black are pre 2019

 

[AwkwardlySet]

The Queen's Gambit - 2020
The Diplomat - 2023
The Tourist - 2022

Of course, what's  good is subjective, but these are all really good and worth the time to watch, in my opinion.

Honorable mentions to Killing Eve, and Orphan Black.

I used to be a chess player, and I can tell you that The Queen's Gambit is glamorous BS, even if ut's entertaining.

 

[lovecraft68]

Moving on to another opinion that doesn't sit well.

A lot of folks here have links to their stories in their sigs. Their story page, individual stories etc.

No issue with that, if someone reads your posts and they're curious about your work they can click on it and check it out-as we all know people are lazy and don't want to take a minute to go looking.

But those links are there, yet some people just continue to constantly out links to stories in posts anyway. "Have you read this one, you might want to read this one, wait, you said you're feeling kind of blue? look at this story the woman in it has blue eyes and wears a blue dress!"

This is a forum about writing, all writing, not YOUR writing. Calm down and let people who want to see your work see it for themselves, stop being a noodge as my grandmother used to say. The more someone constantly self promotes the less I'm interested in checking them out.

Its as bad as the did you hear I wrote a story?

Good for you, everyone here writes stories.

I'll add there's exceptions for new people who are excited for their first stories, or if someone is requesting something (That recent what's your most viewed story or whatever it was) at that point someone is asking.

This post and my prior one about replying to every comment falls under have some dignity and stop shoving yourself at people. Be confident, not desperate.

 

[OralAllOver]

I am unable to finish a story that has typos, grammatical errors, spelling errors, etc. ad nauseam - the joy of the story is ruined..


Words tangled in ink,
Typos dance on every page,
Joy fades like the dusk,
Grammatical ghosts linger,
A tale left incomplete, lost.

Your 1st paragraph exhibits poor punctuation and stilted, (technically) nonsensical wording ("etc. [sic] ad nauseum.")
But I understood your message.

Language conventions (or usage patterns) have no King, little unanimity and constantly change. CLEAR THOUGHTS and BEAUTIFUL INSIGHTS shine as great achievements. Perhaps put down the police baton and lift your eyes to the universe. We can be special. Let's celebrate that and chillax about misplaced priorities.

 

[Z_TheWriter]

You often hear people say that excellent style/prose can save mediocre content. In my opinion it works better the other way around.

I probably don't care about the fly landing on your coffee cup with no other events or context, regardless of how well you wrote it. But if you made a world and characters that I want to learn about, I can deal with a lot.

The fly thing is a real short story from a real Danish author btw, that I was forced to spend an entire week on in school.

 

[SimonDoom]

Moving on to another opinion that doesn't sit well.

A lot of folks here have links to their stories in their sigs. Their story page, individual stories etc.

No issue with that, if someone reads your posts and they're curious about your work they can click on it and check it out-as we all know people are lazy and don't want to take a minute to go looking.

But those links are there, yet some people just continue to constantly out links to stories in posts anyway. "Have you read this one, you might want to read this one, wait, you said you're feeling kind of blue? look at this story the woman in it has blue eyes and wears a blue dress!"

This is a forum about writing, all writing, not YOUR writing. Calm down and let people who want to see your work see it for themselves, stop being a noodge as my grandmother used to say. The more someone constantly self promotes the less I'm interested in checking them out.

Its as bad as the did you hear I wrote a story?

Good for you, everyone here writes stories.

I'll add there's exceptions for new people who are excited for their first stories, or if someone is requesting something (That recent what's your most viewed story or whatever it was) at that point someone is asking.

This post and my prior one about replying to every comment falls under have some dignity and stop shoving yourself at people. Be confident, not desperate.

A link in one's signature is not in any sense "shoving" oneself at people. It's a discreet and passive way to make it easier for people to see your stories. What in the world is wrong with that? This seems like another of your examples of finding things to berate about your fellow authors and to pretend you are on a higher moral plane, which you clearly are not. Why not give it a rest and let people do things differently from the way you do them without berating them all the time for it?

As a participant in this forum, I'm GLAD to see other authors include links to their stories in their messages, because it seems to me a courteous way to make it easier for me to find their stories. And it's something I often take advantage of. As an author, I'm pretty sure including a link in my signature has worked, because I've occasionally seen my story get commented on or favorited by someone in this forum right after I've posted something.

So, I STRONGLY encourage every author to include a link in their signature. It's helpful to both the author and the reader.

 

[TheLobster]

A lot of folks here have links to their stories in their sigs. Their story page, individual stories etc.

No issue with that, (...)

I actually do take issue with that -- specifically, those absolutely obnoxious signatures which span a length longer than an entire post of someone who keeps theirs to one simple link.

If your signature is longer that a few lines in a small font, you are making everyone's sigs less likely to be seen because will simply start disabling the altogether.

 

[Z_TheWriter]

@SimonDoom You may wish to reread the beginning of the post you responded to.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

A link in one's signature is not in any sense "shoving" oneself at people. It's a discreet and passive way to make it easier for people to see your stories. What in the world is wrong with that? This seems like another of your examples of finding things to berate about your fellow authors and to pretend you are on a higher moral plane, which you clearly are not. Why not give it a rest and let people do things differently from the way you do them without berating them all the time for it?

As a participant in this forum, I'm GLAD to see other authors include links to their stories in their messages, because it seems to me a courteous way to make it easier for me to find their stories. And it's something I often take advantage of. As an author, I'm pretty sure including a link in my signature has worked, because I've occasionally seen my story get commented on or favorited by someone in this forum right after I've posted something.

So, I STRONGLY encourage every author to include a link in their signature. It's helpful to both the author and the reader.

I'm pretty sure that post wasn't about putting link to our stories in signature.
I suspect he meant the same thing I pointed out a while ago. There are AHers who go out of their way to put links to some specific stories of theirs whenever possible and regardless of how related or unrelated they are to the topic in the thread.

It's too much, IMO, and it creates a certain kind of spamming culture here.

 

[TheLobster]

There are AHers who go out of their way to put links to some specific stories of theirs whenever possible and regardless of how related or unrelated they are to the topic in the thread.

Agree. And it also reminds me of this story of mine, where the MC is a boastful windbag who often brags about --

Okay, okay, I kid! Lay down your pitchforks

 

[Z_TheWriter]

Agree. And it also reminds me of this story of mine, where the MC is a boastful windbag who often brags about --

Okay, okay, I kid! Lay down your pitchforks

...Oh.
*slowly plods back to shed*

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

It's tough to top Helen Parr. And yet.

Top her, bottom for her, I am open minded.

 

[EdwardsOtherSide]

Controversial opinion I heard repeatedly from locals in Las Vegas; Las Vegas was better when the Mafia ran it, the CEOs/MBAs/oligarchs have ruined it.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Controversial opinion I heard repeatedly from locals in Las Vegas; Las Vegas was better when the Mafia ran it, the CEOs/MBAs/oligarchs have ruined it.

That's an increasing problem in a number of industries. Not the mob angle so much as the corporatization. My dentist was AWESOME, then he retired and sold the practice to some chain. Before it was the same people who had worked there forever, now the turn over is crazy, there is a new person behind the desk every time I go in. And it SUCKS, I'm looking for a new one.
When it's a small business the business owner is just interested in making a good living. If he runs his practice, makes $250k a year, he's happy.
A corporation buys the practice, now they have to pay a dentist, and make profit on top of that. Plus they borrowed money to buy the place, so they are sweating the interest. Now it becomes a game of nickel and diming to cut costs, which screws up the customer experience.
Instead of "a good living" it becomes "profit margins".

Mob was happy to get rich, they didn't give a shit if they were making 4% or 5%, they were making bank. No reason to nickel and dime...