A couple of times, I've gone on a rant about scoring and how a really low score pisses me off. I've also frequently added that a low score deserves a comment. I've changed my viewpoint on that ever so slightly recently and will explain THAT later. For now I'm going to address a few comments (feedback) that I've received from readers.
The very first comment I received, after posting my very first story,"Judy and her Itsy Bitsy Bikini," was:
(Get an editor. "it's" is a contraction of
"it is" and not a possessive.)
Now, that was an Anonymous comment so I couldn't respond to the reader. I'm also sure he was so disgusted he never went back to read that story again after I corrected it.
I will say that I don't believe he scored the story which I consider a plus in his corner. I'm not going to say why I think that, but I really thank that reader for the comment and of course, not giving me a 1 or a 2 for "Technical."
I do know that difference between the two BTW and have mentioned it before in previous Blog posting so I'm not going to belabor the hows and whys of my making such a glaring error. I also previously mentioned my exposure with an editor. He was very kind in his efforts, but I change my stories all the time and that really frustrates a volunteer editor no end.
Another example of feedback I've received is:
(Desert is an area with almost no precipitation.
Dessert is something you eat.)
Succinct and right to the point but this time, no belittlement. Again the input was appreciated. I was learning that I needed to pay more attention to my writing. As I've admitted many times, my typing sucks. My hands never seem to type the letters I think. Plus as I think way faster than I type, sometimes letters from words down the line get posted, mixed in with previous words. Of course, very often, my fingers hit the wrong keys or come out in the reverse order. I have mentioned, I'm a dyslexic typist.
But the moral of my mentioning these two comments is, they sent me a COMMENT! Those two comments very early on, started me on a path of trying to post text that was error free. A noble task that even widely published authors, with well paid editors, must cringe when an error or two leaks through into one of their published tomes.
My next and final really negative comment was about my first story in the Mandy Saga titled, "Mandy":
(I quit reading when it said "They had been
divorced for over 30 years" and he had a son -
this kind of stuff makes the whole thing stink)
Interestingly enough I think the reader gave me a T-P-A of 9-8-5. My guess is that the reader gave me a 5 for Plot because he thought I'd made a glaring error. Too bad he didn't read a little further. Bob in that story is 55 and plainly just a few paragraphs later it's learned that this story starts on his son's "THIRTIETH" birthday. Work out the numbers.
Again this was an Anonymous comment with no way for me to respond to the reader and fill him in on HIS error. As I mentioned in a previous Blog posting, I later turned off Anonymous comments.
One thing I do is answer all comments I receive, both the good and the bad. But my point in mentioning all of this is, comments help the authors and assist them with their writing. At least, that's the way I feel about it.
So my final word on SCORING stories is: It is my opinion that any score less than a "9" deserves a comment. Plus that comments should be CONSTRUCTIVE. If you have a habit of NOT sending comments, whether or not you score a story, consider sending a quick comment. They are appreciated!
Nuff said,
AJ