Transdelion: Blog

Tina Turner just died a few days ago. I haven't even seen it reported in U.S. papers, only in Canada. She was a big deal in her time. Doesn't anyone care? Or, are we just so caught up in all of the hatred and intolerance now that basic human caring has disappeared that we can't even pull our own heads out of our asses?

A very good SOL writer recently wrote within a newly posted story that he was receiving lower and lower scores for his stories, and didn't feel like posting more of his work. He thought it was perhaps because his stories had become more complex and there was less spontaneous or spectacular sex. Alas, the feedback option on the story had been turned off so that I couldn't relay why I thought his ratings might be plunging, or at least, why I believed the quality of his stories had gone downhill. I don't know where else to post this, and I dislike saying these things publicly, so you'll have to guess who you are, or if you think this might be applicable to you. Your stories used to be wonderful. They had lots of events and emotions and long plot development. Now, your stories have become almost the same as each other, they are shallow and only give surface listing of facts, one after another, without anything deeper. There is no buildup. The stories catapult from one surface happening to another with no depth at all. The sex? Personally, I don't care about the sex, for me sex is just part of the overall story and therefore I don't like it just shoved in to do nothing but titillate without the purpose of enriching the story arc ...but that's just me. Your stories no longer have enough sex to be stroke stories, and aren't developed enough to be good literature. Because they are neither, they no longer attract the best readers, or their higher scores.

Alas, I'm disappointed in your more recent stories, and I'm sorry that my views have to be made in such a public space. However, you seemed at a loss, and went on at length about your ratings misgivings, and I felt called upon to respond. You have it in you to be an amazing writer, but your recent stories don't meet the mark. Good luck, hope this helps, and if my feedback is too painful or make no sense to you, ignore it.

For those that have good family, blessed be you. But for those of us whose family is an insidious poison, the incessant mantra that "family is everything," bleeds us dry.

New great story by Crunchy. I'd live there, or would have lived there, if I could. :)

When you're having in person conversations with people, look to see how many times they "nod" in a given discussion. Then, when you are writing, have your characters "nod" at about the same rate. I suspect there is far more "nodding" in stories than in real life, and a reality check is due.