Yes, Charley and Claire is a little longer, but not that much longer. Protective Coloration has gotten less than a quarter of the comments that C&C has gotten. Even one that's been up for years, and is my best scoring story, Building a Better Past has gotten only about 2/3rds of the number of comments.
I wonder why some stories, even non-controversial ones like mine, get more (positive) comments than others even if they don't score as well? Just curious if anyone has any insights.
The reader is a curious beast. I don't understand when people comment vs don't either. I have a couple of folks that comment on almost all my chapters vs a few that comment once in a while and others who don't post at all.
Look forward to responses for those in the know.
As a reader - I like to comment on anything I read continuously. If I follow something I feel the need to comment often. I guess I relate to the the commenters that comment often on my stories.
The passive readers who read all the chapters but do not comment are a mystery to me.
The passive readers who read all the chapters but do not comment are a mystery to me.
I'm one of them. I never comment on stories. I don't read comments either -- I've had them turned off since the feature was introduced.
In large part, that's a reaction to comments on lit. There, there are too many comments that bash stories for superficial reasons. For example, almost any cheating wife story in which the husband even considers reconciliation will have several comments like "1* cuck shit".
I do send authors feedback by pm sometimes, but not often -- only when I have something to tell them that they might not know.
I'm one of them. I never comment on stories. I don't read comments either -- I've had them turned off since the feature was introduced.
In large part, that's a reaction to comments on lit. There, there are too many comments that bash stories for superficial reasons. For example, almost any cheating wife story in which the husband even considers reconciliation will have several comments like "1* cuck shit".
Feel free to be part of the resistance to such silliness.
I only occasionally comment publicly, but I still do it. I send authors notes far more frequently. Some authors, like me, want to know when they messed up (missed a word, seriously screwed up the punctuation, that sort of stuff), while others are outright hostile to such comments. I try not to bother them.
Even with those authors, though, if a story catches my interest I try to let them know why, maybe including part of what I did/didn't like. I also tend to ask questions when I don't understand something (e.g. the British school system!)
I'm sure there are plenty of authors like me, who aren't trying to make money from our stories, but are just trying to entertain people in some, small way. If I didn't care about others seeing/enjoying my stories, I'd never put them out there, or even type them up — I can already enjoy them in my own head, after all. A little encouragement helps make the extra effort to publish them worth it.
1* cuck shit is a troll, or a script. One star was voted on all stories in the 'Loving Wives' section within minutes of the new stories section updating, for years. Someone very broken spent a large portion of their life waiting to down vote stories. Since that stopped or at least reduced, the cuck shit posting in the comments has risen, often the poster has apparently read the narrative in their head instead of the story on the page.
Needing to log in to read and comment has somewhat insulated SOL from that problem.
The reader is a curious beast. I don't understand when people comment
The comments mechanism allows comments to be added as chapters are posted, but are not tied to the chapter. Ths means the comments are a frustrating read if you are not following the story as it is being posted: reported typos or plot errors may have been corrected, and there are likely to be spoilers. As I normally delay reading ongoing stories until I am confident they are going to be completed sometime, I have opted to have comments hidden - and any comments I wish to make (thanking, reporting errors, etc) I send direct to the author.
Judging by posts made at the time the comment facility was added, I think I am far from alone on the approach - especially amongst those who download stories and read them offline. Also, I would be surprised if many people added comments to long-finished stories.
I have a theory that readers are more likely to comment on stories they feel already has an active comment board. Some people don't want to be first, or even add a new comment to a story that has been out for years and the comments have dried up. At least, that's what I see with my story. I get a steady stream of reads each month, but no new comments in a few years. It's like no one wants to break the silence.
I get a steady stream of reads each month, but no new comments in a few years.
To some people a story is like a bottle of beer. Once they reach the end, they think they can't get anything else out of it.
I find that sad.
I get a steady stream of reads each month, but no new comments in a few years.
Same here. Comments are few and far between. I figure it's due to the kind of stories I write.
For those stories that have comments enabled while being posted, I suspect the number of downloads per chapter might have something to do with the number of comments - especially when the author interacts with the reader.
Like Jody Daniel. Lots of comments. Lots of downloads. High scores. He regularly responds to comments.
It's hard to say just how many readers, but the download numbers for the last chapter of three stories are:
Building a Better Past: almost 43000
Protective Coloration: shy of 3900
Charley and Claire: 1800
So, no, Charley and Claire has far more comments/download than the others.