I get that I'm not that good and that this new story is quite small at the current juncture in time but I do not think that it requires someone to vote the story as a one I think that for whoever votes below five or any number for that matter and that they should give a reason why the vote in either way and if it turns out that that reason is not true that that vote gets taken off what do you think?
Unfortunately, we all get 1's occasionally. Welcome to the club. It's frustrating as hell. You pour your heart out then you feel someone spits on it. All you can do is try not to worry about it and keep going. As you grow as a writer you'll start receiving encouragement from those who like your work. The important part is to stay true to yourself and work on the basics of story telling and improving your grammar, punctuation and such.
Thanks Darian I appreciate it would you do me a favor and check out my stories and tell me well you think and don't be afraid to leave your score and comment on the stories as well I'd greatly appreciate it
I'd be happy to take a peek. It will be tomorrow before I can even think about looking as it's my bed time.
Ok, I've had a chance to look it over. I've decided to put this here because as it's been pointed out most readers do not visit the forums. Here we go.
1. It appears that you are typing and posting without taking any effort to clean up your work. That is disrespectful to both your art and your readers. It's fine for rough draft work, but it should never leave your work space.
2. Whether it's due to the above or lack of knowledge you frequently break basic rules of English writing such as capitalizing I when speaking in the first person.
3. You openly admit to having no idea where this is going. Which can be OK, but in the end note you are asking others to basically carry the load. That shows laziness. It's quite all right to ask for editors and ask your readers for suggestions, but first you need to have put in some solid skull sweat and some serious lines on the paper.
Now, that I've chewed on you a bit let me tell you what I liked.
1. I think you have the kernel of a good story.
2. I really enjoyed the part where he woke up in the game. That was pretty good.
I'm not trying to discourage you. I know I said some harsh things, but they are meant for your benefit. Learn your craft and keep writing. I always run my work through two or three editing programs before I post it AND I still get flys in the soup. Here is a link to one I use to get you started.
https://www.slickwrite.com/
The important part is to stay true to yourself and work on the basics of story telling and improving your grammar, punctuation and such.
Not that those elements have ever been a factor in 1-votes. :( But still, we persevere.
Maybe it was someone that remembered you got caught plagiarizing stories back in the spring. Is that why you're posting under another name now? Remember, this forum has a search function, and it won't be hard for people to track down that incident under the sorrowdays127 handle.
People really don't like that kind of thing here, and rightfully so.
https://storiesonline.net/d/s2/t3868/would-this-count-as#po73845
It's actually under the same user that I posted and if that's the reason why they voted that way that's still bs and I believe that it should be taken off if that's the case
It's actually under the same user that I posted and if that's the reason why they voted that way that's still bs and I believe that it should be taken off if that's the case
Users are allowed to vote whatever they wish, with no demands they 'validate' their opinion. After all, that's all it is, their view of the story. Whatever they objected to, it wrecked the story, and you can't just wish it away.
For me, what's frustrating is when someone leaves a score like that and never bothers to explain to you, the creator, what you did wrong. How else are you expected to improve if they won't leave constructive criticism. Luckily, most of mind have registered their opinions, and vehemently so, so at least I know where we each stand.
I think that for whoever votes below five or any number for that matter and that they should give a reason why the vote in either way and if it turns out that that reason is not true that that vote gets taken off what do you think?
I think it is worth breaking down your idea. So:
Since actively moderating every vote is too time consuming to be considered, let's just do away with all votes less than 6.
Doing that leaves the voter a choice from 6 to 10, which is effectively 1 to 5.
Presumably you would then object to receiving a 1 vote or 2, possibly a three.
To fix that perhaps you would prefer a simple good/bad vote choice..??
Would you then object if readers voted your story 'bad' ??
Then again, as has been suggested by others, readers might be voting for you, not your story, and base their vote on your previous behaviour. If that is the case, well, Karma is a bitch...
I suggest you stop complaining and think of it as paying the price for past sins. The only way to gain respect is to earn it, if you feel you are being treated badly, then you have gained a little insight as to how those whose stories you plagiarised felt as a consequence of your actions.
Then again, as has also been pointed out, most readers don't ever use the forum, so will be oblivious to your history, those readers may still award you a 1, it could be due to spelling/grammar, it could be they dislike the subject matter, it could be they had a shit day and are taking out their frustrations on whichever story they read. Conversely you might get a 10 from someone who just loves the name of your main character, regardless of how good or bad the story actually is.
Readers are granted the freedom to vote however they like, for whatever reason, on a scale of 1 to 10. It isn't a free vote if you restrict or moderate those votes*. If you can't live with your readers having that freedom, then you have the freedom to turn voting off.
* Yes I'm aware of the algorithm, I'm just ignoring it.
it could be they dislike the subject matter
It could be that like his previously plagiarized story, he wasn't familiar enough with the story content, so the description and the story coding don't line up properly with the content.
I suggest you stop complaining and think of it as paying the price for past sins. The only way to gain respect is to earn it, if you feel you are being treated badly, then you have gained a little insight as to how those whose stories you plagiarised felt as a consequence of your actions.
I admit being ignorant of that issue, and assume there is some basis for that statement for. With that assumption stated, if someone is a known plagiaris, why would such a person not be banned from posting anything? If they have a history of such activity, what assurances are there anything they post hasn't been stolen from elswhere?
I apparently need some education here?
If they have a history of such activity, what assurances are there anything they post hasn't been stolen from elswhere)?
Read the first couple sentences of the story. No one would plagiarize something that bad!
I admit being ignorant of that issue, and assume there is some basis for that statement for.
A forum search on the OPs nym will show you all you need.
With that assumption stated, if someone is a known plagiaris, why would such a person not be banned from posting anything?
Lazeez would have to develop a chunk of code to handle the banning, which could easily be circumvented by a second registration.
I apparently need some education here?
All you need to do is read this thread, start to finish, including the links, that will give you all the information you need.
if someone is a known plagiaris, why would such a person not be banned from posting anything?
Whilst I can understand your view, especially as I've had to deal with sites stealing my stories recently, it's not that simple.
Just because someone made a mistake (or several) does not mean they deserve to get booted from the site. No, I'm not defending anyone, what I do think is that someone who has been caught out and remains here is showing a more mature attitude than if they had simply slunk off and repeated their misbehaviour elsewhere.
Do they deserve a certain level of animosity, yes. Does Lazeez deserve our acting like kids, no..!! So, personally I think it behoves us all to treat everyone with the level of respect they deserve, and constrain our comments to those that are at least adult in nature.
Besides which, given the breadth of knowledge amongst those here, do you really think there are not those who will check anything posted to ensure it isn't another attempt at plagiarism...??
I've marked your stories to read, but they will have to wait a bit until my latest endeavor is done. I'm just a reader, but I'll tell you honestly what I think of them.
For those that replied, thanks for your input.
Does Lazeez deserve our acting like kids, no..!!
No baby goats here, at least I hope not. As for acting immature, I don't know any adults, or children for that matter, that wouldn't be upset at a thief who has stolen from them.
Then again, that may be the source of my disconnect. I view plagiarist in the same light as common thieves. Maybe I'm just being too harsh.
I'm thinking that to be an author you need a thick skin. I speak from experience, as I have several stories (granted they are flash stories) that are hovering at an aggregate score of just over 4.0. That means they got scores of one. Now I do not think that the technicality of my writing necessarily attracts this level of score, so they must be being downvoted due to not appealing to the reader. I confess that I haven't actually perused your stories, but that is because in general I don't like to start reading a story that has not been finished. I also admit to being very ashamed that I have a posted story that I am unsure that I will ever be able to finish... :(
Now I do not think that the technicality of my writing necessarily attracts this level of score
I haven't read many of your stories because the subject matter doesn't usually appeal to me, but I haven't noticed any significant technical problems with the ones I have read.
I would attribute the low scores mainly to readers not reading the story codes before they started reading :(
AJ
I think your logic on excluding votes is seriously flawed. To start with, readers rate a story for many reasons and all of those reasons are valid/true for they are what the reader believes. Thus you can't exclude them just because you don't approve of their reason.
If you what to post what you write, suck-it-up and accept many readers won't like your grammar, plot, or the way you handle your characters.
Don't forget that any rules applied to the lower portion of the scale need to be applied to the upper postion of the scale. I've read posts where people automatically rate a story as a 10 because the author wrote and posted the story - absolutely no thought to the quality of the story.
The old saying about computers also applies to SOL: Garbage in, garbage out. If you want great score, write great stories.
The old saying about computers also applies to SOL: Garbage in, garbage out. If you want great score, write great stories.
But there lays the problem: everyone has a different perception about what a great story is.
everyone has a different perception about what a great story is.
Although to a certain extent that is true, go to the home page and look at the top rated stories. Though some of them have content that doesn't appeal to me, they are consistently well-written, well-edited stories. They are not filled with misspellings or horrible grammar; neither are they disjointed nor do they lack a plot. Check out the Clitorides awards; they have good scores in the mid-sevens or higher. Readers are usually honest in their scoring. Often, authors have a difficult time accepting that honesty.
Readers are usually honest in their scoring.
You need to explain 'Honest' to me in light of the Forum posters who state things like, they always give the author a 10 because the author put a lot of time and effort into the story.
That may be their honest opinion for giving a 10, but the 10 does not address the quality of the story.
Really..??
Do we have to do the whole vote argument again..??
It's got to be the world's longest blow-job.
Every iota of opinion has been sucked from every swinging dick with an opinion time and again, in thread after thread...
So, any chance we can cut out the vote topic foreplay and get down to some real fucking discussions..?? Oops.. I should have said real social intercourse..
How about what clothes you muse prefers? Does your favourite pencil have a cock or nipple shaped eraser..?? Even how fast does grass grow in the forest if nobody is watching..?? Does pixie dust react to UV or IR light..??
I hope not.
Me too.
Hopefully you realised that my post wasn't actually aimed at you personally..!!
If you didn't, then I'm sorry and would offer to bend over for a spanking, but you know I'd enjoy it too much... So 'sorry' will have to suffice, heartfelt of course.
I didn't take it personally.
Your offer reminds me of a young lady I was attracted to. We were in the office with coworkers and the conversation was about it being her birthday. I jokingly suggested that I give her a birthday spanking. She accepted, and I'll stop with she ended up across my lap. Tease, Tease. :)
If you didn't, then I'm sorry and would offer to bend over for a spanking, but you know I'd enjoy it too much... So 'sorry' will have to suffice, heartfelt of course.
Jolly hockey sticks!
AJ
That may be their honest opinion for giving a 10, but the 10 does not address the quality of the story.
And that is the point - it's their opinion, and that's true of all votes - even when the opinion doesn't match anyone else's.
it's their opinion
I hated the movie "La La Land," yet it did well in the Oscars.
I hated the movie "The Favourite," yet it tied for the most Oscar nominations this year.
I loved the novel "The Da Vince Code," yet the critics said Dan Brown can't write.
Who's right? (That's rhetorical.)
Who's right? (That's rhetorical.)
Every one except the Oscars voters and professional movie critics. :)
It is not uncommon for box office failures to do well at the Oscars, nor for movies that set box office records to get ignored by the Oscars.
I hated the movie "La La Land," yet it did well in the Oscars.
That's primarily because the Oscars have degenerated into a self-congratulatory system for Hollywood, to award themselves something for making a movie that only they want to watch and none of the rest of us find even vaguely interesting.
As for Dan Brown, he obviously can write his name on the deposit slips that those critics can't.
This American author earns $20 million a year and has accumulated a net worth of $160 million.
ETA:
This reminds me of the old saying. Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach. Those that can't teach, become administrators.
This reminds me of the old saying. Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach. Those that can't teach, become administrators.
It may be old, but still the truth.
I loved the novel "The Da Vince Code," yet the critics said Dan Brown can't write.
Who's right? (That's rhetorical.)
The consumer/customer is right.
Movies, books, music, what have you, critics have a bad track record for calling commercial success. If they were getting a performance review based on their record in a normal job, most of them would be fired.
The consumer/customer is right.
Yeah. That was my point concerning the discussion of how people vote on SOL. I don't agree with a lot of the scores given, but who am I to say I'm right and they're wrong?
Lol, what's funny is one of my lowest ranked stories has the highest downloads. So it's literary garbage with mass appeal.
If they were getting a performance review based on their record in a normal job, most of them would be fired.
Acquisition Editors do. It's their job to pick the right novels to publish. So they have to guess what will sell.
But there lays the problem: everyone has a different perception about what a great story is.
What's the problem with that? That's why they make red wagons and green wagons - not everybody likes the same thing.
Many of my stories get both 1s and 10s.
One got votes at every level.
That's people's opinions; I do mind, though, the ones that tell me that they voted me down because the story was too short.
1) The length of the story is one the @#$#$#% description page. If you don't like short-short stories, don't download them.
2) I want my readers to leave the story wanting more.
Remember Some people vote a 1 merely because they did not or cannot write like that.
I have a few stories that are mostly 8-9-10's yet have a score or 6 but 30-45,000 downloads. One admin, not Laz, wrote it was because the story was not Erotic and this site is only for Erotica.
Yes 99% my stories get a 1, but also 10's and I have over 100 stories on SOL.(More than 1 pen) SOL seems go score stories on its own, creative scale regardless of votes; a complaint Laz has addressed for years. It is his site so 'He who .....'
He works hard, does a great job but it is not a very 'Fair' site.
IMHO and I am sticking to it. Stories get a 1 for no reason at all, some have had to be pretty bad for a 1 though.
He works hard, does a great job but it is not a very 'Fair' site.
Bullshit..!!!
I dislike the scoring system, but my opinion does not count and bitching about it won't change anything, so mostly I just keep quiet, life is too short to waste it on pointless bitching.
That said you describing the site as "not a very 'Fair' site" is way out of order..!!
The scoring system treats every story the same, in as much as the algorithm is applied to the votes for every story. How can that possibly be unfair..??
I agree that it is designed to lower high scores and raise low ones, but that is the way it was designed. It would only be unfair if not all stories had it applied to them.
He works hard, does a great job
He sure does..!! So he most definitely does NOT deserve to have his site described as, "not a very 'Fair' site."
ETA
If you dislike the scoring system so much, or object when someone awards your story a 1 for whatever, mostly spurious, reason. You have the option to turn scoring OFF.
I agree that it is designed to lower high scores and raise low ones, but that is the way it was designed.
The scoring algorithm is not egalitarian; it doesn't raise low scores.
Not meant at you JoyR just in general. You are correct in saying that we are not going to change the scoring system again... but I still think that it is the worst part of SOL, where most everything is great.
You all are right about turning off scoring. But when there are 90% 8-10 votes and only 1 or 2 votes 4 or under I find it strange a score of 6 or 7 is the result. BTW, that only applied to 1 or 2 stories of 100 or more I have on SOL. One of which was a 9.2 for a bit then dropped after the Erotica reply.
BTW the Not Fair comment was my reaction to that story that changed simply that it was not Erotica since no low votes were submitted to drop it.
m
But you are correct, I will turn off the voting.
I have a few stories that are mostly 8-9-10's yet have a score or 6 but 30-45,000 downloads.
If you want a fair scoring system, the first thing you need to do is educate the readers as to how to score a story. Many 1's are not deserved, and many 10's are also not deserved.
Griping about scores is a waste of time. All your readers have personal reasons for their scores that often make no logical sense. Scoring the author is a good example because the scores have nothing to do with the story, which is what is being rated.
If you want a fair scoring system, the first thing you need to do is educate the readers as to how to score a story.
cmsix used to say the scoring system was an author beauty contest, and the way readers cast their votes make me think he was at least partly right.
AJ
What else could it be? There are no criteria to objectively determine the value of a story.
an author beauty contest
sounds about right to me. Although, I might call it an author ego contest.
an author beauty contest
I'm going to start every story with, "I believe in world peace."
I'm going to start every story with, "I believe in world peace."
Which century do you hail from? In modern beauty contests, the contestants compete for the most tear-jerking harsh upbringing story.
AJ
Lol if a beautiful girl of at least the age of consent says to me "I believe in world peace."my next sentence to her will be "I have candy in my room. Would you like some?"
"I have candy in my room. Would you like some?"
Presumably you enjoy watching whilst candy gets eaten...??
Depends on which piece she's eating so to speak ;)
You must not be very well endowed, if that's just candy. :)
What's the old saw? It's not the size of the wand, but the magic in it that counts. :)
Presumably you enjoy watching whilst candy gets eaten...??
Actually I prefer to watch Candy be eaten.
REP
Despite how it may appear, this post isn't aimed at you personally. I know that others have voiced a similar idea in the past, and no doubt will in the future.
If you want a fair scoring system, the first thing you need to do is educate the readers as to how to score a story.
First. Who exactly decides the 'rules' used to score a story. Education sounds good, but in effect it is teaching a set of rules to use when scoring.
What do you propose to do to people who score without following these rules?
Would you consider a set of rules used to judge all songs ever written?
Judge every melody / tune ever written?
Stories here are marked on a scale of 1 to 10.
How many marks get deducted for badd speelling? Do you deduct twice as many for two misspelt words in a 100,000 word story?
What about grammar ...?
What proportion of the score you you allow the reader to apply according to their personal taste?
Does too little or too much sex get points deducted?
Before anyone suggests such an unworkable scoring 'education' all of these questions need to be answered, and they are only scratching the surface.
Not to mention the practicality of sending me to a re-education camp because I voted on your favourite story and gave it a 3.
Having written this I'm actually interested to see anyone attempt to justify requiring readers to be 'educated' before being allowed to score a story.
But I'm not holding my breath.
Having written this I'm actually interested to see anyone attempt to justify requiring readers to be 'educated' before being allowed to score a story.
Educating the voters to a level of comprehension adequate to understand the verbal descriptions of the scores would be a good start. For example "j. Most Amazing Story" is not intended to mean "Actually it's not very good but the author deserves it for going to the trouble to write and post a story".
AJ
Most Amazing Story
So what criteria actually earn a score of "Most Amazing Story"..??
A story that made the reader weep.?
Made them laugh?
Changed their life?
Gave them pause when they had been contemplating ending their lives.
Gave them hope?
Achieved 'most read story status' ?
All of the above? None?
Any or all of your list. But note the superlative - readers should only ever award a single j. ;)
AJ
Currently I have 13 stories I have graced with Most Amazing out of 1500+ bookmarked and voted stories. Only 1 obviously not but still very rarely given.
First. Who exactly decides the 'rules' used to score a story.
We don't need no more stinkin' rules. We got too many as it is. :)
What readers need to learn is don't score a story a 10 because the author put out a lot of effort.
What readers need to learn is don't score a story a 1 because you don't like the content.
What readers need to learn is don't score a story solely on how it makes you feel.
There are more don'ts and a lot of do's that I will skip.
I reserve my right to vote for a story however I like - just like I do in a voting booth for candidates. I once voted for a candidate for re-election to the U.S. House - even though I disagreed with him on just about every issue. But he'd helped my in-laws who were having some difficulties with the bureaucracy - and I thought for that alone he deserved my vote. My usual No. 1 criterion for voting on an SOL story is whether the author made me care what happened to the characters. Second is usually the author's storytelling abilities. Sometimes I reverse the order of those two. Close to the bottom is how many technical errors and how fragrant (I alone judge whether they, in fact, are technical errors.)
One admin, not Laz, wrote it was because the story was not Erotic and this site is only for Erotica.
That's a very strange thing to say. There are some very high scoring stories on this site where sex is either absent or only mentioned in cursory terms.
Others have posited that sex stories are emphasised on the initial pages to attract readers, but that management would prefer a wide range of story types rather than just a narrow focus.
AJ
I have decided I will not live or die by these posted scores. I see most of the highest scores are long running stories. I really appreciate when someone sends me a comment.
I really appreciate when someone sends me a comment.
Feedback is WAY more important than any individual vote, or even the sum-total of the votes. Telling me WHY you like/dislike what I write is far more valuable than a '10' and far more informative than a '1'.
That said, I've been known to whinge about scores and the scoring system.
I recently gave a low score to a story by a person on the east side of the Atlantic because of what I THOUGHT was an improper use of quoting. I also sent an email to him, telling why the low score. Come to find out, the single quote marks ARE the proper use over there. I did apologize to him.
I vote how I feel about a story. I really do not care how anyone else votes or the overall score a story has. If I like it I will vote it H,I,or J per the current voting system.
Do not care what anyone else votes.
Also if Do not like a story it will get a D or E per current voting system, do not care if everyone else has voted story a J.
Remember Voting is based on what the person reading the story thinks, not what the Author or anyone else thinks, only the person casting that vote.
If you do not like the scoring do not look or for an Author cut off voting and comments.
I really think that we have beaten this to death.
All of you can start beating your keyboards to death replying now:)
We have been over this subject before.
I currently have stories in six tabs - one just finished and a MUST to reread. The others await the next chapter and my breath is bated.
To get to that stage they justify an 8 or better
I have just finished a story which for me has all the elements of a most amazing story;
---It is semi-believable with a bit of understandable scifi
---HG Well's rocket to the moon was then scifi - this story's ideas MIGHT happen but not, I think, in my lifetime
---The author involves places in a wide variety of countries - it starts in the US but he has an excellent and detailed knowledge of the UK, Swiss banking law, Australia, computer software, hi-finance and a lot more. Is he American or a Brit or even an Aussie - I don't know
---The story just keeps going and going with no dull patches
--- yes, there is a bit of sex but it is clearly a very small part of the story and is in logical continuity with the story
--- it is well written and I have I think spotted just one definite typo and many times a specific word is mis-spelt from a UK point of view
--- it includes the moralistic claim/exposition that hard work is more likely to bring success
For me this has enough elements to warrant a ten and Charlie F has not finished it yet
--- yes, there is a bit of sex but it is clearly a very small part of the story and is in logical continuity with the story
So the implication is that if it has sex it can't be rated very high. :(
For me this has enough elements to warrant a ten and Charlie F has not finished it yet
If I understand the author's blog correctly, if there's another book in the series it will be patreon only.
IMO it's a very good story. I initially awarded it my highest rating, three stars, but I've recently downgraded it to two. The two major story arcs, the ultimate choice between Jeryl and Chrissy and the nefarious intentions of the Chinese, are taking forever to get anywhere (although the latter may be resolved in the current book) and there are an increasing number of typos creeping into the chapters.
AJ
If I understand the author's blog correctly, if there's another book in the series it will be patreon only.
It's a good story I really enjoy. If a follow up book were an ebook sold from lulu or something I will consider it depending on the cost but there's no way I will touch patreon. The amount of third party garbage on that site is horrifying.
The amount of third party garbage on that site is horrifying.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels that way. I bought Jay's book there and regretted it all the way. They make dealing with Amazon a pleasure, and that ain't easy.
One hopes 'Ye SOL Bookshoppe' comes to fruition sooner rather than later. Better than authors debunking to Patreon or Amazon, and no third party garbage.
AJ
One hopes 'Ye SOL Bookshoppe' comes to fruition sooner rather than later. Better than authors debunking to Patreon or Amazon, and no third party garbage.
Yes it would.
It will also be interesting to see how it works. For instance how a book is promoted without it being considered a teaser..?
Would posting book one for free be acceptable if books two and three are only available in the bookshoppe..?
Our own bookshop would be great. It could help our authors in need. I admit to rarely purchasing books as money has been scarce the last year or so. Coming to think about it book money has been scarce since I got married and had kids. Lol
One hopes 'Ye SOL Bookshoppe' comes to fruition sooner rather than later. Better than authors debunking to Patreon or Amazon, and no third party garbage.
That's one shop I will trust more than any other. I will have to be careful with my book spendings. Patreon I won't even consider and I hate Amazon so let the SOL shop come ;)
One hopes 'Ye SOL Bookshoppe' comes to fruition sooner rather than later.
I can say that significant progress is being made.