So, I'm just wondering. Do the rest of you generally get comments on your stories? I have to admit that I'm just a bit surprised that my most recent story, which is the most successful I have had on this site, has yet to receive a single comment. Is this the standard?
(Not complaining, mind you, even nothing is better than some of the crap I got from trolls on "another site". I was just curious.)
It's weird: I'll comment on a story where there's already comments, but I usually refrain from commenting if no one else has either. Silly, I know, but maybe someone just needs to break the ice.
The most comments I've ever got was when accidentally uploaded chapter 7 a second time instead of chapter 8.
I get more comments in multi chapter stories, but chapter 1 seems to get the most comments, generally. Still, I don't get comments every chapter.
I also seem to get more comments if I make an effort to reply to the ones people post as well.
4 is the most number of comments I've gotten on a given upload. Once for the fuck up, once on the merits.
I've consistently gotten fewer and fewer comments with each successive story I've posted. It feels odd.
I've consistently gotten fewer and fewer comments with each successive story I've posted. It feels odd.
This seems to be a fairly newish trend. For a long time, authors were always stunned by the overwhelming support readers provided on SOL, primarily in terms of positive comments, and less often through financial assistance.
However, with more and more authors actively hawking their material through a variety of conflicting retail options, I suspect that SOL readers are simply overwhelmed, and no longer feel as connected to newer, up-and-coming authors, and even less to the older 'established' authors.
While my older stories all got a tremendous number of ongoing comments, most of my recent books (i.e. last 3+ years) have had barely a single comment and the last two, not a single one.
Sadly, I think this is the new trend. Maybe it's the perceived 'commodification' of SOL, maybe it's a new generation of readers as the older 'old-timers' who used to actively support authors have died off, but I've basically given up on feedback from my stories anymore. Which is too bad, because the financial rewards that seems to scare so many readers away are nothing to write home about.
I also seem to get more comments if I make an effort to reply to the ones people post as well.
Given how contentious many authors become over comments (i.e. perceived 'critiques'), I suspect that many readers are like me, they'll try to respond once to an author, and if they don't respond, or respond negatively, we place them on our internal 'never contact' list, as it's just not worth the abuse.
As as most of you know, I'll comment on virtually anything and everything, but it shows the extremes in author responses. When even I won't dare comment on promising stories, it tells you were the state of public discourse is nowadays.
I will admit, I'm guilty of not leaving comments too. But I do try to at least leave something.
So, not saying I'm 100%.
BUT... It's good to know I'm fitting right into the same pattern as all the rest of you!
Cheers!!!
BUT... It's good to know I'm fitting right into the same pattern as all the rest of you!
Although I still write comments, I'm much more cautious about it. However, I'm more likely to respond to blog posts--often because you're responding to the comments, without having to delve into and read each individual chapter, yet more and more, author seem to respond negatively to any posts which are not positively glowing (i.e. if you can't say something wonderful, then don't bother writing anything at all!)
Thus, I can't see these trends waning anytime in the near future, if at all. Instead, I see them as the waning of the old guard, who truly believed in supporting the SOL authors, vs. those who merely expect us to continually crank out new material without any support of any kind.
Most of my stories get a comment or two and most of the comments are from the same five or six readers. Most of the comments are positive but quite a few are negative and several have been abusive. Of the stories that received ten or more comments, almost all those comments were negative.
Actually, most of the comments I have gotten here have been very positive.
And I do get the occasional mail feedback instead of comments. Which is also fine.
I was just curious how it was for everyone else.
It seems that the readers here are not big commenters.
Thank you all for your responses.
occasional mail feedback
I've become a bit more vocal at times. I average about 20 emails per blog post, about 15 per chapter. And I'm still on pace to hit 300+ for the most recent book, just like the first two in the series. (Yes, a good 10% of those are mine responding, but I 'bulk' respond. I reply comment to one, then do @someone else in the same response.)
It seems that the readers here are not big commenters.
Which in itself is a huge switch, as SOL was long the exception, actively promoting, supporting and encouraging authors. Yet now, SOL seems to be the same as all the online story sites, expecting a steady stream of material with no appreciation of either quality or effort.
As I've noted before, I get a hellofalot more support on a generic site like Quora than I do on a site like SOL where I pour my heart out in my stories. I suspect that Switch Blayde and others have the right idea: just shut off comments. The longer-term readers know how to contact us, while the more vocal abusers deem fit turning off the comments entirely.
I mean do you want comments on older stories still. I only recently joined and downloaded a number of stories and read a few of them partially. Many are 5 years old and more. Should I send a note to the author?
I mean do you want comments on older stories still.
FWIW I appreciate comments on older stories.
AJ
do you want comments on older stories still
It's probably a reader reading the story for the first time so why not?
I mean do you want comments on older stories still. I only recently joined and downloaded a number of stories and read a few of them partially. Many are 5 years old and more. Should I send a note to the author?
It's positive confirmation that a story made a difference in someone's life, so of course it makes a difference. After a couple years of NO active comments, I'm about ready to pull my hair out. Writing is a partnership between author and reader, if you cut off contact with one, the other is left to whither and die, floundering in the dark.
Sometimes, even a 'this is utter crap, why not write the stories you used to' is enough to stir an author.
Writing is a partnership between author and reader
Unless the reader influences how the story is written, there is no partnership. And even then, like with a Beta reader, I don't see it as a partnership.
Unless the reader influences how the story is written, there is no partnership. And even then, like with a Beta reader, I don't see it as a partnership.
The partnership between author and reader (long discussed within the literary field for hundreds of years) is completely beyond the scope of any direct communication between the two.
Instead, it relies on the reader applying the events of the story in entirely ne ways, reformulating it to fit their own context. While that can keep a story alive long after the author dies, it can also catch the author utterly unprepared, as they'll likely never guess how select groups of readers might twist their original meanings in unexpected ways.
Those ways are no less valid, but they're also likely to flavor the story in negative directions that the author never intended. My stories have never appealed to female readers, but I've become a better author by learning to appreciate why it affects them more negatively than it does my male readers, as they're based on personal values, rather than on how the story is told.
The benefit of a beta-reader, within that context, isn't that they dictate how an author tells their story, it's that they can help to warn an author when those unexpected responses crop up, so they can take actions to mitigate them. By recognizing the conflicting interpretations, the authors can buy time, over the course of the story, to work out those different interpretations. But, if they aren't addressed, then those readers will simply stop reading when they hit those passages, and the authors will NEVER comprehend why.
To be fair, I do not believe any fiction* has made a difference in my life. Some has moved me. And some has introduced me to things with which I was unfamiliar.
But I will try to praise what I enjoy, but unless I have very specific grievances, I will probably not offer a criticism.
*Some nonfiction books have made a difference - 'Godel, Escher, Bach', Lipstick Traces, When Corporations Rule The World', etc.
To be fair, I do not believe any fiction* has made a difference in my life. Some has moved me. And some has introduced me to things with which I was unfamiliar.
There are innumerable reasons why some readers prefer nonfiction to fiction, but the main one is that nonfiction informs the reader about specific things they hadn't recognized before, while literature normally portrays our emotional response, allowing us to process how others experience life in ways we—in our own limited worlds—would simply never consider in our normal lives.
Thus it's not that you 'learn' more in nonfiction than you do via fiction, you just process it differently, and thus, how strongly it affects you isn't primarily how well it's written, as it is how you're individual brain is wired (i.e. it's more whether you process concepts in the left or right hemisphere of your brain). That doesn't mean that either process is inferior, but it also doesn't make them equivalent.
My first story received a ton of comments. Maybe that was because I was new. My second and third story (in the same series) scored better but received half or less comments. Same with messages. Not sure why. The comments and messages showing mistakes I guess I can understand as the latter stories were much more heavily proofed.
But, its sometimes discouraging. I was much happier with how my third story progressed and was written but the feedback has been sparse. Makes me doubt.
But, its sometimes discouraging. I was much happier with how my third story progressed and was written but the feedback has been sparse. Makes me doubt.
Maybe you need to put a few back in? Keep the substantial edits, which improve the flow and pacing, but maintain multiple 'easy to spot' typos which are more likely to trigger comments, just as a way of expressing that you are actively engaging with readers. As others have commented, often a lack of comments stymies adding any in the first place.
I try to always respond to comments. Good or bad. Unless, of course, it's just obvious trolling, although I haven't seen a lot of that here.
I can learn something from bad comments too.
And once or twice I have had other readers respond to the comments for me, which was nice.
I can learn something from bad comments too.
Typically, you learn the most from your harshest critics, though it's tricky, since like most readers, they haven't investigated their triggers, and most often pick the most obvious thing rather than what specifically ticked them off. Which is why I always like to engage them. With a little prodding, it doesn't take long to figure out where their dissatisfaction lies, and most often, it's a particular interpretation of the story (ex. an unexpected perception of a particular character), and why those are difficult to anticipate, once you're aware of the issue, you can usually address it.
Once I've identified the issue, I'll typically purchase time to address it by acknowledging it (in an ongoing story, of course, but also because that'll buy you time to add the fix to an already published book). Simply by acknowledging a character issue, readers trust that it'll eventually be addressed, so they'll give the story time to bring it up and address it.
I've dealt with that in several stories over the years, and they were always things that completely blindsided not only me, but my editors (both proofers and Content editor). Which is why we all need beta-readers, but I've never been able to scare up any SOL beta-reader volunteers. (Lazeez, maybe a new editor type might attract a few?)
The stories have an option to send a message to the author, so I see the comments as a venue for the readers to discuss the story and aspects of it, so I don't even read them unless I get a message from a reader saying I should look at a specific comment, then I'll respond to that and leave it at that.
Some of my readers do send a message directly to me, and I will respond to every one of them. But I do also at least look at the comments. If it seems like it needs a response from, then I will.
(example. my last story ended on a cliffhanger. multiple comments "what kind of ending is that?" to which another reader answered. "it's a SERIES, duhhh. Cliffhanger..")
That amused me at least. Not sure howw they couldne't figure that out.
Some of my readers do send a message directly to me, and I will respond to every one of them. But I do also at least look at the comments. If it seems like it needs a response from, then I will.
I tell them straight out that I don't read the comments as I don't have enough time to do that and live and write.
I tell them straight out that I don't read the comments as I don't have enough time to do that and live and write.
A story that doesn't provoke thought (and therefore, discussion) doesn't actually change anyone's life. It's simply 'comfort food', akin to donuts and potato chips, which makes you feel good, but doesn't improve you life in the least.
Are you actually telling me that you don't care what your readers think of your stories? Can you really say that a single, legitimate question, can inspire many additional stories. Or are you just so used to cranking out the same stories, that you're no longer concerned with new ideas at all?
That seems like the refrain of someone who's given up, who's no long looking to better their art, and is simply happy, churning out more page, regardless of content. Surely you're not that intellectually hardened?
As (largely) amateur authors, our only real payment are these online comments. If no one will even willing to discuss your story, then why bother putting them out into the void? For me, a story that doesn't generate some response is a failure, however many copies it sells. If my readers response it 'Eh, it was OK', I take that as a statement of my personal failure as an artist.
Now, since I don't honest believe you feel that way, I'll give you your due. Sometimes it's frustrated wading into discussion of minute details of phrasing, or arguments concerning minute details which undermine your main emphasis. In which case, most of us merely page through those types of comments. But saying that you 'can't be bothered' with feedback is essentially saying that you've accepted that your stories will never impact anyone's life, which is something I'm not ready to accept yet.
A story that doesn't provoke thought (and therefore, discussion) doesn't actually change anyone's life. It's simply 'comfort food', akin to donuts and potato chips, which makes you feel good, but doesn't improve you life in the least.
I have to say that I find the idea that any fictional story no matter how well written can actually improve a reader's life to be absurd.
A story that doesn't provoke thought (and therefore, discussion) doesn't actually change anyone's life. It's simply 'comfort food', akin to donuts and potato chips, which makes you feel good, but doesn't improve you life in the least.
I have to say that I find the idea that any fictional story no matter how well written can actually improve a reader's life to be absurd.
What do you think about the converse, that is: can a piece of fiction make a reader's life worse?
What do you think about the converse, that is: can a piece of fiction make a reader's life worse?
Equally absurd.
Reading stories played an important role in my becoming a writer (for better or for worse).
I do have one comment on comments. I don't think they are intended for the author. The reason I say that is that the author is not informed when there is a comment. Also the person who comments is not informed if there is a response to his comment. My guess is that the comments are for readers who might find them useful in deciding whether to read a story. And for readers who feel like saying something that may or may not ever reach the author.
It might be a nice feature to have the author informed of comments and the author of a comment informed if there is a response.
Similarly, it would be nice to get a notification if a Forum comment receives a response.
(Or maybe I'm overlooking a feature...)
Reading stories played an important role in my becoming a writer (for better or for worse).
I don't consider that comparable to one specific story having a life changing affect on the reader.
I stopped eating rabbit after reading Watership Down. I read Les Misérables and stopped eating people.
I stopped eating rabbit after reading Watership Down. I read Les Misérables and stopped eating people.
So, reading Soylent Green finally got you to stop eating so much processed food?
It might be a nice feature to have the author informed of comments and the author of a comment informed if there is a response.
Similarly, it would be nice to get a notification if a Forum comment receives a response.
Good points.
If a reader notices an obvious error in a story, they have a dilemma. If they contact the author directly, that could mean the author getting flooded with messages. Some authors have mentioned that happening in blogs. Alternatively, if the reader posts a comment, it should reduce the flood of messages the author gets but there's no guarantee the author will read it. And the comment may well persist for eternity, even though if the author fixes the problem the comment is no longer relevant.
AJ
If a reader notices an obvious error in a story, they have a dilemma. If they contact the author directly, that could mean the author getting flooded with messages. Some authors have mentioned that happening in blogs. Alternatively, if the reader posts a comment, it should reduce the flood of messages the author gets but there's no guarantee the author will read it.
Actually, I've long found the converse. When an authors--especially a new author--responds to the online comments, it encourages them to open up even more, and to discuss the ideas broached.
Of course, that often leads directly to the readers arguing over the author's clarification, but as they say 'there's no such thing as bad news'. If it attracts new readers to the story, or simply strengthens the author/reader relationship, it ultimately benefits the author.
However, it's also possibly to overplay your hand and actually weaken your hand, especially if an authors becomes defensive, striking out at the comments rather than giving it fair consideration, not only will the comments quickly spin out of control, but readers will retreat not only from communicating with he author at all, but may avoid their stories entirely given the heated exchanges.
Still, I believe in engaging readers, rather than keeping them at arms length, as an author who's uninterested in how readers respond to their writing simply isn't interested in improving. If you're uninterested in why your stories does work, then you'll never be able to fix them.
It might be a nice feature to have the author informed of comments and the author of a comment informed if there is a response.
Today I discovered that at the least the first part of this currently exists; in author's preferences the author can request to receive email informing him of comments.
What do you think about the converse, that is: can a piece of fiction make a reader's life worse?
Now that DS has cleared up the ambiguity in his use of the word 'any', I would beg to disagree with his claim.
I have to admit a degree of scepticism about whether a piece of fiction is powerful enough to persuade someone to turn their life around, shop their abusive husband to the police, return the money they stole, start volunteering to help at soup kitchens etc.
But, for example, reading a feelgood story can cause a number of biochemical and physiological changes that impact on the health - releases endorphins, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure etc. Minor changes, but perhaps averting the last straw that would have broken the camel's back.
AJ
But, for example, reading a feelgood story can cause a number of biochemical and physiological changes that impact on the health - releases endorphins, reduces stress, lowers blood pressure etc. Minor changes, but...
A sad story, or an everyone dies horror story can have similar (though in those cases probably not beneficial) effects.
But here is the key, those affects are necessarily temporary. They are not life changing.
perhaps averting the last straw that would have broken the camel's back.
In such a case, it is at best delaying what is already inevitable. There will always be another straw for the camel's back.
I have to say that I find the idea that any fictional story no matter how well written can actually improve a reader's life to be absurd.
I think I remember in a biography about J.D. Salinger that he got sick of people telling him how much his book ("Catcher in the Rye") had changed their lives. I do remember in the movie "Finding Forrester" the Sean Connolly character was modeled after Salinger and in the movie Forrester was telling the boy a story about his brother dying in the hospital and the nurse telling him how much his book had changed her life.
Are you actually telling me that you don't care what your readers think of your stories?
That's not a true statement. There exist one system for readers to enter into a discussion with me about the stories by sending me a message. I see the comments as a board where the readers can discuss the story between themselves without having me jumping in all of the time. I see it as a venue for the readers, not for the author.
As (largely) amateur authors, our only real payment are these online comments.
Perhaps Lazeez should devise a scoring system ;-)
AJ
The stories have an option to send a message to the author, so I see the comments as a venue for the readers to discuss the story and aspects of it, so I don't even read them unless I get a message from a reader saying I should look at a specific comment, then I'll respond to that and leave it at that.
That's what Lazeez does (don't worry, we're NOT discussing you, old pal). Instead of wasting time reviewing the forums, he's alerted whenever anyone makes a reference to him, and checks the context to determine whether he needs to respond or not.
Unfortunately, most of us are forced to slog through the missives, responding to one angry missive after the next. ;)
Here on SOL, my highest commented story is a few of them tied at 2 comments. I sometimes get mails, but def not a lot of feedback.
Do the rest of you generally get comments on your stories?
With me, it depends on the story.
I find I get more of them if the story is longer, but for the most part they are minimal.
I find I get more of them if the story is longer, but for the most part they are minimal.
I suspect new authors get more vocal responses, and just as longer stories get higher ratings (and move views), they'll likewise get more comments.
But over time, I think readers are less likely to comment on known genres and tropes, thinking the areas has been explored before. However, as I said previously, I suspect that, with the old-guard SOL readers waning away, the new generation is simply less inclined to comment, simply taking the stories as their due. After all, it's nothing special if there are plenty of stories available for free on the internet, right?
My ace Research Department — teenage son —- looked into this subject. He counted the number of pages of Comments for my 15 stories. There was a total of 55 pages of reader postings, which averaged out to 3.66 pages per story.
My lowest-scored story — "Ms. Sloane" — had 3 pages of Comments. My highest — "Hide & Seek" — had 4 pages. Not that I pay the slightest attention to reader scores.
The most pages of Comments for a single story was 6; two of the stories had but a single page.
The three most popular subjects to my readers (as breezily extrapolated from both Comments and Messages) seem to be: guns, politics, and sex. Pretty much in that order.
Paige
The three most popular subjects to my readers (as breezily extrapolated from both Comments and Messages) seem to be: guns, politics, and sex. Pretty much in that order.
So now all your stories focus on people having sex with guns while discussing politics? ;)
That's sorta akin to the racist grandparent getting more attention by quoting Hitler at the dinner table. It doesn't make him right, and no one in the family will ever respect them for it. So just because something provokes a strong response shouldn't impact what you write about.
Controversies divert attention, while a story, told well, can influence lives. It doesn't happen often, but isn't it better shooting for the stars then never having gotten off the couch in the first place?
It doesn't happen often, but isn't it better shooting for the stars then never having gotten off the couch in the first place?
The purpose of a fictional story should be to entertain.
Preachy fiction that is trying to change people's lives/views is almost always worse for the effort.
My stories all get comments. It's a mixture of positive, feedback on technical things (firearms described wrong, etc) and a few negative. I read them all and love seeing them, but I agree it's more of a conversation between readers and I don't want to get in the way of that.
My stories all get comments.
Most of my stories do not, but I think most times they just wander away from them, somewhat confused at what they had just read.
However, there have been many discussions in my long form stories. In one of my 4 book series, the comments run 9, 47, 21, and 5 pages.
But I also write in very different styles. You can call about half of what I write "popular", where I am trying to tell the kind of story that I think most would get into.
Then you have the other half, more experimental and expressionist. Where I actually sometimes fuck with the mind of the person reading it, and hope I manage to shock, surprise, or just bewilder them so they then wonder what in the hell they just read.
Mostly, because I like busting tropes. Like the "happily ever after do-over". Busted that, the boning the daughter's hot friend, cheating with a hot Asian girl, sexbots, even time stop watches and more.
Mostly, I find many stories are predictable because many trope based follow the exact same trope every time. And I like to spruce things up, and inject something else.
And in the end, mostly what I actually inject is little more than "consequences".
I thrive on comments and feedback from my readers. You bet your ass is already written and it's doing very well but we don't get that many comments other than very brief thank you.
Oftentimes in the past, I got comments That included suggestions of where it should go. I think people are just enjoying the ride on this one.
At least that's one theory, the other is could be that nobody gives a fuck