Is there a consensus on voting?
Example: I hate cheating and in some degree cheaters. I cannot stand stories where there are no consequenses for the cheater(s).
Do I vote a low score on stories with no consequenses or do I refrain from voting because the story haven't got an ending to my liking?
Consensus? HERE? Um... no, not so much.
BTW, the new BTB or Burn The Bitch story tag sounds like might be right for you!)
I try to vote on the merits of the story and just avoid those stories I am pretty certain not to like (if I can). An ending I don't like is a risk I take, but I still vote on the story as a whole.
My view is different from Lazeez's, but it's his site and his voting system. I can't speak for him, but I can pass along a true event.
I got an email from a reader who said he didn't know if he should give my story a 1 or 10. It was about the lengths a drug addict would go for a fix (my son is a recovering drug addict) and in this case the mother looked the other way while her pusher molested her young daughter. I couldn't think of anything worse. The reader said he had to stop reading the story because he worked with abused children and it was too real for him. He was writing me because he didn't know if he should give the story a 1 because of that or a 10 because it was so well written (he ended up giving it a 10).
I asked Lazeez. He was upset that the reader thought the only options were 1 or 10 in a scoring system with 10 options, but he said, under that limitation, the reader should give it a 1. I took away from that, for him, it's all about how much the reader likes the story.
I disagree.
Readers who aren't turned off by that kind of story will be punished because they may never see the well-written story. Other people's biases of story content would result in the story having a lower score than it should. There are good stories and bad ones. There are stories you like and those you don't. Those two criteria don't always align.
I guess I should also mention that when the site had TPA (Technical, Plot, Appeal) scoring, only the Appeal (like) went into the scoring system.
My opinion is that if it's a good story and the reader doesn't like it because of content, then the reader shouldn't vote on it. Hopefully the story codes would prevent the reader from even reading it, but if not, just don't vote on it.
As Reluctant_Sir has already pointed out, consensus isn't really in this forum's vocabulary.
There are however many vocal proponents for how to vote "the right way". (Theirs) However as most of them only listen to their own voices and read only enough so as to respond with how right they are and how wrong everyone else is, I'd suggest you vote as YOU think best. Oh and please, whatever you do, however you vote, please, please don't ask a similar question about scoring... I know January is nearly over, but those threads stir up more shit than a government exposé.
Perhaps your best option is to vote THEN comment, state what score you voted and why. At least that way other readers (as well as the author) get something more useful than a vote.
Hell, you might even start a new craze for readers leaving actual feedback..!!
Now THAT would be a novel feature on a story site.
My $5.00
(Payable to any veterans association, but only if you follow my advice.)
People vote the way they vote. Having said that, as an author, I'm offended by votes for what the story is portraying. (If they omit squick codes, that's something else. But coding is part of writing.)
I've got SOL mail from people who've voted my story down because it was too short.
I've got SOL mail from people who've voted my story down because it was too short.
That was probably a threat. "Make it longer or the low score stands."
People vote the way they vote. Having said that, as an author, I'm offended by votes for what the story is portraying. (If they omit squick codes, that's something else. But coding is part of writing.)
I've had people write me and tell me they voted a '1' (or similar) because the story contained something which was coded and which they didn't like. "The MC should know better..."
Yeah, if I had a dime for every time somebody who 'should know better' did something (consistent with their personality), I'd be a zillionaire by now.
Firstly, if the story was tagged as such, you shouldn't be reading it. Reading anyway knowing it was tagged with something you find offensive, is like a religious fundementalist entering a strip club with a dancing women neon sign over the building.
If the content is a sentence, paragraph, or other brief back story without the tag, just ignore it.
If the story was not tagged and chuck full of your squick, then you might be justified to 2 bomb it.
It's my opinion no story deserves a 1 unless it's full of grammar, spelling, crap broken sentences, and a general lack of story.
My .02
It's my opinion no story deserves a 1 unless it's full of grammar, spelling, crap broken sentences, and a general lack of story.
Personally, I would only vote a 1 for a general lack of a story. There's a reason it's labeled "You call this a story".
The only consensus I've observed is most authors wish all of their readers would vote. The voter to reader ratio is difficult to determine and varies between authors and stories. I would say the average is somewhere between 1 in 10 to 1 in 4.
The only consensus I've observed is most authors wish all of their readers would vote.
Really? You really believe that, if I dislik a story for whatever personal reason, the author would rather I score it with a 1 or 2 than to leave it unscored.
I, personally, score no story less than a 6. If, in my opinion, I think it deserves less, I leave it unscored.
My reasoning is simple. I love reading stories on SOL. I wish to encourage bad writers to become good writers. I don't want a bad score that I gave to discourage authors.
Yes I do believe it.
The content of your post proves there is no consensus on the rating to give a story that the reader doesn't like. In prior threads, people have said such a story rates a 1, others said it deserves a 10 because of the author made the effort. Others said if they didn't finish the story, they didn't rate it while some said if a story was so bad they didn't finish it, it deserved a low score.
If I start a story and it doesn't keep my interest or is just something I don't like I just leave it and move on. I only rate stories I enjoy to encourage the author.
On that basis, surely scoring low on stories you do not enjoy, would also help to 'encourage' an author to try harder or move on to something they are better at writing?
I've observed is most authors wish all of their readers would vote. The voter to reader ratio is difficult to determine and varies between authors and stories. I would say the average is somewhere between 1 in 10 to 1 in 4.
Admittedly it's been continued, but the first chapter of my latest pair of stories got over 300/7 and 200/2 downloads to votes.
Admittedly it's been continued, but the first chapter of my latest pair of stories got over 300/7 and 200/2 downloads to votes.
I prefer looking at the votes per downloaded chaper. in longer stories, the number of downloads skews the numbers.
Shad
I never low-score a story because I have left it before I get to the point where I can enter a score. I bet that a lot of stories would get much lower scores if you could enter the score before the last chapter. And maybe that's a good thing. If you haven't read the whole story you are probably not in a position to honestly score it anyway.
f you could enter the score before the last chapter.
That is probably why the author didn't enable voting until the story was into the 3rd - 5th chapter.
If you haven't read the whole story you are probably not in a position to honestly score it anyway.
Do you really need to finish a story to know it deserves a low score?
Do you really need to finish a story to know it deserves a low score?
Maybe not. But as I said, you have to be on the last chapter to be able to vote. If I quit reading a story because I don't like it then I don't find it necessary to jump to the last chapter just to give it a low score. If I did go to that extra trouble I should have at least read a significant part of the story to justify my scoring.
I rarely quit a story I started reading. If I do it's most likely that I misinterpreted the description or missed some of the codes. That doesn't justify low-scoring to me.
That is probably why the author didn't enable voting until the story was into the 3rd - 5th chapter.
A lesson I learned early on - you can eliminate a lot of '1-bombs' by waiting until you have seven or eight chapters posted before turning on voting. Not perfect, but it seems to help.
If you haven't read the whole story you are probably not in a position to honestly score it anyway.
What if, in some cases, that's the true 1 score. Let's say you start a story that makes no sense, is unreadable, etc. When you abandon it, you're probably thinking, "You call this a story?"
What if, in some cases, that's the true 1 score. Let's say you start a story that makes no sense, is unreadable, etc. When you abandon it, you're probably thinking, "You call this a story?"
I never started reading a story that would qualify a 1 score, reading the description and codes prevents that.
A few months back I started a story that happened to have lots of typos, 100+ in each chapter. I managed to struggle through a few chapters and although I really liked the story I just couldn't keep reading it, the flow was too severely disrupted by typos. I wouldn't know how to score that story. Story wise I thought it was worth an 8 but still, technically a 1: unreadable. I didn't score the story. I know it has been updated since I downloaded it so I will have to give it another try.
the flow was too severely disrupted by typos
Not typos. Not grammar. Not believability. Not subject matter. Not style.
It happened to me once as a reader. The story (if you call it that) made no sense. At best it was rambling, but without a point. Just gibberish. I think that was the only time I gave a 1. The description "You call this a story?" seemed to fit.
Not typos. Not grammar. Not believability. Not subject matter. Not style.
It happened to me once as a reader. The story (if you call it that) made no sense. At best it was rambling, but without a point. Just gibberish. I think that was the only time I gave a 1. The description "You call this a story?" seemed to fit.
I never encountered such a story. Might be fun to see such an abomination once. Maybe I can give a 1 score for the first if I manage to get to the point where I can vote.
I never started reading a story that would qualify a 1 score, reading the description and codes prevents that.
My experience with descriptions differs. Way too many descriptions are inadequate or point not at all to what the story is about.
My experience with descriptions differs. Way too many descriptions are inadequate or point not at all to what the story is about.
I agree that many descriptions are inadequate. However , with most of them I can still determine if it's something I want to start reading.
Thank you for all the varied replys. Not an easy topic 😁
So let's follow up on that with this question. Is the scoring for the author to measure himself or is it for the reader to express themselves?
I am no writer, but could it be that comments are more helpfull to improve one's writing if that is what the writer is aiming for?
I have read a lot of writers saying that they write for themselves and don't pay attention to the scores or comments. Is that true ?
I can see that some real writers have commented on the original topic (and thank you for that). What are your opinions on this?
So let's follow up on that with this question. Is the scoring for the author to measure himself or is it for the reader to express themselves?
I suspect that it's more valuable to readers than to writers. Sure, for a writer it's nice to see an 8 instead of a 5 but it doesn't tell how that number is determined by the voters. It doesn't tell what he did right or wrong. For readers it's clearly a number that almost ensures a certain quality. I think writers have more need for reader comments. The scoring is just that, a number.
I have read a lot of writers saying that they write for themselves and don't pay attention to the scores or comments. Is that true ?
No. They wouldn't post it if that were true.
Is the scoring for the author to measure himself or is it for the reader to express themselves?
Are you asking what SOL's intention is for the scoring system or how people use the score? There's a difference.
I have read a lot of writers saying that they write for themselves and don't pay attention to the scores or comments. Is that true ?
Maybe not ONLY for themselves, or why would they bother to post them at all? Wouldn't the act of writing itself then be enough for them? Perhaps they mean they aren't influenced by comments, or reactions. I have to believe that writers publish or post in order to generate some kind of reaction in others.
I'm guilty of not voting on every story I read, and also guilty of not sending many comments. I used to do more, but after getting no replies I pretty much stopped. I'm sure it's tedious and time-consuming for writers to reply to every contact, but without even a simple 'Thanks for the comment' one never knows if the feedback was even received. I don't expect a dialog to ensue from every comment, but it helps to know it got where it was sent.
fwiw
I have read a lot of writers saying that they write for themselves and don't pay attention to the scores or comments. Is that true ?
Write for themselves, ABSOLUTELY! Those stories are almost never posted or, if they are, a long time has passed and whatever inspired me to write it has faded from immediacy. See, If something affects me so strongly I feel compelled to get it down on paper, I almost never want to share that, not right then. Too new, too raw, too special to share (My precious).
Any story that is posted, however, is done so for the attention it brings.
Yes, some writers will claim it is to get feedback on technique and style only, but I don't buy it. There are writers forums and support groups for technique and style.
I am not ashamed to admit I post stories here because I like the attention, for the most part. It feeds a little part of my ego that I would prefer didn't exist, most of the time. That little bit of me that is the class clown, the wanna-be diva and the belle of the ball. Look at me!
But... notice that I do so under a pseudonym!
Wait a minute, pretty sure that is you.
Take off his mask, Velma! Let's see who this ghost really is!
I write for me. pure and simple.
I post my stories to a specific audience and hope that they enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them.
It's not always the case, but I keep doing it anyway.
No one ever said I was sane, other than my doc, who even gave me a cert saying so...
The good numbers are just a plus, while the lousy numbers confuse me to all get out. Especially since no one one who down votes any of my stories, ever says why and always get a ton of down votes when I first start posting a new story.
*Shrug.
Honesly, I am a firm believer that the good numbers encourage us the writers more than the low numbers do. Even the most hard-hearted of us, likes a pat on the back now and then.
As for the comments, I read each and every one, same with emails, I reply to them too.
I'd wager that pretty much everyone on this site who posts stories does at least reads evertyhing. Even if something prevents them from replying.
Shad
So let's follow up on that with this question. Is the scoring for the author to measure himself or is it for the reader to express themselves?
The scoring is for the readers to help them assess if they may like a story or not based on how much other readers liked the story. As an author I don't worry about the score, and as a reader I don't worry about the score. I base my reading decisions on the story description and the codes. I score every story I finish reading and every story where I stop reading because I find something I don't like which the author did not code for. If I stop readings a story because I find something I don't like it and it's correctly coded I don't feel I can honestly give a score on the whole story.
I am no writer, but could it be that comments are more helpfull to improve one's writing if that is what the writer is aiming for?
I regards the comments section after a story as being there for the benefit of the readers to discuss the story, so I rarely read them. However, if someone sends me a message or email with a comment about the story then I will read it and respond to it, even if it's just a message to say I should respond to something in the comments.
I have read a lot of writers saying that they write for themselves and don't pay attention to the scores or comments. Is that true ?
I write because I have an entertaining story to tell or a message to tell. By writing them I can make them available to re-read later and to let other's enjoy them as well. Thus I write what I want to say, not what others think I should say. However, I do like to be as good as possible as I can be in what I do, which is why when I'm told of a typo or error I will correct them as soon as I can and re-post the story. Also, when I improve my writing style I also correct the prior stories and re-post them to make the reading experience better for those who do read my stories.
I score every story I finish reading and every story where I stop reading because I find something I don't like which the author did not code for.
Coding can be a tricky choice for us as authors. I'll give you an example, from something I'm writing now.
I have a scene where, for a legitimate and completely non-sexual reason, the male main character has to pee on the female character. It is NOT done for water sports - she's got something on her, and the only way to wash it off is for him to piss on her.
If I code it for water sports, I feel like I'm being dishonest, because it's not water sports. If I don't code it, are you going to go, oh, squick, he didn't code that correctly? Note that I do describe WHY peeing on her was necessary as well,, and there are jokes made about it later on.
Coding can be a tricky choice for us as authors.
I can understand the issue with a short scene that isn't a fetish. However, a several thousand word chapter of several scenes of torture and extreme BDSM without any advance warning in the codes is totally unacceptable. To me, it's just as bad if the writer only adds such a code when posting chapter 34 despite knowing it was going to be there from the start. If you're following a story you rarely check the codes when the new chapter appears as you usually go straight to it. For me, that story was the final straw about reading a story before it finishes posting because I have no wish to be caught by that BS again. That story I mention is the only time I've issued a 1 on a story because it thoroughly deserved it when it made me totally hate the story and author.
Coding can be a tricky choice for us as authors.
With the codes you have to look at the full coding definition and the section it's in. Take the Water Sports code you mention:
Section is Sexual Activities: - Water Sports: Peeing on each other.
OK, the scene you mention is peeing on someone, but it is not part of a sexual activity so it isn't water sports. That's how I'd interpret the scene as you describe it, and I'm one of the harshest critic on the mis-use of codes.
What I do like is when you write a no sex story once you tick the no sex box all the sexual activity only related codes are no longer available for you so you don't have to worry about them, but have to watch for the few that can be both sexual and non-sexual.
If I code it for water sports, I feel like I'm being dishonest, because it's not water sports.
I agree. Quite a dilemma. Unfortunately it never occurred to me at the time to check how authors have coded stories involving peeing on someone stung by jellyfish, or stuck to a frozen surface etc.
AJ
In the case of peeing on some one stuck by a jellyfish or something similiar, in a non-sexual scene, it should not be coded as WS. if it is a singluar case.
the jokes followoing between friends, still would not make it WS.
now if the perp is a life guard at a beach where it happens all the time. and you write about it, then I'd code it.
Medicinal use of Peeing, is not the same as Sexual use.
Shad
I agree. Quite a dilemma.
Isn't the clue in the code? WS = Water Sports
A single, or even plural inclusion of urination in a non 'sporting' context should not need coding. The examples you give are instances of need, not intended for sexual pleasure. QED.
Isn't the clue in the code? WS = Water Sports
I was agreeing with @StarFleet Carl, the examples I suggested don't count as WS. The dilemma arises from the issue of how to satisfy readers who have a squick about peeing on someone - how do you alert them to avoid the story?
AJ
The dilemma arises from the issue of how to satisfy readers who have a squick about peeing on someone - how do you alert them to avoid the story?
You can't. If it's not WS as described in the example you don't code it. I avoid stories with the Scat code. You really think I'm gonna be bothered by a character taking a shit in the woods? Some readers unfortunately never grow up and just have to complain about every little thing, you can't fight against that.
I avoid stories with the Scat code. You really think I'm gonna be bothered by a character taking a shit in the woods?
Well, it gets more complicated.
Going by the definitions used in the RL BDSM community (I've researched some of this specifically on line, run across others resarching other BDSM related things).
If a master/dominant forces a slave/submissive to urinate and/or defecate outdoors for the purpose of humiliation/degradation, that would count as water sports and/or scat.
If a master/dominant forces a slave/submissive to urinate and/or defecate outdoors for the purpose of humiliation/degradation, that would count as water sports and/or scat.
Then it depends if it's a major point in the story or just a short single occurrence. Common sense is a powerful thing ;)
You really think I'm gonna be bothered by a character taking a shit in the woods?
Presumably you just grin and bear it...?
:)
Presumably you just grin and bear it...?
Actually, taking a shit in the woods requires you to grin and bare it... :P
...and besides, is anyone really fooled into thinking bears use Charmin?
Of course they don't use Charmin..!! They use rabbits...
Silly rabbi, kicks are for trids.
I remember that old joke, about the space invasion.
I remember that old joke, about the space invasion.
The joke I remember that from wasn't about a space invasion. It involved a giant and a beanstalk.
and besides, is anyone really fooled into thinking bears use Charmin?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RFCrJleggrI
In a sane world, the answer would be unequivocally no. With people like the person in that link, I'm not so sure.
The dilemma arises from the issue of how to satisfy readers who have a squick about peeing on someone
As Keet replied, you don't.
If someone is so traumatised by the written description of such an act, as to be truly affected by reading it, they should reconsider reading stories on SoL and stick to FineStories.
As Keet stated below, "Some readers unfortunately never grow up and just have to complain about every little thing, you can't fight against that." I'd go further and say you should totally ignore them as being irrelevant.
I tend to be somewhat surprised by the... intolerance, I suppose, of people. People getting really annoyed with a story featuring topics they don't like and voting a one because of it- regardless as to the technical standard of the story, always struck me as a little..petty. I can see the point a little if the story is nothing but whatever it is they hate and it's not coded, fair enough. I could see why that would merit the deduction of a point or two. But to go an a rampage for one little scene on a long story that could simply have been skipped over, well, that just comes over (to me) as being childish.
Life is full of things (and people) we don't like, but that's life, you ignore it/them as best you can and move on.
It's almost as bonkers as those that read a story with codes they don't like and then moan about it... Bah, Humans...
+100
I've received mails telling me I'm wrong to mark western stories with the "Indian" tag. Pedantry seems to fuel the internet.
telling me I'm wrong to mark western stories with the "Indian" tag.
I never knew there was an Indian tag, but they're right. The description for it specifically says "Indian sub-continent" so it's not for the Native American Indian.
I wonder if a Pakistani would use the Indian tag since they're from the same sub-continent.
I've received mails telling me I'm wrong to mark western stories with the "Indian" tag. Pedantry seems to fuel the internet.
https://storiesonline.net/docs/code_faq.php
Clearly states Indian refers to the Indian sub-continent.
Indian sub-continent
How can a continent be submissive? Maybe when the British Empire ruled "India"?
How can a continent be submissive?
Sub-continent is a euphemism for needing incontinence pads.
AJ
Sub-continent is a euphemism for needing incontinence pads.
Dang, I thought it meant that the only food they ate was from Subway.
Dang, I thought it meant that the only food they ate was from Subway.
I think I just saw their advert for meat-free meatballs. Why don't they just call them 'balls'?
AJ
Subway.
Subway is a lifestyle choice. Food for thought?
Also, they offer a girl the option of either 6" or 12"... Filled any way she chooses.. :)
Sub-continent is a euphemism for needing incontinence pads.
Another thread suffering from continental drift...?
(Unless that is taking the piss?)
Another thread suffering from continental drift...?
We should have a way to uprate a post, not just to downrate one. This is very clever.
Puns about "Your a Nation" aren't Water Sports. Water Skiing behind a boat may be a water sport but it isn't "Water Sports" even if you add a little pee to the water while skiing.
Water Skiing behind a boat may be a water sport but it isn't "Water Sports"
What if you do a couple of things at the same time, such as scuba skiing. That must be water sports!
AJ
I must admit, that I am starting to pay attention less and less to the scoring system. Some really good stories are getting marked down and some pretty terrible stories are getting marked high.
I tend to read stories at both extremes to see where the author did well/badly in an effort to improve my own writing. I read a high scoring story fairly recently called 'The wall' (it might have been on the sister site Scifistories) and it was terrible. like, really terrible, and yet it was scoring in the high nines. It was a short piece 15kb or so and was basically the start of the film 'Saving Private Ryan', in type, (not the beach landing scene but the bit before where Ryan walks up to a gravestone and collapses crying) The only difference between the two was that the word/object 'gravestone' was replaced with the word 'wall', quite possibly as a really poor attempt to avoid accusations of plagiarism. Not that it helped as I still sent the author a PM stating such. Their reply? "I've never seen Saving Private Ryan, it's coincidence..." Aye, right...
My opinion is that it's a poor five, but really a 3 for committing the crime of plagiarism. However that is my opinion and I have noticed that the readership of this site is VERY patriotic towards stories involving/containing members of the USA armed forces, and that stories containing those elements collect high votes regardless as to the actual merit of the story.
What I have seen a marked decrease in over the years, is the amount of comments and reviews posted to stories. When I first joined you would often see at least one story in the first page with a review marking the story on plot, technical ability, etc etc. I haven't seen one now for years. And comments are drying up as well. When they were e-mail only, I would get a few every now and then, and when Laz made it so you could leave a visible comment on the actual story, I was expecting the ratio to explode, but that doesn't seemed to have happened either. At,least, not to me...LOL
:EDIT: The story I mentioned was indeed on the sister site scifistories and it was the 6kb "The Veteran" by Chaon.
... I have noticed that the readership of this site is VERY patriotic towards stories involving/containing members of the USA armed forces, and that stories containing those elements collect high votes regardless as to the actual merit of the story.
I noticed that a long time ago and just disregard the scoring of those type of stories. A healthy level of patriotic feelings is ok but a lot of readers seem to disregard facts, reality, and story quality when it comes to that.
I may be a dishonest voter. I don't vote for every story I read and I only vote for stories I really like. If I start not liking a story, I quit reading it. But I see no reason to rain on the parade of the author and readers who will enjoy it. So I vote on a basis of wanting to let others know I think a story is really good and worth reading.
I don't vote for every story I read and I only vote for stories I really like. If I start not liking a story, I quit reading it.
Sounds like most of us.
I too agree 100% with eroticafan. Why would you continue read something you dislike to the end,then vote on it, that's ridiculous.
I don't vote for every story I read and I only vote for stories I really like. If I start not liking a story, I quit reading it. But I see no reason to rain on the parade of the author and readers who will enjoy it.
Stories with more votes but a lower rating are usually more enjoyable than stories with fewer votes but a higher rating.
AJ
I believe I have no real squick myself, and I'm really perplexed by such sensitivities of people. Sure, there's things I'm not interested in. I would only touch anything coded BTB by, I don't know, private invitation singing high prize of the merits and/or claims I should read it as necessary learning experience or something.
But never say never. Even I shocked myself when I discovered I was actually aroused by Dolcett (WARNING!!! DO NOT GOOGLE IT IF YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS! (((okay, if you must know it's a special flavor of cannibalism)))) in the right mood. Yes, oh the irony, I won't read revenge for cheating, but don't mind cannibalism and industrialized murder: people are weird, aren't we?
And then I accidentally stumbled upon a story here that promised "Saved by the Bell" episode in Dolcett universe, and humored myself, knowing I shouldn't. Well, I did in a sense enjoy it, I guess the way it was intended, as a bad joke and a train wreck, and the terrible style was likely intentional, so it perhaps was a marvel of literary mastery, but I couldn't refrain from voting it low.
I'm a biased voter. I try to vote by merit not content, but my ability to judge merit is seriously hampered by English not being a language I can speak (I regard written and spoken English as two entirely distinct languages and while I can somewhat operate with the written, I have severe difficulty with the audio form), and my personal appeal of the content influence my vote. I try however restrict it to bias and not extreme opinion. I would upvote what I like to promote it even if I find the presentation lacking. I may withhold a point if I'm bored or disappointed. I may be even harsher if I feel that the story could have been excellent and dead on my fetishes, if only it was presented better.
Something occurred to me and I think I owe several writers here an apology.
It was my position that by choosing where in the progress of a story the voters could begin to vote, that the writers were gaming the system in an attempt to garner higher scoring votes.
What I realized, when checking on the most recent installment to my own story, what I was doing was no different and no better.
I have the theory that spacing the upload of chapters in a story over a period of time, rather than uploading the story all at once, allows the story to garner more attention, more readers and higher download numbers. Each chapter gives the story another chance at the front page where it might be noticed by new readers and refresh the memories of readers who had already started the story.
This is not really all that different from choosing the timing of the vote, though it had a different impetus. A blog post by another writer about reaching the top 20 download list made me take a look at my own posting style.
While I was not trying to advance my story on any leader boards, I am gaming the system. I was fishing for more readers. More readers + more comments + more notice = more ego stroking for me.
So... mea culpa. 'Let he who is without sin...' and so on. I apologize for pointing the finger when I was doing the same.
I have the theory that spacing the upload of chapters in a story over a period of time, rather than uploading the story all at once, allows the story to garner more attention, more readers and higher download numbers. Each chapter gives the story another chance at the front page where it might be noticed by new readers and refresh the memories of readers who had already started the story.
That's not gaming the system, it's the basic way virtually all stories on SOL are posted. It's rare to see (longer) stories posted all at once. It's also the main reason why there are so many unfinished stories: SOL offers the opportunity to start posting before the story is finished.
What could be considered a very, very low form of gaming is carefully choosing the day(s)/time when there are less others posting so your story stays longer and higher on the front page.
What could be considered a very, very low form of gaming is carefully choosing the day(s)/time when there are less others posting so your story stays longer and higher on the front page.
And that benefits SOL by ensuring a more even distribution of postings, thus presenting newcomers with a constant flurry of activity.
Nevertheless, there's still a marked skew towards a couple of weekdays by the highest rated serials.
AJ
Nevertheless, there's still a marked skew towards a couple of weekdays by the highest rated serials.
I think that has more to do with preferences towards Friday/weekend. And just maybe some authors who post when the high rated serials post so they are a little more visible as opposed to posting when there is less activity but the story remains a little longer visible. All in all it levels out.
Uploading a long story serially substantially improves the odds of someone who prefers longer stories seeing it. (It also significantly increases the download count if enough people read each episode as it comes out, and also means the story appears in the 'completed serials' list when you finish it.) It is sensible, fair and reasonable to do it this way.
It would be nice if there was an automated tag to say the full story was in the posting queue, but in its absence it's a good idea to mention this at the end of the synopsis if applicable - or to say that it is fully written if that is the case.
Many readers only read serials if they know it is complete, as we are frustrated if we've invested time in a story that ends up getting the yellow card. (I also won't touch a story that says the tags are incomplete; it might be nice to have a tag for such stories, so I can filter them out!)
To be fair i have gave stories 1 before just because some authors likes to bait readers with tags that weren't listed in the synopsis as that's a big no no for me. If your going to have a specific kink or genre it NEEDS to be tagged and not used as a SHOCK factor.
because some authors likes to bait readers with tags that weren't listed in the synopsis
That's not fair. You can't put everything in the description.
I have to agree. The tags and synopsis serve different purposes. A proper synopsis will introduce your main character and the main conflict of the story. The tags will either warn a reader of material they may find objectionable or pull in those that enjoy that particular kink in their fantasy life. Balancing what to tell with tags without giving away the story plot twists is always a challenge.
I have never expected the synopsis to cover the tags, that would be redundant in the extreme.
synopsys is for the story introduction, not the tags unless the author wants to an an extra emphasis on a particular tag
Shad
Even tags apart, which is normally the basis for selecting a story to read,(unless of course you are following that author by name) it is usually quite apparent in most stories what the content will be after just a page or so. I would neither read or vote on a story who's theme did not interest or excite me, (for instance under age sex or Incest.)These stories would neither interest or excite me therefore I would not feel qualified to judge if they were good, or bad. The vote is surely on the story not the theme? Nor would I spend time reading a story to the end I didn't like, simply to mark it down on Grammar or style of writing. I vote only on stories I think are good, and have held my interest to finish and excited me. The rest I simply leave to others to vote on who did like them. It seems the only honest solution.