I know voting is a hot topic and is hard to get an average on now; but I'd like to see voting split into two votes
Authorship: is the story idea well executed
Story: did you like the story or not.
There are many authors that I read that I think the stories are well conceived and written, I just HATED the story, I don't know how to vote.
Authorship: is the story idea well executed
Story: did you like the story or not.
That used to exist in the TPA scoring:
T = Technical (Authorship)
P = Plot (Authorship)
A = Appeal (Story)
Lazeez did away with it. One reason was a lot of people voted scores like 3,3,3 5,5,5 9,9,9 meaning they didn't understand how to vote the various components of it.
And for the total score, only the A score was used so the final score was based on Appeal(your "Story").
Authorship: is the story idea well executed
Story: did you like the story or not.
They had that and it didn't work because many didn't use and more didn't understand it. Anyway, as things stand only about one in ten people actually vote on a story so why make it harder for them and thus discourage them.
It just seems so "mean" to the author to vote "Hated It" when I appreciated the execution of the idea but the story just didn't appeal to me.
It just seems so "mean" to the author to vote "Hated It" when I appreciated the execution of the idea but the story just didn't appeal to me.
Then don't vote on it at all! Especially if this is how you feel about it.
It just seems so "mean" to the author to vote "Hated It" when I appreciated the execution of the idea but the story just didn't appeal to me.
I actually had a reader ask me about this. He had to stop reading one of my stories because, as someone who worked with abused children, he found it too disturbing. But he said it was very well written so he didn't know if he should give it a 1 because it didn't appeal to him or a 10 because of the way it was written (he ended up giving it a 10).
It just seems so "mean" to the author to vote "Hated It" when I appreciated the execution of the idea but the story just didn't appeal to me.
Personally, I'd feel more upset that someone hated my creation, than they appreciate how thorough my editors were (though I'd pass on the complement).
I suggest you send an email to the author and explain why you voted as you did. Compliment him or her on what was good, and complain about what you disliked. Then help guide other readers by voting your conscience on whether you recommend other readers read the story. If you hated the story and wouldn't recommend it to others, go ahead and vote that one, or whatever you really feel. Some of the outliers (ones and tens) will be dropped in raw score calculations. I think its 5% at the bottom and 5% at the top. If you are alone in your distaste for the story, your one won't affect its adjusted score. If lots of people agree with you, your vote won't ruin its score, it was already headed for a score below 6. And future potential readers will be adequately warned.
Scores are for readers, downloads are for authors.
There are many authors that I read that I think the stories are well conceived and written, I just HATED the story, I don't know how to vote.
I generally vote based on how I feel about a story. If it's got plot holes or major inconsistencies; but if I enjoy the story overall then i'll vote higher than if I didn't enjoy it. Of course it would get a higher score if it was more tightly written.
I tend to vote lower for stories that have poor spelling, wrong words used, missing words etc than ones that have issues with the plot as those things I find often detract more from the story (unless the plot holes are massive of course, or the characters really annoying or flat or unbelievable).
Likewise if I actually finish a story that is well written, technically & plot/character wise, but I didn't like it then I will vote much lower than if I had liked it.
However it's usually the case that if I don't like a story while reading it then I won't finish it, and I don't vote on things I don't finish.