Postive or Negative Comments?

Sorry to refer to my own post but I'd just like to point out that I'm not whining about the story not being accepted; I meant that I have learnt something about my limits because I received what was, effectively, negative feedback.

I was actually provided with a very detailed list of where the story failed to work, which, while a little hard to take at first, ultimately is very useful.

Just wanted to clarify that.

CS, please put your mind at rest, there is an old saying I heard once, can't remember who said it, but it was " You can please some people some of the time, but you can't please all the people all of the time."
Bear that in mind when you write, in other words carry on as you are doing regardless, you please me and a lot of others with your stories just the way you tell them, if you were to change because of comments or self doubt, it would ruin your creative flow, so just stick to what you do best that is writing good stories the way you see them and keep a lot of people who read them happy.

One reason I ask this is because I and a few others commented rather neg on a recent series over the past few months. Not about the author, if fact there were several statements about the good writing but over all the comments about the particular series was likely over 85% negative. I did not like the situation in the story and expressed that fact. I know see that the author has never come back to post another story and I am hoping neg comments would never be taken in a way as discouragement and drive away any writers, that is the absolute last thing I ever wanted to do or to share in.

Call it feeling a little guilty and when this situation arose I thought I would ask what everyone thought. There is clearly a lot of different opinions out there, all valuable in their own right. I have no plans to quit commenting, I enjoy it way too much. However I will be watching myself (as Blimp kindly reminded me) to ensure I behave myself. I write my comments about good job or well done at the end of my comment because while most of my comment is aimed at the story, the last few words at aimed at the writer.

I said in my earlier post on this topic that it`s not always easy to get the balance right. I said this because I posted a very negative comment recently and didn`t balance it out at all with anything favourable although I thought the story was very well written and should have said so. The story did leave me feeling a bit "flat" but even so I should have given the writer credit where it was due and I feel somewhat guilty about not doing so. The sensible thing to have done was not to comment at all rather than simply pick holes but on this occasion I got it badly wrong.

There is a difference between negative comments and criticizing the premise of the story. For example, I would consider it inappropriate to criticize "Lord of the Rings" because it has "magic and elves and other such nonsense". The world of Middle Earth is at the heart of the story, it's what the story is built around. Similarly, if a story does not include the kind of spanking you like, I would consider it inappropriate to criticize on that basis.

But it's a wavery line. The situation canadianspankee brings up is an interesting case. I too read the story. I disliked it because I felt it was a bad situation that wasn't well explained. The premise of the story is a woman inexperienced with children opening of an orphanage. But to me, that's a premise that needs more of an explanation. So, I disliked it because of the premise, which I just said not to do.

Damn inconsistencies. And to further contradict: comment on whatever you want to comment on, but don't be surprised to receive a comment on your comment. Be polite. Engage in discussion. Have fun.

In the end, I tend not to comment on those stories I dislike. I also tend to respond to negative comments, particularly if I think they're incorrect.

-LK

The premise of the series you're talking about was okay (assuming it's the same one I'm thinking of). It was the execution that had serious problems. The author did a great job of writing in depth and detail about the children's problems, but the ways the problems were dealt with didn't even begin to address the depth and complexity of the problems. The disconnect between the complexity of the problems and the simplistic nature of how they were dealt with made the woman who ran the children's home come across as incompetent, not just lacking in experience, which in turn destroyed the credibility of her being in a position of running a home for troubled kids. To make the series work, the author would have needed either to make the problems simpler so dealing with them in relatively simple ways would be credible or to make spankings part of more complex solutions that reflected the complexity of the problems. I was really hoping the author would adopt the latter approach because the series had the potential to be great (in my opinion) if the author did a good job of thinking through how it makes sense for a person who runs a home for troubled kids and believes in spanking to deal with problems.

The problem in this kind of situation is that criticism risks authors deciding to give up, but a lack of criticism makes it likely that they will keep making the same mistakes over and over. The best we can do is point out the problems while at the same time making it clear when there are things we like about the stories so authors recognize that the criticism is aimed at specific problems and is not a complete rejection of their efforts.

Really? And I always thought you are running this site to campaign against CP!



I understand that authors prefer positive comments. But on the other side.... if I read a disapproving comment from you or Sebastian about too sadistic or too unrealistic plots it's a signal for me to consider reading this story, because that's most probably an interesting and good story, which I will like. So go on!


I loved this story and I normally don't read stories with children involved, but I think the author did a great job in describing the ways the problems were dealt. Her point of view was clearly the same as in most of Arthur James Blimp's stories: The helpless child who get's spanked by sadistic and/or inconsistent and/or unfair adults. The point is always, that some persons like the idea of being dealt unfair (which includes among other options CP) and it was quite obvious that Storm (the same as Blimp) thematised that aspect and was not writing a guidebook about education. I mean really, if somebody is reading on this site to learn something about proper parenting, I couldn't recommend any story, as in real life one swat is not more justified than 100 swats. In fact, I personally think that the most realistic (resp. non-fictional) elements in the stories on this site are persons like Miss Taylor or the guardians in Foster-Forest , whereas the wise, strict and righteous headmaster (who maybe even more hurted than his victim) handing out a well deserved spanking, which meets the misdeed perfectly, is much more fantastic.

I try to be very careful about how I comment as the typed word is a very imperfect method of transferring sense compared with face to face speech. Add this to the fact that I don't really know anything about the authors and the possibility for offence becomes real. So I try not to criticise unless specifically asked to. I've been flamed as a result of a difference in interpretation of a character, and it wasn't edifying.

Now some authors are receptive to receiving constructive criticism - some not. I recall making what I hoped was some helpful writing criticism to a new author on another site, and never saw them post again, so I concluded that I'd made a mistake.

Of course, when it comes to my own work I pay much more attention to comments from those whose writing I respect than others.

The narrative realism breakdown problem is real.
Just spouting that "It's fiction" doesn't solve the problem that some stories cross the boundary between fiction and fantasy whilst making no effort to say that it was supposed to be fantasy in the first place. A story which we are expected to believe 'could happen in real life but didn't' (fiction) where the severity for example tips over into 'this would never happen in the real world' (fantasy) strains the reader's suspension of disbelief so much that it ceases to be enjoyable.

Now this view may be considered contentious considering all the truly appalling things of which people are capable, but I question whether I should be deriving entertainment from such things, and am concerned about my own inconsistency in this.

As to the other staple plot device where some idiot writer invokes magic or time travel in an otherwise normal life situation ( opb whistles innocently) I shall make no comment.

mati

You are a real brat...just like me sometimes! Using our comments to recomend stories for you to read...the nerve!

I tend to regard spanking stories as set in a universe a little bit different from ours - a universe defined by the conventions of the genre. In that universe, spanking is more effective and less controversial than it is in the real world. It is normal and reasonable for spankings to be a good bit longer and harder. Rules regarding who is allowed to spank, or at least can expect to get away with it, are much more flexible. The idea that spankings are supposed to be on the bare bottom is taken for granted by pretty much everyone except people who are about to get spanked. And spanking in places where other people can hear, and maybe even see, doesn't raise anywhere near as many objections or concerns (except, once again, from people who are about to get spanked). When spankings feel fair in the context of the alternate universe defined by the norms of the genre, the fact that I wouldn't consider them fair in the real world doesn't bother me.

But when unfairness or unreasonableness is blatantly outside what can be explained by the difference in settings, it bothers me enough to seriously undermine my enjoyment. Most of the time, I chalk that up to a difference in tastes because I can see that the author is deliberately trying to depict unfair or unreasonable spankings, or deliberately adopting a looser interpretation of what is "fair" and "reasonable" than fits my tastes, and the story makes sense in the context of that intent. But when unfairness or unreasonableness doesn't fit the scenario an author set up, or appears to be a result of inadequate thought rather than of deliberate intent, the odds of my deciding to comment on it are much higher.