Negative comments

How do people generally respond to negative comments? I enjoy comments in general, and a comment that points out a flaw in a story, or what the commentator believes reasonably constitutes a flaw. I have made a few such comments myself -- more in the challenges then elsewhere. But sometimes a comment seems way off base to me. Yet I don't want to be rude, and perhaps I am off base instead. Any suggestions?

It depends on how negative they are and whether or not you feel they're constructive. I think the best way is to find a positive if you can and focus on that or politely thank the person for their interest and the comment without mentioning the negative area, you can also say you've taken it on board.

Ultimately, you are the author and therefore the boss. If you don't agree with a comment, either respond with a noncommittal "thank you" or not at all.

If one discourages negative comments by a viewer, they are also discouraging possible future comments, either negative or positive. No one likes being told their story is not up to par in one viewers P.O.V but does one think that out of say 200 views everyone thought the story could not have been improved upon?

I for one do not like getting negative comments, but I try (and the reader here please note, I said try), to keep my cool and say a polite thanks for the comment and I will keep the suggestions in mind for future stories. A lot to times I will make slight adjustments to try and appease any concern raised, but appeasing ONE viewer is not too high on my list when I submit a story.

CS

Fair enough. Thank you.

I actually welcome what I might call "negative technical comments" things like "There wasn't enough dialog" "The closing scene seemed rushed" "it wasn't clear why she acted as she did" "The character joe seemed inconsistent" -- the kind of comments that might be given in a writers group. Not everyone welcomes such, I understand.

I am curious - why would you have a different approach to commenting in the challenges than during the normal course of your reading here ?

Because in my comments on challenge entries (in the one challenge to which i have made responses so far, the keyhole challenge) I felt that I was justifying my ratings, and that I should indicate factors which caused me to give a lower rating on some stories. Also, reading many similar stories in close succession perhaps brought out my critical side more. I also felt that by entering a challenge the authors were, to a greater degree than otherwise, inviting polite constructive criticism, as well as praise. At least one author felt that i went too far with one of my comments, and was quite unhappy. Perhaps i did. Also, I was perhaps influenced by the times I acted as a "reader" for the old SSC on SSS.

I don't like getting critical comments either. I always have to try to calm down and think that it is not the end of the world, and try to consider whether the commenter has a point.

For example, in one of my songs a regular and respected commenter said that he thought one of the rhymes was dodgy and that such and such a phrase would have been better. Initially I bridled a bit but then thought that it was fair enough, there is more than one way to write a piece after all. In fact I had also felt that the rhyme was dodgy but the alternatives I'd considered pleased me less.

I never thought about that. No author knows how I voted on any particular story and so far not one has ever asked me. I do the justifying thing in my mind before I score it, but I almost always comment before I score. Commenting helps me know how I felt about the story and perhaps raises or lowers the score.

I have the same approach for challenge entries as DLandhill. I try to appreciate the negative and positive aspects and justify the stars I give a story. There're probably two other factors involved: The author is anonymous, although at times the style can be a giveaway; and there're no other visible comments, so there's no peer influence.