Negative comments

As is clear from the discussion here, there are different kinds of negative comments. Some point out an inconsistency. I received a comment pointing out that my spankee had changed into a pair of football shorts and then mysteriously back to her day wear again. That was a major error on my part: as it happens, I'd spotted it but too late. The comment was made gracefully in the course of giving the story high praise and it would have been ludicrous if I'd been offended. Similarly, I once pointed out to another writer that she'd managed to get a girl's jeans off without taking off her shoes. That again was coupled with praising the story and her reply indicated she hadn't spotted the inconsistency and was not offended.

Some factual comments point to information the writer didn't have. These are useful provided they're made courteously.

Some "negative comments" suggest improvements. Sometimes I agree and sometimes disagree: for example, some people like the story to end with no ambiguity, while I often like the ending to be a bit ambiguous or to leave us wondering what happened next.

I quite appreciate why someone who reads a story and is disturbed or angered needs to express their reaction. Someone may comment that the main character is devious and sadistic and he should not have triumphed - or that the humiliation in the story is repulsive. I don't mind such a comment: that is, it can disturb me, but it's a point of view the reader has every right to express. I may reply that I had reservations myself or that we would have to agree to differ and some female readers have enjoyed what this reader objects to, or that the character criticised has some redeeming features. If the criticism implies that in any spanking story, justice should be done, I simply say I'm one of those who in such stories, not in the real world, likes injustice to prevail sometimes if it's cleverly done.

I don't recall receiving a negative comment I couldn't engage with - and I certainly wouldn't ignore the criticism in replying.

I found the last challenge such a wonderful contrast of stories that I rated them all but if a story really is not up my to my liking I feel I must inform the author and explain what I don't like about it. Just a reader so good luck to you all.

When I'm not writing spanking stories, I'm a teacher. We're taught that when you give parents comments on their children, you always start with the positive, and you even tell the negative in a way that does not make the parents feel bad.

I work really hard on my stories, and I always think they're perfect when I decide to post them. And then when someone comments on something I've missed, I'm always like, "Whoa! They're right, it's not perfect," and I'm always a bit shocked, and I feel bad. So in a way, constructive criticism is good because it lets me know that I could have done something better.

It's when a comment is hurtful, that I wonder why did this person bother? I read a lot of stories I don't like. I would never tell an author I didn't like their story. Or I suppose if it was something that I really felt had to be said, I would send it as a private message.

Just my two cents.
sam

Mot times when I receive a less than positive comment I re-read the story, looking for the angle that the commenter reacted to.

Sometimes it turns out that I have misphrased something or otherwise given the wrong impression of something. That while the story was clear in my mind something was lost when it was translated to the written word.

Then there are the negative comments I enjoy. Things like "I hated <character> who was so unfair to <character>" or otherwise reacting emotionally to something in the story. Whenever I see something like I see that I have forged a link between the reader and the story, and that's one my definitions of a well written story.

Goodgulf

Maybe I'm just lust lucky, but I've had very few negative comments; and in any case I'd much rather have negative comments than none at all. I aim to reply politely to all comments, pro or con - and if someone points out an error or an inconsistency, I'm grateful. I was once accused, re my story 'The President's Daughters', of having "twisted political ideas" (I think because I'd suggested that George W Bush wasn't perhaps the sharpest knife in the box) - but that just made me me laugh.

As for giving negative comments, I usually prefer to do it via pop-ups rather than on the public comments page - though generally if I don't like a story I just stop reading it. Must admit, I sometimes get a bit pernickety about limericks that don't rhyme or scan properly. I suspect that member who questioned one of opb's rhymes may have been me....

I'd agree with that. There's an old saying that a dog would sooner be kicked than be ignored!

Commenting on this thread might have been easier if I had not just spent the better part of an hour reading the whole thing at once. With a zillion thoughts on the subject, give me a moment to collect a few.

First, being an avid reader from "Look, Jane. See Sally." and relatively new to the writing end of it, all comments are welcome. There have been a few negative comments, but they were on stories that I had been purposely outragious with. Every one of us has their own ideas of what they like and what is OK and what is not OK.

I have made a negative comment a couple of times. Usually in the heat of my umbrage at whatever, and speaking without thought. I do not comment on spelling or composition, though I must say with the influx of self-published books available on e-bay, somebody should. If I find myself counting all the errors I find in what I'm reading, that's the end of it for me. I once found an error in a main stream paper back by a NYT best selling author, a porch light switched on during a black out, and when I had the audacity to contact the author about it, she responded with a thank-you the next day, and to say that she had also had two other
errors pointed out to her. (I didn't find those.)

I'm with gail, in that little bits of me are written into my stories, some more than others, some more personal. Mostly you might find yourself reading a description of my kitchen, or the back yard, but they say write what you know, so don't we all fit some of ourselves into what we write, somewhere? How would we write anything at all, if we lived inside of a blank cardboard box.

So saying, any body has something to write, but its your style, and plot, the way that you put your words on the page, that some one, somewhere, will have to critique, if you want it to be successful. Seldom will somebody write something that every body likes.
A negative comment, a constructive one any way, is always welcome. I have reread, and said to myself, that was something I didn't see in all the times I've read this. An attitude I didn't mean, or a take on the plot in another direction than I intended, fine. I'm open to the fact that I jigged when I should have jogged.

Now that I've lost my train of thought, I'll just say, all comments are welcome.

I see typos and grammar problems. What to do?

Ignore them and just enjoy the stories. Remember that most of us are not professional writers but do this because we love it.

If they bother you, send a pop up message to the author pointing out what you noticed.

Please keep in mind this is an international site, so what may be proper in one country is not the same in all countries. For examples, our USA friends rarely use "z" in many words that Canadians and the British do. Also, if the story has not been validated yet, a lot of mistakes will disappear once the hard working validator's get it reviewed.

CS