I might be commenting a bit more...

If you look at "My comments" under the menu "MyLSF" you will find a meter showing the various categories. To figure out what you need to do to reach the next level, you either have to do a little bit of mathematics or just comment till you get there;)

Views to comments ratio chart:

higher than 500:1 - sloth
between 250 and 500:1 - slug
between 100 and 250:1 - occasional
between 50 and 100:1 - active
between 25 and 50:1 - grand
between 10 and 25:1 - super
between 5 and 10:1 - supreme
less than 5:1 - deity

Many thanks - you're an absolute star. I've saved these to a word document for future reference.

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has read my stories and particularly those who have taken the trouble to comment. I make a point of responding to each comment made.
I welcome all comments as they are food for thought whether or not the reader and I agree; fortunately almost all are constructive.
As far as my reading is concerned, I start by supporting the newly posted stories, when I have read the current crop, I then look at recent comments on stories that I haven't read, which often direct me to authors who may new to me or older stories from my favourite authors both of which gives additional enjoyment. My next point of call is the latest read column with the very useful summaries and categorisations by our wonderful validators. (Here I do tend to migrate towards known likes M/F, M/f, m/f, F/f, F/F ,f/f and F/m in that order but, I am afraid, almost never stories that are principally M/M M/m F/M or heaven forbid f/M, (except of course where they are new and uncategorised and the title does not give the necessary clues). if I am still looking for stories the search function provides a useful series of filters and the luck dip function has frequently unearthed real gems often written years previously.
In all cases I if I start a story I will do the author the courtesy of reading to the end of the tale (or at least the part).
If I discover a series that like I will often read all the way through to the end in a single sitting, or with the minimum number of breaks (or if posted in stages re-read the whole series again later). I am afraid that I do not then always comment on each part; normally at the end and frequently then again at the beginning to encourage other readers to read on.
I do agree that commenting from a smartphone is much more difficult and I am afraid ends to some of my comments containing missing letters, spelling mistakes, or even worse the results of predictive text !! For which I apologise. It is much easier on the laptop. (which is why I have just edited this comment and wish I could do so on the two story comments I write this afternoon, where all of these have occurred).
Once again many thanks to all readers and commentators, as well as to the wonderful team at LSF abs fellow authors who bring such enjoyment to so many.

Nailed another dozen comments. I've post 207 comments since I started this process and I now up to 1671 out of stories 2020 read.

I find I'm waffling a bit on my decision to comment more. There are a number of reasons.

If an author is inactive, and possibly dead, what purpose does my comment serve?

If a story already has a large number of comments or everything that needs to be said has been said, then I'm just another redundant voice.

If I read a story that I genuinely do not like, I may not even finish it. Let alone comment on it. Do I really have an obligation to that author?

Some authors are prolific. If I read one of their stories, I may not comment. Especially if I've already commented on a similar story of theirs. I do try and comment on stories by newer authors.

The reason that bothers me most pertains to some of the best stories that I've read. Not that I haven't commented on some great stories. Sometimes I think I said the right things. Mostly, I think my comments are more about me than about the story. I regret that. There are some stories that are so well written and so thoughtful that they deserve praise. Not a gratuitous comment. I don't want to give a bandstand type comment like "Nice beat, easy to dance to, I give it a 10."

To the deserving authors whose stories I haven't commented on, sooner or later, after I've read and reread your stories, I'll comment. (Aren't you lucky). I would apologize, but I think it's your fault, for writing stories that require so much effort to process.

Thanks for an interesting post! I recognize many your of thoughts, but I have decided to treat these questions in a more naive and pragmatic fashion.


Many people look at recent comments before they decide what to read, so a comment is a way to keep a story alive. I like the thought that people will read my stories when I am no more, although it may be a bit silly.


I know, but an author's vanity in insatiable! And, as I said above, a comment is a sign that a story is still alive, and that always feels good.


No. Reading and commenting should be a pleasure, not a chore.


I think this is a fair policy. I try to comment on (almost) everything I read, and as a consequence my comments are not always equally inspired.


I have definitely found myself in this position, and there are some great stories in here with very inadequate comments from me. I have decided to be pragmatic; it's better to give a tame comment than no comment at all (recall that an author's vanity in insatiable), and if I decide to wait a couple of days before I come up with the perfect comment, I will just forget about it.

njrick

You just reminded me of a lost thought from a while back:

a) If the comment was sufficiently good that the author replied, then the comment should count double; and
b) Why don't we see any of the author's responses to comments? (The author should have this option to include their response in the visible comments.) When a potential reader reviews the comments for insights about whether they would be interested in reading the story, the comments appear static, yet much of the discussion here is about the need for interaction between the reader and the author.

1) Is there a guide to commenting somewhere here?

2) Before making my first comment (ever), I strategized about what I would say, if anything. Here is what I can remember:

a) No unhelpful comments. (Better to say nothing than something discouraging to the author.)

b) No references for what the story did for me (you know what I mean). (Even though the story was intended to push buttons, identifying the buttons pushed could feel like a come-on to the author. Too much of a risk of being misunderstood and seen as creepy.)

c) A well-considered comment is worth ten comments. This requires multiple reads of the story and time.

d) A story summation would best be written by the author. If this board wanted summations, then they would have provided that ability for the author to provide one without opening the story for reading first. Writing a "plug" for the story would be considered in-bounds.

e) Writing "what if" comments about the plot would be good, but only if the author's story was enhanced and not subverted.

f) Be careful of your comment being seen as "if I had written the story, I would have written it like this, blah, blah, blah ..."

g) Sometimes I wish that the author could make simple revisions to the story, like changing to italics to represent inner thoughts, and to correct misspellings or punctuation. This would invite reader interaction. However, these revisions should not invalidate earlier reader comments without at least visible author comments for that commenter. (That said, I remember my business writings for work being sent around for review. Most coworkers would only send back grammar corrections. I found this very irritating because they were supposed to be reviewing for content, but I digress.)

h) Descriptions of where the story took me (i.e. Did I fall through a hole into the story world; as opposed to, remaining at my computer?) The best stories accomplish the difficult feat of dragging you from this world to their world. No better way to convey this than describing your experience in the author's world.

I will probably add more to this as I remember it.

Kind regards, Gourmet.

P.S. - All of the above was my guidelines for my own comments.

This thread has altered my thinking about commenting. more than once.

Alef
I write myself a note so I don't forget. Unfortunately, some of my notes are pretty old.


I believe I've only seen that once before with a js_anon story. It would be nice if it happened more often.

Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy, I wish there was a "Like" button. Or an option to give a 5 star rating. Often, I would like to say how much I enjoyed the work of an author. Maybe that should be done in the forums.