I might be commenting a bit more...

As one adept at irony and fluent in sarcasm, I feel your pain, Hotspur.

Hotspur
Hotspur
Ouch. That would bother me too. You could send the individual a pop-up, but that doesn't address the visible comment in any useful way. Again, as I said......ouch.

I guess this thread is "all about the vanity of authors". But sometimes, it touches a nerve. Hotscot, Hotspur, and kdpierre. I think I understand your sentiments. I also hope you can appreciate the irony of your comments. And, yes, that's sarcasm.

I don't think you should talk down to your audience. But you should know your audience. Unless your intent, valid of course, is to challenge your audience.

Cultural references don't always travel well. Words used in England may have a different meaning to an American. Some of us have "preferred" words for certain activities. Even sentence structures can vary and be disquieting.

A joke can easily be lost in cultural translation. I'm not saying, don't make the joke. Just don't get hung up if not everybody laughs.

There are authors on this site who are capable of exceeding my understanding. I'll use js_anon as an example. Sometimes he's straightforward. Sometimes he plays with words to the point that I can't understand all the things he's doing. I simply don't have the scholarship. I don't criticize him for doing it. And I hope he wouldn't criticize me for not understanding.

I think I misunderstood Hotscot's wonderful post (#71). I apologize.

@Noah
I wouldn't worry about people not understanding. I often make my readers work to figure out exactly what's going on rather than explaining everything. If some people miss the point because they're just skimming through "to get to the good parts" then... oh well, not my problem.

There are two types of situations that I can think of. In the first, the characters are clearly (in my mind, at least) engaged in a roleplay, and I don't feel I should have to TELL the reader that. Even though earlier comments quite obviously showed this understanding, subsequent comments showed that those readers missed the point.

The other situation is when I've written the story as an obvious farce, with some commenters mentioning how unrealistic it was. Well, DUH!

A third would be when I've written about an UNjust spanking and a comment is something like "she got what she deserved."

Interestingly enough, some of the commenters who totally missed the point nevertheless seemed to have enjoyed the stories. Something for everyone, I guess.

Greetings All,

After these last few posts, I believe I finally have something to contribute. I have been a (sort of) professional writer, both mainstream and genre, for several decades. As such, I have learned and accepted that: When you write something, it belongs to you. However, when you make it public (e.g. post it or publish it), you lose control of it. Readers will view, read, or interpret your work however they see fit. One of my favorite examples is Shirley Jackson's The Lottery (a very controversial story, to say the least). Apparently, she had so many responses to her story after it was published that she felt compelled to write her own response (which I have read). Having read the story several times myself, I don't agree with her response, and if I had her sitting in front of me, I would tell her so. Moral of the story: When commenters seem to interpret my work in ways I didn't think I intended, I feel greatly complimented, knowing that they took my work seriously and the work provoked thought and controversy. Like I used to tell my college English students, there is no wrong way to interpret a literary work--as long as you can defend your interpretation. And sometimes the writer must take a step back and agree with the reader.