Authors: A question

I welcome all comments but those that offer constructive criticism are really welcome. I try to comment upon every story I read, if that is it has had an effect upon me. Most stories in the Library do. Now and again I find a story that does not stir my imagination, in which case I day nothing. I am sure that applies to the stories I write - some are just not effective. Here I contradict myself because if I have submitted a story that does not tickle a reader's fancy then I would like to know why.

I don't have this same perspective, Nibra.

There are many stories here that simply don't appeal to me - wrong genre, wrong character demographics, scenarios that don't work for me. It's more a reflection on me than the author and quite frankly in those situations, I simply don't comment.

It is the ones that tweak my buttons - and I do tend to keep going back to authors that I know do that - that I feel I should comment on. When I do comment, or receive comments, I feel that all public appraisals should be kept relatively upbeat. I love the coaching I get from some of the more experienced writers here, and feel that those precious opportunities are often best left for private pop-ups and emails.

Even in fiction there are those who don't like certain things in a story. For me, I don't particularly care for a small woman bullying a man, and the man just giving in like he doesn't have the sense God gave a lemon. I like it when they know they're wrong and eventually submit because of guilt. When they're wrong they say their wrong. The result of the punishment is totally up to the author. In fact, so is the bullying.

I don't particularly care for stories that are overly abusive either. To either gender. Some of these stories have males or females that show no emotion, with the exception of what they feel in being the dominant force in the other person's life. For instance, continuous beatings (not spankings) for the most minute infractions, if you would call it an infraction of any rule.

I don't care for stories that are simply pornographic in nature. In my mind that is. So, with that being said, only my opinion. Some like it and, if it's granted a space in the library, then it simply becomes MY opinion and nothing more.

I don't care for too much descriptive data, or just paragraphs of words that are simply fill ins. Many stories in the library have quite a bit of descriptive data, but they are truly part of the plot. I don't need to know the sky is blue and the grass is green. I like descriptive data that's a built up to what is going to happen as I read down the page.

I don't care for stories that have two or more people talking in the same paragraph. Although the writing is exceptional, it makes the author look like an amateur when it comes to dialogue. For me, dialogue is very important in a story. It brings the characters all together for a particular purpose. As a published author, I know this all too well from over the years.

What someone says to me in a comment is up to them. Criticize it, give suggestions, this isn't very plausible, etc... Well, it's fiction of course it isn't. However, it's up to the person what is said in their comments to me. I'm not going to get into a cat fight over a fictional story.

For me, I don't care to criticize another author's work in a public comment. I'd rather talk to that person one on one if the author is ever in the chat room. That of course would be private as well. The bottom line is that the LSF has some fantastic writers that I feel could easily go mainstream. No one is getting huge advances from publishers here. No one is getting royalty checks either. If the LSF accepts it, then it's a done deal and I'm not going to hound some author because of details since it's their story and not mine.

Everyone thinks differently. You can't please everyone. 99% of the time I get comments that make me burst with pride. 99% of the time I try to do the same with any other author. Because the LSF is free. Because it's probably the best fictional library on the net (as far as I'm concerned), because authors write their hearts out to make us happy, it's worth a head swelling comment. What's not to like?

Feel free to give me any (and I mean any) kind of comment you might want to give. If you liked something about a story, tell me why. The same if you didn't particularly like something. I'm a big boy; I can handle it.

canadianspankee

I meant no insult to other people's comments -- especially as I am new here. I have found some great comments and read some that seemed less so. I think I was including comments from other sites as well in my thinking.

I think that sort of constructive criticism is best sent in the form of a private message and not a comment on the story.

Just to complicate matters, my attitude is completely opposite: I would prefer to have the criticism out in the open rather than hidden behind a veil of curtesy. I don't really know why, but it somehow feels less cloying that way.

A lot fewer flame wars get started when it's kept private.

Fortunately most of the comments left on stories in the LSF are supportive and any criticism takes the form of constructive criticism, generally mixed with praise for aspects enjoyed by the reader. In my opinion, for what it is worth, sarcasm should be left out of comments entirely, and 100% negative feedback is also best avoided. In general, writes appreciate helpful criticism and we all enjoy praise for a story well written especially when it details why the reader enjoyed it.

I see your point, but I think much depends on the atmosphere of the site. To me the climate of this site seems friendly, constructive, and positive (which cannot be said for some other sites!) and I have seen very little that even faintly resembles flame wars. One of the advantages of getting the criticism out in the open, is that it allows other commenters to comment on the criticism, creating a richer and more complex picture. I have often done so myself when I have felt that stories have been politely but unjustly (from my point of view!) criticized. Often it is a matter of perspective; e.g. a story that ends at exactly the right place from a literary perspective, may end too soon for somebody who primarily reads it for sexual gratification.