'Helpful' comments

Actually it is with the chat room, but no one uses it. There people can talk privately as well. I've enjoyed some good conversation with people here, but as an admin pointed out one time (I think it was Februs) don't use the pop-ups for this for too long because it becomes unstable. (something like that) Sorry, Febs, maybe I got that all wrong.

As we can all see there are various opinions on this subject. Just keep enjoying my stories as well as the others and keep the comments coming. All I can say is I'm really delighted with the new batch of stories I've written. A great bunch of reads and comments. It looks like I'm cornered with the disciplinarian story and need a sequel. Thanks for your interests my friends. I mean that from the heart.

Pat aka Bendover

I find this thread entirely enlightening (Thanks Fi). As I have mentioned to others privately, the comments made on stories here are some of the most civil I have encountered. The readership here seems both educated and interested...and willing to help. As a person inept at grammar per se, I am always eager for correction. Every audience is different. I am too new on this site to have any real sense of the nature of this readership, but comments regarding characters, their history and exposed psychology are most helpful and welcome. Any mistakes made in plotting are critical to story development and should, in my opinion, be pointed out. Any constructive critique is valuable, whether or not one agrees or disagrees with the content.

I find it refreshing to find a group as interested - or nearly so - in the craft of writing as in the
spanking.
Alexa313

I always try to leave a positive comment for the stories that I enjoyed reading. I am not an author nor do I feel that I have the right to be a critic. If an author spent the time to write a story that I enjoyed then a thank you and an encouraging word seems appropriate.

The great majority of comments are positive, but I don't think comments are meant purely to please. When I make a negative comment or a factual correction, I usually try to say something positive too. This comes quite naturally as when I really haven't got much that's positive to say about a story, which is rare, I usually just want to leave it and not point out, shall we say, that a London lawyer isn't called an attorney or that the battle of Antietam occurred before the battle of Gettysburg (and that was a mistake, getting them the wrong way round, I found not here but in a Conan Doyle story!)

While I sometimes disagree with negative comments about my own stories, I don't think I should be bothered that there's a criticism on the story record.

I probably do make more critical comments on challenge entries for two reasons - I'll rarely give up reading a story I don't like, just read it rather fast; and my mind is in mark-giving mode: "Hmm, I think this is a 7 rather than an 8 because..." or "although the author has got that wrong, I don't think I should give a lower mark for that."

I'm with jimisim: I only comment stories I enjoy. We have a huge and widely different amount of stories here, many can't be "my cup of tea".

In my mind comments are mostly for encouragement to the author. Comments on my own, few stories has mattered a lot to me; a little criticism or questioning doesn't bother me as long as comments are mostly positive. I recently got a reply back after I'd commented a story by another author. The reply started with: "Thanks for a great encouraging comment". I really appreciated that; it's nice to hear that my comment mattered even for an author with more than 100 stories in our library.

As an author I like to discuss my own stories in order to enhance my writing. I don't feel comments is suited for that. Instead it has to be a dialog between me and another person I do know. I've tried with another author in some stories in my native language, Danish, and it has been very interesting and rewarding.

I think the criticisms are a consequence of a community obsessed with the idea of correction!!

My intention in starting this thread was not to revive the old positive/negative comments debate. That horse is quite dead already. I see this as a totally separate issue - the compulsion to point out the mistakes of others in a public way. I know that some are honestly trying to help and may not have thought about how it makes an author feel, but others have seemed to be almost gleeful, making it seem like a 'gotcha'.

I realize that this bothers some authors (me, for instance) more than others. Whether you like my stories or not, I love to see an honest comment. And if (when) I make a careless error, as we all do from time to time, I do appreciate someone letting me know, but please tell me via pop-up, chat, or email.

You are absolutely correct FiBlue I was the person Bendover referred too and after I had posted my comment thought why hadn't I just sent her a popup, then she responded and we chatted well into the evening.
However sometimes it's nice to do your own proofreading , as the man said sometimes "You've got to be cruel to be kind."

What is this SHE business? The last time I took a shower I was washing Male Bits.

Ah, I didn't mind that comment, Tam. I meant it when I said I appreciated it. I quickly asked Flopsy if she would change it for me, and Fi mentioned that she was validating it and would, too. It's been fixed. So, I'm on the rode errrr road to happiness.

I make loads of errors! Poor Flopsy has to wade through tons of them when ive got my India Heath hat on. The only thing I can say in my defence is that I honestly do try to learn by them. I have an ongoing list of mistakes I tend to make and I add to it whenever she points out another one. Then I use it at the end of the book as a check list.

As for the library stories...sure, I make mistakes in those too and Fi will quite often pop up me to tell me. I don't take offence if they are pointed out privately or publicly though. However I think all stories on here should be judged as a whole, rather than nitpicked over for tiny errors. At the other end of every comment or pop up is a person who has given freely of their time and effort. That should be encouraged and applauded.