I was re-reading a story on here by an author and while 31/32 comments were good, the first one posted was really negative:
Posted Mar 13, 2012 19:31
Very poorly written. The pacing is trite and the word selection is boringly repetitive. This recounting of an alleged encounter suggests that your knowledge about, and therefore your ability to describe, an interpersonal relationship is very limited.
A few other people disagreed with the commentator in their own feedback and I think that he was just trying to put the author down. Have you ever received a negative comment/s that you think was unjust?
I'm always looking out for and appreciating constructive criticism, but when I think of constructive criticism I think of it actually being helpful, as in the critic will suggest helpful ways to improve one's writing.
The commenter you've used as an example commented with a shallow choice of words. . . "very poorly written". . . "boringly repetitive". . . "knowledge/ability to describe is very limited". Zero helpful comments; total bashing. I agree with you.
I've only posted one story so far in my short tenure here, so I haven't received any negative comments (YET), but I'm sure they'll come.
I received a 2 and the negative comment "I just didn't like it" or words to that effect.
It was a put down, pure and simple and nothing to do with what I'd actually written and while the temptation was to add a retort of my own, or contact the member, I never.
All of the comments I received on the poem before were positive and a fair few of the ones recieved after chastised the poster of the negative comment, so it was sort of self-policing.
I welcome constructive criticism, and will try to learn from that.
Personally, if I felt that strongly about a story or comment I'd be more likely to send a message to the author, rather than mar their story...
My line of thought is that anytime you make your work public, there is a decent shot that it won't be well received by at least one person. That being said, there is a line between a negative comment such as "I didn't like the content" (which in that case, the reader did not read the tags) and constructive criticism which ideally should encourage a writer to put out a better product. I've received some negative comments. I take them for what they are and move on.
After reading the quoted comment, I remembered being surprised by it... not just from the negativity standpoint, but also because of how it held absolutely no worth to the author. The writer was definitely not a rookie, but it was the first attempt at a different writing style. It really stuck out since it was the first comment, I hope it didn't take away the creative spirit.
I've not yet received a negative comment on either of my stories, but it's probably people just being nice. I'm sure my day will come, and when it does, I hope it's from someone who wants my writing to improve and not some jerk-wad who just wants to voice their oppinion on subjective issues.
I got a 2 once and they just said, "Stupid." I tried to ask them about it but no response. That really bugged me.
I have a few times, although rarely on this site.
Mostly it's been to do with the 'morality' of my characters and their choices (eg. slutty behaviour, cheating, partying, being bitchy, multiple sex partners etc). Some people take the characters way too seriously in erotica and judge them according to their own moral standards, instead of just appreciating them as fictional characters.
I also once had a negative comment from a guy who thought my stories focused too much on the male-dominant sex theme. Since then (and having nothing to do with his comments) I've written a couple of stories that are more female-dominant.
In the end, I write about things that I find sexually exciting. They're not all going to be rose-petals on the bed one-on-one lovemaking with morally virtuous characters. I'm not too bothered by criticism over content.
In general the vast majority of comments I receive are very positive.
I have been writing on lush for nearly a year. I have written about fifty stories so far.
As a writer I get excited when someone comments on my posts.
I have seen many comments, though mostly good I have seen a few that I thought were unjust.
In fact I have had comment which I thought that the person who posted was just being a prick and didn't know what he was talking about.
I’ll give you an example.
I wrote a story called ARABIAN NIGHTS and a man posted
And I quote
A story crafted so poorly. First, no Pharoah's decendants are on earth, leave aside Egypt. Second, no arab woman will ever screem or shout or even moan aloud in sex. Third, asshole fucking is prohibited & punishable by law as sodomy in Egypt & all Middle East countries & even in India. Flow of story is so poor, appears to have written in pieces that have been put together & lastly, full of grammer & spell check issues.
I tried to explain that it is erotica and not a piece of non-fiction. I wasn’t writing a theses or anything like that. It was just something I wrote
It irritated me but I still have enough positive reviews to keep on writing.
(look out for his spelling mistakes. i took it right from my comments)
I always look forward to reading comments on my stories. I have received many favorable comments which make me want to write more. I find them most encouraging and also very good for my ego. Similarly, I have never put anyone else down with negative comments. I have on occasions offered constructive criticisms to help people reach their full potential. In the years I have been here on Lush, I have only ever received 1 bad comment. It was nasty and personal and attacked me as a person. It was not about the story. I contacted Lush and the comment was removed. Quite possibly that offender was also removed as I never heard from him again.
I do not write stories for this site or any other, so I can't relate to negative commenting, though I will say that I have read a fair amount of "bashing" by quite a few readers here. Sad!
Personally, I never negatively comment on anyone's writing, because I can't write a story to save my life, I always try to remain as positive and encouraging as possible when commenting, or refrain from posting a comment at all. I always try to keep my negativity, and I have many episodes of that, to myself where they belong, nobody wants to hear me or read from me my "sourness"!!
Good day all!
I don't give negative comments...I give constructive criticism when it's needed.
I think as long as its constuctive then it has a place in a review. Just saying 'This was bad' isn't helpful to anyone. If I read something that I don't really like I don't put it down - i just don't leave a comment at all. Who am I to say its bad - each to their own. What doesn't appeal to me may be loved by others.
H x
I once saw a very negative comment on a very good story I was reading by another member. I was quite surprised to see a comment like that on the story. Out of curiosity I went to that negative commenter's page and traced their comments and found story after story of nothing but negative comments by them. I figured that the negative commenter had some real bad personal emotional issues and just wanted to take out their torment on innocent people.
I have received one or two vaguely negative comments, but unless they contain constructive criticism, I don't let them affect me.
Now, when I was working for local government and was consistently given poor reviews on my writing, because I refused to write in the passive voice, THAT used to upset me. To this day, when I receive a comment from a reviewing agency that begins, "It is recommended ..." it raises my ire, and even though I may read further, I am rarely able to immediatly assimilate what is written.
"There's only three tempos: slow, medium and fast. When you get between in the cracks, ain't nuthin' happenin'." Ben Webster
I received a bad comment from someone that said something like, "Liked the story, but needed more." I tracked down his stories and all of them were poorly written and got high marks on every single one of them. Long story short, I took his comment and the rest of the vaguely written comments with a grain of salt and kept writing the way I saw fit to the stories I'm writing.
www.szadvntures.com
Latest story:
I received positive encouraging comments most of the time except for one on my last story which annoyed me a bit for 15minutes because the person was like telling me how I should have written my story but finally I thought that I was not going to let 1 negative comment annoy me. If I had several comments telling me something negative, then I'd be worried and review my story.
I think each person has certain personal expectations from a story and thus opinions will vary. Don't get discouraged by negative comments and don't take it personally.
As an author, you should also expect negative feedback. That's how it goes in real life. You may buy a novel that is supposed to be a best-seller having positive reviews and when you're reading it, you may just hate it. It will all depend on what the reader likes and wants to read.
The most memorable negative comment I have received to date was the concisely worded "stop writing". lol HL
I tried to PM the commenter, but they have chosen not to receive PMs from non-friends, so I can't even ask for clarification I could take forward in my writing in future. I did leave a comment on the piece, but why would they be back to see?