I want to apologize to every author here. I read a lot of your stories, but I confess that I don't read everything, but I seldom leave a comment. That is because I just do not know what to say, other than I liked the story. I just feel that only saying that kind of thing is lazy when I do not have anything critical, good or bad, to say. I am also hesitant to leave comments that might make me look silly.
I have been disappointed about the number of comments my stories have gotten as well, but I only use those comments to help with writing my stories and chapters. For me, comments are nice to see but not necessary as I write for me. Now, if someone feels the need to say they like a story or tell me that the concept I am using is abominable, that is fine. My philosophy with my stories is that people get what they pay for. :)
Now that was my personal philosophy about my writing and I do not mean to sound like I am belittling how anyone else feels.
After everything I have said, do folks want those simply bland comments on their stories or are kudos okay? There are a lot of incredibly good authors here and I want to encourage them. I think that our lives would be poorer if folks stopped writing.
Comments
Bland comments.
I have yet to have a single author rant about how "Thank you for writing and posting this story." is a bland comment and why couldn't I say something more meaningful.
I have
One author, who shall remain nameless, PM'd me after a comment in which I said I'd enjoyed her story, telling me such comments were worthless; and if I couldn't post comments containg constructive commentary then not to bother. I replied that I'd graduated school many years before and that I no longer did English Lit. assignments. I haven't written a single word about her stories since.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
FWIW
Been a lot of comments about comments today. I think both authors and readers vary in their feelings about comments, and that’s probably healthy. I expect authors who really feed off of comments will make a point of engaging with readers who leave them. When I observe that an author doesn’t do that, I usually take it as an indication that comments are less important to that individual, and I’m less likely to leave one. Though sometimes I can’t help myself . . . .
Kudos are great; it’s a very useful feature. But if a reader is willing to take the time to leave a comment, I think it shows a much greater connection to the story. Maybe a willingness to engage me as an author? I don’t know. But “nice story” can’t be considered bland if “boring story” isn’t, and I don’t think any author would view the latter comment that way.
— Emma
Bland comments
I just went through a bunch of comments on my stories. My fiction work has mostly bland comments. Dorothy Colleen is a master of the bland comment:
That's OK. I like comments like that.
If you want a lot of comments full of reader's thoughts about what you write, write non-fiction essays, or opinion pieces. My latest, "Personal Theology on Transgender" has the most lengthy comments on any piece I've ever written. Caution: before you go over to see what it's all about, know that it's full of Christian theology and my personal take on how to interpret the scriptures.
I expected a lot of negative response and vowed not to rebut any of it, but it's all pretty civilized even if it's not all complimentary. I love the way folks have taken up the discussion and kept it friendly.
If you do go read it, pay attention to the disclaimer at the start and take it to heart.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
No Comment is the Safest Approach
We have a ton of authors who are really great with descriptive but they can't spell worth a darn. I mean, our cousins across the pond have yet learned proper English. They want to add letters to make their stories longer. Color is colour and that doesn't even begin to touch all the words they want to fatten with the "U". I have yet to see any text where U is a royal letter and needs to be inserted in every word.
One would think with as long as we have been trying to teach them the proper way to greet someone is yuhall they would have got it by now. Especially since it does include a "U" in spelling and pronunciation but. One can only hope before the next century is up they finally learn how to spell and talk proper English. It's a thankless job but I keep trying anyway.
Hugs Monica
Barb
When life hands one lemons it's time for lemonade.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Beware of what u wish for
U just asked us to eliminate u ;)
The King's English
Well, you colonists may have objected to writing proper Queen's English, now you can at least write proper King's English instead of your mangled dialect. ;-)
But it's not just the spelling, e.g. the first time I happened onto the AE usage of "visit with" I was quite confused because I only knew the standard english (i.e. Queen's/King's English) meaning of "visit". Differing words for the same object like trunk vs. boot are harmless compared to the same words with a different meaning in the dialects.
The apparently common language which in fact isn't exactly common can be quite a bit misleading sometimes.
I’m guilty of this a lot.
My problem isn’t that I refuse to leave a comment, but most of the time (95%) I’m reading from my phone which isn’t that bad trying to read from it… Trying to leave a comment though and type anything meaningful on my phone is worthless… Big hands and a tiny phone doesn’t help, plus with early stages of arthritis makes it even worse…
I know I’m weird. The fact that I’m trans is probably one of the more normal things about me.