I just wanted to encourage people to comment on stories, by pointing out a few things.
1) the fact is stories take time to write, and are being given free - and in the case of some authors, they could very easily make money from them. Comments are the major "payment" you can make to an author for taking the time to write and publish.
2) Comments can influence a story. For example, a comment on chapter 2 of "Sing a Healing Song" got my wheels turning, and I think there will end up being an extra chapter.
3) Comments can sometimes get others to look at a story. Not everyone can read every single story that comes out, but a positive comment might just get someone else to take a peek, which is good news for the author.
So comment early, comment often, just comment, comment comment!
Comments
The Value of a Comment
I just wanted to comment, on your commentary about comments, that it's always a nice thing to see the thoughts and feelings of the people who read your stories. It's a way for the writer to exchange ideas with their readers, and it promotes community interaction :)
To me, that is what makes this kind of publication so radically different from the traditional form: here, the communication by way of a story need not simply be one-way, it can be a dialogue. And that is awesome :D
Comments
I am bad about making comments, but your right they along with kudos are the life blood of writers. I am making a promise here and now to make comments even if they are light on words. I wish my muse would get of her duff and kick me in mine.
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
Mark Twain.
Leigh Veritas
"Comments can influence a
"Comments can influence a story."
In my view, a story should be completed before it's posted. The story should be revised, and potentially earlier material may be affected by a later decision in the story. For example, my Bikini Beach story was complete well before I posted the first part on FM. I made numerous changes as I was writing, and in fact I wrote it out of order. For various reasons, I had to remove whole scenes. Then, of course, it had to pass Elrod's muster.
There, of course, is where his comments and objections led to further revision, sometimes in ways he didn't intend. (Examples include the maternal catfight and Daisy's comments when Luke first sees her mother.)
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
Comments can influence an author
One of the reasons people post here, I know that I was one, is to get feedback as we are writing. Especially when we are new to it.
My Jason's Story, would never have been written if I had waited to post it when it was finished.
And though it's sequel has sat for a number of years now, I am pleased with what is up there.
(For those that care, I have begun working on finishing The Life and Times of Kelly Anderson, actually have the next couple of chapters written, and will put it out when I finish. Because I know that it may take a while, and that real life keeps intervening I don't want to get it started again till its done.)
Having said, that if I knew I could keep at it, I would because it would be better with the feedback that the BCTS audience provides.
Hugs,
Kristy
Not to mention serial writers Daphne.
More than a few of us are in that group and the better a response the more we're encouraged.
Bailey Summers
Exciting and Ego-Building
Of course, comments are exciting and ego-building, and occasionally ego-deflating. Several people didn't care for the ResetButton ending -- two people mentioned "Dallas". A couple persons liked the loophole defeating a supposedly irreversible, undefeatible, BB lifetime membership.
And one reader got attached to the protagonist's sibling, who was of course the real subject of the BB treatment.
-- Daphne Xu (a page of contents)
Well...
I for one, have given up on comments. If people leave them, they leave them.
As much as I desperately crave the feedback, I don't know what the magic formula is to get that feedback. I've asked, begged, pleaded... It's no use.
~And so it goes...
Time is the enemy
If I'm writing, then I can't be reading, unfortunately. And then there's Real Life -- which made me pay a visit to my doctor this morning and then go for a blood test this afternoon, five hours when I could have been somewhere else entirely :)
Which means that when I do come here to read, I have to be selective in what I choose to read and I generally don't have time to leave comments. I'll always give a kudos where it is deserved.
I will post comments if I see something that intrigues me, or if there is something obvious another commenter has missed, or very occasionally when the story has completely overwhelmed me. And of course I do reply to comments on my own pieces.
That, I think is the case for many of those who come here to post stories. We have to give sparingly, I'm afraid.
Penny
Time just wants to be your friend!
I have to agree. If I'm in a writing set of mind, I rarely read anything. Just filling up my bookmarks with things I want to read, once I get around to it. Then I'll binge on stories during lulls of inspiration, out of curiosity or to see if there's something that can trigger ideas of my own.
Sadly, sometimes I don't comment on something because what I intended to say had already been said by another commenter (or perhaps said better), which is a little silly, or because I feel I don't have anything else to contribute. Or can't think of an appropriate pun :)
I read...
Voraciously when I'm writing. Not anything to do with the genre I'm writing in, but usually some non-fiction. The book I'm currently reading is on the history, usage and construction of Percussion Revolvers. One of several books I've been reading on firearms to know more about the subject for my writing.
It never hurts to know about such subjects. Especially since I tend to write modern day stories of one type or another. I remember a story written by an irish writer, some twenty plus years ago. In it, the writer described in detail the protagonist peeling the foil back from one corner of his frozen dinner before putting it into the microwave oven for heating.
Now, I don't think that I'd make a mistake of that magnitude, but for those who are familiar with pistols, describing a Glock 19 or Detonics Combat Master instead of a small automatic pistol, will give my readers the idea that I do know a little about what I'm talking about.
And that may be the longest sentence I've ever written.
~And so it goes...
Voices from the stage OR
The Marks Brothers started out knowing squat nothing about entertainment. It was by a lot of practice and experience gained by night after night being booed off stage that lead to there later success. For a lot of us here ON BCTS it much the same. We are performers on this stage and like an actor when the house is quiet as a the sound of one hand clapping it can wound our creative ego's, sniff sniff sniff
[To be Continued]
Remember your comments are the Tiermisu in a writers life our egos need to know how we are doing so please leave a comment.
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
BC creates the urge to write and comments nurture it
Without BC and the promptings of blogs I'd have never tried to write fiction and without comments on my efforts I'd have soon stopped
Rhona McCloud
I seem to get
more comments on blogs than I do on stories, hey ho!
Angharad
It depends on the Comment
I receive many comments that "This is an excellent story" or "It made me weep," but nothing more. Rarely I receive one that says "it stinks" and nothing more. To me, the former strokes my ego for about fifteen seconds and the latter I ignore, but they don't help me be a better writer. My editors, especially Holly Hart and, more so, Angela Rash have helped me more with my writing by making comments on my "beta" stories. Few people have made comments that are constructive criticism. These help me more than any good, but nothing else comment.
shalimar
I'm thinking...
that many people refrain from offering critical feedback in that it may not be perceived as being friendly.
I've even asked people to PM me if they have something negative or critical to say... Nothing.
~And so it goes...
And there's the Alphas
Certain people will always get a number of comments. There's a tightly-knit circle of friends, and every one of them will make comments on the others' stories. Don't get me wrong, the stories are well-deserving of positive praise, it's just the rest of the stories get the "stepchild" treatment.
Then there have been some writers that couldn't buy a comment. One author in particular did a nice "alternate world" on a popular character here on BC. The alternate world stories were approved (and encouraged) by the original author. Lots of character development, a great twist on the original story. But he only averaged 2 comments per posting, one of which was mine.
Another author did the same thing with a different twist on the characters. She had a good head of steam up and she was getting chapters out to the proof-reading gang and posting on a regular basis. Then suddenly she pulled all her stories here on BC and basically disappeared. Was she tired of getting no comments? Was she getting overly critical comments in her PMs? She hasn't said why she left and we may never know. But I've got it all on my HD, even the stuff that was never posted, and I read it from time to time. Even with it being incomplete its still well worth reading.
So I have determined that for my material (both what was pulled and what was not ready to post) I'm just going to ignore the Kudos and comments. No number comparison to others' stories, what I get, I get. And that is what I suggest others do. Don't count the numbers, it's a mug's game.
PS: Yes,I borrowed the term "Alphas" from the Crystal Hall.
They know they can survive
Commenting
I see it averaging out for the most part. Stories with like 10-20 comments will sometimes be nothing more than the writer responding to them all (making them 5-10 comments). I do this a lot. Or it will be 2-3 people having a discussion in the comment section. Which kind of puffs up the comment count surreptitiously.
I personally love comments. It's not about an ego boost or anything. It's just nice to see people are reading and enjoying the stories. Hit count isn't exact science in that regard. Sometimes they do "influence" my writing, but not in which direction the story is going. They all have a beginning, middle and end in my head. However, someone might point out an obscure area in a story that people would like to know more about. Something that I might have just glossed over thinking it was fine.
For a recent example, in Seasons of Bailey: Spring - Part 1, someone commented that it would have been nice to know why Bailey thought her new doctor was creepy. In Part 2, I put in a small scene with Bailey and that doctor. It didn't change the outcome of the story. But it did add a little bit of depth to characters.
Small little things like that have helped me along the way. So I love comments. I even love what I call "retrocomments". Where someone comments on an older story, or part to a story. (I don't have a lot posted here tbh) Even the emails/messages are nice.
But I do understand there's only so much time in a day. And for anyone that knows me, they know I'm not a shining example of posting frequency. Personally, I haven't had time to read much of anything lately. Especially having to play catch up with my writing. I'm hoping that will change once I get a certain series done. So I might be leaving some retrocomments of my own.
Either way, I understand both sides of this issue. I've always been split 50/50 on it. Yes, fans/recognition of your art keeps you going, but the other half of it should be about wanting to do the art for yourself.
~Taylor Ryan
My muse suffers from insomnia, and it keeps me up at night.
This hurts me so much.
So, OK maybe I'm not a great writer, but still many of my stories will get thousands of "reads" but few if any Kudos, and not many comments. And, I am well aware that I do not write to the Transgender "formula". Still, you'd think that if someone clicked on your story, there would be something.
A few of my readers have said I write beautifully. So, what is the problem here?
Since the big site crash several months ago, I think the demographics of the site has changed.
I write what my heart tells me to write, and sometimes it gets really discouraging here. I've thought of just shutting Kudos and comments off so I could have some doubt about whether my writing actually SUCKS that bad.
That is why, if I read a story, I try to comment if there is any redeeming quality to it.
Gwen
*hug*
I feel your pain. Like most writers, my stories are my darlings. And I want people to like them. I've always wanted to write stories that were fun to read, whether they were gripping thrillers, just adventure stories or whatever. It's hard to look at the numbers sometimes. I almost wish I couldn't see the number of hits my stories get.
I always give kudos to any story I read. I don't always comment, because I don't want to comment to just say I liked it. That's not feedback. I don't give critical feedback (and by critical I mean a logical analysis of their work) because if someone has a thin skin, it would easily be taken as not being friendly. Yes, I know I'm a hypocrite wishing people would give me what I'm loathe to do in return. However, I've got less of a thin skin than most when it comes to my writing. I may kick myself repeatedly and go overboard with it when someone points out that I did something stupid, but I'd rather know I did something stupid than not.
~And so it goes...
Demographics
What exactly do you mean by changing demographics? Could you expound on that a little?
~Taylor Ryan
My muse suffers from insomnia, and it keeps me up at night.
Demographics
Demographics are the quantifiable statistics of a given population. :)
Gwen
To clarify
Perhaps I should've been more specific. :P I meant how have you seen them change?
~Taylor Ryan
My muse suffers from insomnia, and it keeps me up at night.