ok, so I am annoyed. the past couple times I've posted a new chapter to Brain Donor, I've had to deal with someone that has sent me private messages negatively critiquing the story. Largely because it doesn't follow what THEY want to see. I'm writing a story about a person that is NOT happy about their new gender, and I'm being told by this person that that's not the story I should be writing. their personal head-canon is that the main character should be thrilled that they are now a 12 year old girl, instead of a 26 year old male.
Furthermore, they have suggested both times that I read an incomplete story by another author that more falls in line with what they want to see.
I interpret that as "I don't like this as it is, do it more like this"...
and in the latest message, they said "You should make it a contest"
which I interpret as "open it up, so that someone can write what I want"...
Honestly, I am so pissed off that I was really close to scrapping the whole story.
So, those that actually do like it, you have the wonderful people over at the Whateley Discord to thank for talking me down from the ledge.
Comments
Pleasing the masses
You can't please everyone. Personally, I would block the complainant, as it's your story not theirs
indeed!
I'll second that sentiment. BLOCK THEM!
I had a similar incident when I was writing The Great Shift - A Fish Tail. A few people didn't seem to appreciate that I used the term "transgendered" as well as a few other normal terms. I made the warning public in the comments area.
Eventually I stopped writing it as the oppressors would not give up.
I'd hate to see a fantastic story like yours go the same route though.
Back-seat drivers
At some point you need to tell them firmly and unequivocally to stop. It's nice to have readers, and it's great when they leave comments, but when they leave commands and directions, they are definitely on the wrong bus, and need to be told to step off.
- io
Or...
Sweetly suggest to them that they write exactly the story that they want to read.
You are the author, so write what YOU want.
I personally find your stories, like many with a sci-fi tag, do nothing for me, so I normally chose not to read (or continue to read) them. BUT there are lots of paper print-works I chose not to read since experience has shown that they and their like do nothing for me.
On the other hand there are also many other genres which I do like to read.
Remember you cannot please "all the people all of the time", but you must be true to yourself. I try very hard not to criticise an author's chosen story-line, but find I hard to resist PMing an author over spelling and grammar, particularly when it gets to interfering with my following of that story-line. Some are grateful and others are resentful, of the latter, if my comments have no effect and their transgressions are persistent, leading to a high annoyance level on my part, I stop reading them -- so they do not gain even the chance of a kudos mark.
More power to your typing fingers, maybe sometime you'll do a non-sci-fi story I like!
um...
Thanks?
You have now discovered
The major problem with with posting a story in parts. As long as the reader thinks the story is still being written some think that gives them the right to suggest how it should be written. Ignore them. Don't be sucked into debating the merits of your storyline. It's yours not theirs. For a long time every story on FM got a review from a guy who said the women should wear Mudd jeans. Unless you feel your story needs Mudd jeans ignore them.
Commentator
Visit my Caption Blog: Dawn's Girly Site
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My personal experience?
https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/56814/writin-party :P
Love, Andrea Lena
Easy solution
Block the user who's harassing you. And that's what it is... harassment. You have every right to write the story how you perceive it.
This kind of harassment is exactly why I don't post a story until it's complete and then don't go back and look at comments for about a month. I write what I like and if someone else enjoys it then great. If the don't... well, there are plenty of other authors and stories on this site they can read.
The only way I would consider changing a story to accommodate another persons taste would be if they commissioned it and were paying for it.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
But it's all right now...
I learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself.
I've seen a few writers get plagued by people who want to direct your story. The good side is that they are engaged enough to care how it goes. The bad side is that they think that you should write what they want.
I had someone really lambaste me for being too nice to Marvin Pentwater in Incomplete Without You. I didn't even reply. There is lots of free fiction out there that he can read. He doesn't need to try to make me pander to his preferences.
One of the great things about the internet is that we can publish our art without worrying about what a publisher thinks. A lot of good fiction gets a rejection notice because the publishing corporation doesn't think that it will be profitable enough.
Art is meant to be enjoyed, and to give people food for thought. If the creator of that art is forced to take it in an unwanted direction, it is compromised.
So write what you like and smile at the accolades. Be happy that you are giving enjoyment to others. And if the critics get too annoying, block them. They aren't paying you enough to put up with their bullshit.
Or maybe she'll read yr blog + take the hint...
Be true to your character.
There's enough wheeeeeee-I'm-a-girl stories around here,
+ they definitely speak to me; but your dark compelling story
is a realistic look about what it would be like for a cis male.
Sort of an induced gender dysphoria that expecting someone
to just "get over it" and embrace her femininity is as ugly as
telling a trans person that what they feel is nothing but a
mental illness or a presumption that they have no right to.
I let my story PLAY NICE stall and die about a decade ago because every time I started to escalate the war between the body-swapped brother and sister into the realm of savage black humor I got a bunch of comments telling me the narrator inhabiting his sister's body was becoming a jerk + they couldn't understand why s/he'd do that; so I'd ease back on the feuding and focus on the witch-grandmother's mentoring and Teddi's learning-to-be-a-girl stuff, until my tight little cautionary tale about the folly of revenge became a plotless meandering mess and eventually I just quit. It's not the critic's fault for being so into the character and what they wanted for her that they couldn't keep from kibbitzing so much as it was mine for being so spineless...
Don't be a Laika!
~hugs, Laika
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
Please keep going
An author once told me that he loved getting reviews that were either very positive OR very negative because they moved the reader the most. You cannot please everyone, but this has been a good story. Please continue writing YOUR story! (And appreciate the negatives with the positives)
Readers trying to re-write your story
I ran into this a year ago with a story I was posting in parts (I already had most of it written) where a couple of readers were almost insisting I was writing the wrong story and wanted the story to go in a completely different direction. I had to ignore the comments and just push the story through. It eventually became one of my best selling books. So don't let someone highjack your story.
Melanie
That is a very good point
Many readers forget that for some stories, the whole thing is or is almost completely written before anything is posted.
In that event, trying to influence what is going to happen is like pushing the tide back: it ain't gonna happen.
However, for other stories, much is not yet cast in stone. In that case, while the occasional comment may lead to an interesting plotline change, other comments may be totally inappropriate.
I don't mind comments but perhaps people ought to think about what they are about to say before pressing 'Save', whether their comment is appropriate or even necessary.
Penny
Never understood that...
No point in giving an author a hard time about a story line, sure, I comment on things like technical details, and might mention how a story affects me, but it's the writers story to present how they wish.
Just pretend the critic is the crazy cat lady that lives next door, don't make eye contact and slowly back away....
Your Stories are Yours
I agree with most of what has already been written, though personally I wouldn't deign to reply. My only reaction would be to hit the ignore tag. It's what it's there for. You write your stories. You can't write some one else's, and they can't write yours. Don't even consider giving up. Please.
Regards,
Eolwaen
Eolwaen
Please continue
Reading Brain Donor is fun because it's not the typical TG fiction. Boy puts on dress falls in love with the softer side boy becomes girl is simple it writes itself because it's a fantasy most closet crossdressers that read that drivel share. If it's well written and the plot moves along and keeps me entertained I will read it. I love brain donor and there are 2 victims in this story the main protagonist and the mother of the dead girl we've gotten to know the main protagonist who still hasn't chosen a new female name yet but we have just met the dead girls mother and problems are just coming to light on that front. I have been hoping to see the next chapter soon and found your blog, I am so sorry you have been getting attacked over it by an unhappy reader. You can't make everyone happy you just have to do you. Please dont let this person stifle your creativity or direct your story. There have been several stories that went in a direction I did not like but they were forced feminization stories where there was no love or support only cruelty and instead of harassing the author I simply stopped reading them. Don't let one bad reader hurt you just block them.
EllieJo Jayne
I remember seeing "Brain Donor"...
I wondered what happened to it because it sort of disappeared.
Early on in my Publishing here, life really was a hell in my own real life universe and a person, or persons were really cheeky and harsh with me. I don't remember my response. My first two stories got me in just lots of trouble because I was being somewhat positive about Muslims and Middle Eastern Culture. I think they black balled me here for a while. They didn't understand that it was about the plot and not Islam... Glad all that is over.
The process for blocking them seems fairly indirect. You go to your Account page and write them in to the Block box. (I Think)
I do hope that things get better.
Gwen