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Comments and feedback.
I want to ask a question:
Commenters, guests, authors. What are the things that make you WANT to comment on a story? What kinds of things do you need to see, need to be able to talk about, to make commenting worthwhile?
In my time here, comments have ebbed and flowed. We're on an ebb right now, to be sure, and there are reasons for that -- a lot of general convo has moved to the Discord rather than taking place below stories here, and there are more places around the web as a whole for TG folks to find community and media that they like. Despite that, we still have a great community here, one that's always growing and adapting, and we have some of the most fantastic TG fic authors on the web.
Writers: as an author, you should be proud of what you've created regardless of the amount of response it gets. Every read is potentially someone who needed that exact story, and I want ALL of our authors to be proud of that work, the community they've built, and the lives they've improved by being here.
And, commenters? The same goes for each and every one of you.
Nobody should be left feeling that their contributions are inadequate. Every one of us makes this community stronger, and every one of us are giving something back just by being here.
But.
Back to my question.
I know that there are a few things authors CAN do to improve the likelihood of getting more active feedback. Responding back to comments in turn, for one. Engaging with readers via additional blogs and other forms of discussion. Even asking for specific kinds of feedback and information. All of this helps, because it's ways to make the reader(s) feel like they're part of the experience of the story.
Are there any other things that, as readers and commenters, you find particularly good to comment about, or that makes you want to engage with the story more?
Likewise, are there things that make commenting difficult or unattractive to you?
All in all, the point of having a community is that we're all in this together. Nobody is here to provide something directly to anyone else. Nobody owes anyone else anything, whether that's new chapters of favorite stories, new stories about favorite characters or from favorite authors... or feedback on the content that IS created. We all provide the things we do because we want to provide them.
Every person's contributions make BC a better place.
-Melanie E.
Comments
Good points
If kudos and comments are the coin of the realm, I’d say that the supply of goods (stories) has gone up relative to demand (reader hours), thus leading to deflation in the form of fewer kudos and comments per story. But unlike the real world, authors here don’t depend on the “market” for their stories to eat (thank God!). We simply have to recalibrate our expectations to match the site’s success in attracting authors. Or, find ways to increase readership generally.
Emma
Those were the days....
And you knew who you were then
girls were girls and so were some men
Sister we could use a maid who could Hoover again
Oy, the way Lou Reed played
songs that made the Pride parade
Girls like me hoped we weren't made
Those were the days
Didn't need no Sanctuary state
ev'rybody watched her weight
gee our old Dodge Minivan ran great
Those were the days
Love, Andrea Lena
Giggles!
Love it, ‘Drea! I can hear Jean Stapleton now . . . .
Emma
You're So Lucky
To you, all the world is a song waiting to happen.
I laughed so hard I cried.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Comment modus operandi
I just passed my 14th anniversary as a registered user here on BigCloset. And I want to share a bit of a retrospect on my long time here in the community as a reader and also as a commenter.
Initially I read over 90% of the stories posted, and I also commented quite a bit. As someone who grew up in a multilingual and multicultural environment, fluent in three languages with passable knowledge in two more and an acquaintance with at least another half a dozen, I have been personally disgusted by the parochial attitude of superiority I experienced from the so-called Americans living in Yankee-land that 90% of America that is located outside of the United States of America should not be considered as America and that anybody who is not fluent in English should be considered subhuman. And worst of all, that Paraguay and Uruguay are one and the same country.
(I am not trying to offend anybody, but that is the experience I had at age 11 living in northern Indiana for a year in 1981.)
While trying to be “helpful” with my comments, I started to correct authors in public comments. Especially when they used the horrible results from Google Translate to add some cultural color and diversity to their story. As a court licensed translator I felt that I was an authority with the ability and obligation to offer “constructive feedback”. Unfortunately I realized too late that my public comments might have been a huge contributing factor in discouraging at least one author and “killing” one of her better stories half way through. I was painfully reminded of that story when a recent blog post asked if that specific story would ever get completed.
I have since learned to offer praise in public comments, and criticism or corrections in private messages to the author.
Unfortunately the BigCloset community has suffered quite a bit of drama from several authors, due to “negative” public comments. Many of these authors posted either very niche or even sub-niche stories, or about social borderline issues. And due to very fragile egos involved in those dramas, we have also lost many very well written stories that address some very important issues of today's society.
Way back when I would also read all the comments. And I got really annoyed by the very frequent non-comments of “Yay! First comment!” or “Nice story!” I got so annoyed be some of those “prolific” commenters that I put them on my ignore user list. I find these cookie cutter comments worthless, since that is what the kudos button is there for.
Nowadays there is a less than 50% chance that I will read the comment section of a story. Mainly when the story or chapter has triggered an eureka moment, a profound emotional reaction or a moment of reflection. And there is a less than 1% chance that I will go back and check for replies to my comments.
I think that Patricia and Eden might have identified a significant correlation between story genre and personal struggle. When I first got on the internet in the late 1990s, I was struggling with a lot of guilt regarding my [gender] identity, the emotional baggage of a “fire and brimstone” religious intolerance and the resulting social, emotional and economic mobbing. Thus stories of forced feminization, bondage and sado-masochism became a virtual stress-relief and over-pressure-valve.
Ever since I acknowledged my own diversity, and even more so since I have been able to live my “true” identity, those genres have lost their allure and fascination.
And as I have been grappling with a lot of my psychological and PTSD issues, consent has become ever more important to me. Not only in fiction, but also in real life. I have come to realize that a lot of my triggers originate from “the end justifies the means”, “it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission” and “we have always done it this way”.
Personally I am a strong supporter and proponent of the “Safe, Sane, Consensual” principle.
I has been stated many times before in both blogs and comments, but it still bears repeating. There is no obligation to read any story here on BigCloset or any other story site. Nobody is forced to read a story they do not like. If you do not like a genre or story element, nobody forces you to read or continue reading that specific story!! Stop reading and move on to a different story!
Comments like “I hate this story!” or “This is disgusting!” are not helpful at all. Especially in a public comment. Just stop reading and move on to a different story!
I remember a story that was posted some time ago that engaged me on the premise of the main plot. But as the story progressed, it started to become apparent that [tobacco] smoking was becoming an ever increasing plot device. After a private message exchange with the author about this issue, I decided to stay with the story until its resolution and end. But I have not read any other story by that author.
There is another author (that shall remain unnamed) that I first discovered on different story sites before also posting here on BCTS, that I will not read anymore. That is because they use sexual abuse and rape of minors as the main plot device, albeit covered with a thin vernier of discipline and education.
As others in previous comments have so eloquently stated: If a story makes you uncomfortable or even sick, drop it! Maybe even like that proverbial hot potato!!
Some times it might be useful to contact an author by private message about an issue that you find troubling. That can help clarify if it is a one off or if it is a constant. Thus help you decide for yourself if you want to keep going, drop the story or drop the author.
Gave Up
I used to have a dozen or so in the oven. So much negative attention from Readers, Authors, and even Administration...It was all too much. I'm not sure that even paying me would be a motivation.
I'm not holding my breath.
Author Comment
I'm so sorry to admit that I am guilty of not participating to the extent I'd like to this wonderful site. My participation and contributions came as a result of finding the site one day and wanting to contribute by writing a story. I was in need of something to really switch me off from some massive external pressures and it was a savior. I found myself switching off completely from daily pressures and making a few friendships that really saved me.
Who knows what causes us to go into freefall and where the parachutes will come.
So as I became involved I wrote a lot of stories and sorry if some were left hanging because I was so distracted by pressures and then a new idea and the urge to post a new story. I hope to go back to finished those stories that need a conclusion soon and I have another multi-chapter story almost complete that I've held back.
I posted a story for the September competition because I wanted to show support to the site and your efforts.
I'm not a key contributor just a fan of the site. I had a few health issues to overcome along the way but haven't we all? I was lucky.
I read some stories but mainly the Solo ones and I rarely comment because I feel the writer might feel like I felt and doesn't need feedback. Sometimes feedback influences the storyline of course that I found. It encourages cliffhangers and members participation. It's down to how we feel and the mood we are in.
My pressure was definately reduced by writing a story and posting it.
I really appreciate the efforts of those who run the site and who regularly comment or post stories. I hope they get the benefits I received from just putting thoughts down in writing and trying to make a contribution. I look back through some of my stories from time to time and I'm amazed at what I'd written. Did I write that? That's almost a true story.. Was that me as the author?
Keep up the good work. It's a great site. It helps a lot to be able to switch off from daily pressures.
Jules
Comments or not?
I have read the exchange of views with interest. Let me say that I enjoy the writing and the reading of the stories here, but there isn't much feedback except for a few stalwarts who remain supportive throughout.
I don't wish to add to the general discussion, but would like to make one personal point that I think is much more generally applicable than many of us might admit.
I know I am a bit of the way down the autistic spectrum. I have learned how to react to different situations rather than reacting to them empathetically. I was a school teacher for all my adult life and learned how both boys and girls appeared to me to think. I have never needed to change gender, rather I have no strong feelings about gender or anything else for that matter, but I do accept that I have a feminine side.
I do, however, enjoy writing about fictional places or events that I have thought up and equally enjoy populating those worlds with people based on my lifetime's experience.
My perceptions of a multi-ethnic and diversely gendered Society cannot be broadened or revised if readers do not help me to refine my ideas.
So please tell the writers if the characters resonate with you and if they don't, why they don't. Either the characters we write about are realistic or we become just fantasists, verbal cartoonists or even voyeurs in our fantasy worlds.
Columbine
When do I comment?
I’m more likely to write a comment if the story is well written AND if it engages me, or if the chapter is complete, or if there’s a cliffhanger. I will especially write a comment if I’ve written a polite message to the author and the author responds in a timely manner. If the author doesn’t respond then I will probably never bother writing another message or comment to that author.
I agree with JessicaNicole when she wrote, “I have since learned to offer praise in public comments, and criticism or corrections in private messages to the author.” That’s what I try to do.
A lot of it is time and place
I used to read mostly at my computer during the daytime. It was fairly easy to type out a short comment. Lately I’ve drifted into reading on my tablet late in the evening to relax and forget about the day. It’s not as straightforward to peck out something cogent on a touchscreen. (I am doing it now.)
I’ve started trying to comment a bit more since you posted this.
Sometimes I look for something personal in the story that evokes a response or a memory. But sometimes what I think I want to say seems too long winded and not really pertinent.
As a writer, I use kudos as a measure of engagement. But I especially value the comments from some of my favorite authors. I try to return the favor.
I don’t like forced femme or BDSM. Although I confess to occasionally sampling to see if the writer has a real point.
Most of all, I value a protagonist with real agency and interactions with people who genuinely care. I keep coming back to those writers.
I also like the motto, “praise in public, criticize in private.” Although I’m not sure what critique will be helpful.
I too miss some of the old regulars. I congratulate those who are able to publish regularly.
There have been a lot of changes in my life and much work I need to do. I’m still developing stories, but my writing has suffered.
Please keep up the good work and know I have best wishes for all of you.
Gillian Cairns
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