On Comments
Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:51 pm
There's been a lot of requests and grumbles about comments on stories of late, especially the lack of them, so here are some tips on how to increase getting comments for your stories, or at least, more helpful ones.
1. A short request for comments is good. The longer the request is, the more begging there is, especially if the story itself is short the less likely someone will comment on it.
2. Be specific about what sort of comments you would like (or not.) A lot of times people don't comment because they're not sure what to say, how to say it, if anyone will care if they say it, or it's not on their mind what they would say. Some key things to mention:
a) Do you want critique or not? If you're just writing for fun say that's your goal, and you'd just like to know if people liked the story. If you want to work on your skill as a writer, say that you would like critique and if you can be specific as to what kind, what you've been working on in regards to your skills, and again if there's something you don't want critique on, mention that.
b) Ask if people critique the genre of story that they do it respectfully. In this case genre is referring to "castration" or "circumcision" or "straight CBT" types of categories. This one is a little trickier as it's often something people don't think about--do I like/dislike the type of story, or this one in particular. To help that, ask people if you'd like to hear what they think about these types of stories, or be clear that you don't want to hear about critiques on the genre. You might say for example that you like gay stories and that's all you'll write, so don't leave comments asking you to write straight ones.
c) Mention if your first language isn't English (assuming the story is in English.) Especially if you're asking for critique on the story, ask that people do or do not critique your language skills as well. If you want to mention other impairments that can affect your writing, dyslexia for example, that can also help a commenter to know what critique to avoid.
d) Ask about particular elements of your story that you would like people to comment on. If they liked a character, the setting, the pacing, the immersion, anything that you've been working on that you want to know how the audience is perceiving it.
3. If it's not your first story, thank people for giving comments on previous stories. You don't have to be specific, but that helps.
4. Tell people a bit about your situation, briefly. If you've been writing a long time, if this is your first story you've ever written ever, if you used to write and now you don't, something along those lines. It will help anyone writing critique know if they should be easing up on something harsher they want to say, and help people who see an effort from a first time writer for example know they should be laying on heavy encouragement.
And remember, the comments, ratings, views, favorite amounts, etc. these are all representative stats. For every comment you get there's a lot of people who read the story and liked it but didn't know what to say, liked it but lurk a lot and don't comment or talk a lot anyway, people who didn't like it but because it's not their cuppa not because the story was bad, and so on. Every rating and comment is a human being who looked at your story and had thoughts about it, and some of those human beings will likely read it more than once given the niche nature of the archive. Don't base the worth of your story on how many stars it has or how few comments you think it got. All fiction archives have much lower numbers of comments to views, not just this one, and not just you. Even a single comment is someone who liked your story enough to tell you.
And for those leaving comments, keep the above in mind as well as:
1) Don't tell an author a story is bad because you don't like the type of story. Rarely but often enough someone will write a new story in the comments saying what they would have wished for instead. If the story wasn't to your preference, don't tell the author that you'd have preferred that a gay story about castration should have been a straight story about nullification, for example. Tell the author what you did (and didn't) like within the genre of the story.
2) Be reasonable with your critique.
3) If there was something particularly memorable or striking about a story, be sure to leave a comment saying that you liked that particular detail.
4) Never be afraid to leave multiple comments. If it's your third or seventh or twelfth time coming back to read a particular favorite, let the author know! Even if you've left a comment before.
5) Did you leave a harsh comment before, and now you feel guilty about it? Apologize! It goes a long way, and it will mean a lot.
6) The author always wants to hear from you (unless your views on the story are completely negative, anyway.) If you feel like no one will care about the comment you leave, you are absolutely wrong. The author will like the comment, and even people reading the story will like to see what other people thought about it too.
7) Comment on older stories! I believe there was not a comment system in place before a few years ago, so the older stories need comment love too.
8) And lastly, a comment is better than no comment. Even if you can't think of anything to say, just saying you liked a story is better than saying nothing at all.
1. A short request for comments is good. The longer the request is, the more begging there is, especially if the story itself is short the less likely someone will comment on it.
2. Be specific about what sort of comments you would like (or not.) A lot of times people don't comment because they're not sure what to say, how to say it, if anyone will care if they say it, or it's not on their mind what they would say. Some key things to mention:
a) Do you want critique or not? If you're just writing for fun say that's your goal, and you'd just like to know if people liked the story. If you want to work on your skill as a writer, say that you would like critique and if you can be specific as to what kind, what you've been working on in regards to your skills, and again if there's something you don't want critique on, mention that.
b) Ask if people critique the genre of story that they do it respectfully. In this case genre is referring to "castration" or "circumcision" or "straight CBT" types of categories. This one is a little trickier as it's often something people don't think about--do I like/dislike the type of story, or this one in particular. To help that, ask people if you'd like to hear what they think about these types of stories, or be clear that you don't want to hear about critiques on the genre. You might say for example that you like gay stories and that's all you'll write, so don't leave comments asking you to write straight ones.
c) Mention if your first language isn't English (assuming the story is in English.) Especially if you're asking for critique on the story, ask that people do or do not critique your language skills as well. If you want to mention other impairments that can affect your writing, dyslexia for example, that can also help a commenter to know what critique to avoid.
d) Ask about particular elements of your story that you would like people to comment on. If they liked a character, the setting, the pacing, the immersion, anything that you've been working on that you want to know how the audience is perceiving it.
3. If it's not your first story, thank people for giving comments on previous stories. You don't have to be specific, but that helps.
4. Tell people a bit about your situation, briefly. If you've been writing a long time, if this is your first story you've ever written ever, if you used to write and now you don't, something along those lines. It will help anyone writing critique know if they should be easing up on something harsher they want to say, and help people who see an effort from a first time writer for example know they should be laying on heavy encouragement.
And remember, the comments, ratings, views, favorite amounts, etc. these are all representative stats. For every comment you get there's a lot of people who read the story and liked it but didn't know what to say, liked it but lurk a lot and don't comment or talk a lot anyway, people who didn't like it but because it's not their cuppa not because the story was bad, and so on. Every rating and comment is a human being who looked at your story and had thoughts about it, and some of those human beings will likely read it more than once given the niche nature of the archive. Don't base the worth of your story on how many stars it has or how few comments you think it got. All fiction archives have much lower numbers of comments to views, not just this one, and not just you. Even a single comment is someone who liked your story enough to tell you.
And for those leaving comments, keep the above in mind as well as:
1) Don't tell an author a story is bad because you don't like the type of story. Rarely but often enough someone will write a new story in the comments saying what they would have wished for instead. If the story wasn't to your preference, don't tell the author that you'd have preferred that a gay story about castration should have been a straight story about nullification, for example. Tell the author what you did (and didn't) like within the genre of the story.
2) Be reasonable with your critique.
3) If there was something particularly memorable or striking about a story, be sure to leave a comment saying that you liked that particular detail.
4) Never be afraid to leave multiple comments. If it's your third or seventh or twelfth time coming back to read a particular favorite, let the author know! Even if you've left a comment before.
5) Did you leave a harsh comment before, and now you feel guilty about it? Apologize! It goes a long way, and it will mean a lot.
6) The author always wants to hear from you (unless your views on the story are completely negative, anyway.) If you feel like no one will care about the comment you leave, you are absolutely wrong. The author will like the comment, and even people reading the story will like to see what other people thought about it too.
7) Comment on older stories! I believe there was not a comment system in place before a few years ago, so the older stories need comment love too.
8) And lastly, a comment is better than no comment. Even if you can't think of anything to say, just saying you liked a story is better than saying nothing at all.
I like to read 2,3or so chapters be fore I commit on a story. I think some authors give up to soon.They may have a good story however they just give up.Please don't give up!