Annoying reviews

[tessa]

Sure - it would have been drool.

I don't think so, princess.

~wonders who "princess" is and hopes she doesn't mind me commenting in ahead of her~

~blinks ever so innocently~ Why Mr. Dean, whatever do you mean? It could have been just that. Haven't you ever drooled on your own thoughts? I think it's been known to happen on occasion. Perhaps I am mistaken though. That's happened on occasion as well.

[mkemse]

As far a good and bad reviews go, everyone has their own fetish, and may want to read something they normaly would not read
What is CRAP to One person, may not be CRAP to Another
I like gold, you may like silver does that mean my taste is CRAP, no it means my taste is DIFFERENT that is what people are people, everyone is different, how odd it would be if EVERY REVIEWER wrote the same type of review for every story, my guss is after 1 or 2 people would stop writing reviws cause they would all be the same
I write what I feel, sometime I leave a brief reviews other times longer ones, but I reserve the right to review a story as I see it, and others should so the same, the only exception is if it is woefully bad I will read it buy leave no review
As the old saying goes "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen"
if you do not like bad reviews, don't write, you willl never please ever one with every story, this is a reality of life, not even Steven Speilberg had hits with every movie he made, he made 1 or 2 turkey's during his career

[Mad Lews]

As the old saying goes "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen"
if you do not like bad reviews, don't write, you willl never please ever one with every story, this is a reality of life, not even Steven Speilberg had hits with every movie he made, he made 1 or 2 turkey's during his career

Hey! I liked AI, and so did Lews so that makes two of us.

[tessa]

What is CRAP to One person, may not be CRAP to Another

You are exactly correct.

I like gold,

Hey! Me too!!

does that mean my taste is CRAP

If it does, I guess my taste is too, as we both like gold. But I do like silver as well, so I think I'm good to go as far as the gold/silver debate goes.

I write what I feel, sometime I leave a brief reviews other times longer ones, but I reserve the right to review a story as I see it, and others should so the same, the only exception is if it is woefully bad I will read it buy leave no review

It's a good thing we can come to a site like this and say what we think, isn't it? What makes a story "woefully bad" for you, mkemse?

As the old saying goes "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen"

This is my ticket out of there!!! Thanks!!

if you do not like bad reviews, don't write

Another ticket out. The cowardly ticket, I call it.

, you willl never please ever one with every story, this is a reality of life

Yep, that's true.

Interesting thoughts, mkemse.

[Alex Bragi]

As far a good and bad reviews go, everyone has their own fetish, and may want to read something they normaly would not read
What is CRAP to One person, may not be CRAP to Another
I like gold, you may like silver does that mean my taste is CRAP, no it means my taste is DIFFERENT that is what people are people, everyone is different, how odd it would be if EVERY REVIEWER wrote the same type of review for every story, my guss is after 1 or 2 people would stop writing reviws cause they would all be the same
I write what I feel, sometime I leave a brief reviews other times longer ones, but I reserve the right to review a story as I see it, and others should so the same, the only exception is if it is woefully bad I will read it buy leave no review...

Yep, I couldn't agree more. I guess there's an awful lot of subjective reviewing goes on here--I do it myself. If I fine a story really titilating I'll find it much easier to over look mistakes, or clumsy writing, to give a higher score and generous comments.

To your full credit, mkemse, from what I've seen, your reviews are good and a good indication for other readers of what's hot and what's not.

And Mad Lews..*hugs x 2* I love you both equally! *gg*

[H Dean]

As far a good and bad reviews go, everyone has their own fetish, and may want to read something they normaly would not read
What is CRAP to One person, may not be CRAP to Another
I like gold, you may like silver does that mean my taste is CRAP, no it means my taste is DIFFERENT that is what people are people, everyone is different, how odd it would be if EVERY REVIEWER wrote the same type of review for every story, my guss is after 1 or 2 people would stop writing reviws cause they would all be the same
I write what I feel, sometime I leave a brief reviews other times longer ones, but I reserve the right to review a story as I see it, and others should so the same, the only exception is if it is woefully bad I will read it buy leave no review
As the old saying goes "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen"
if you do not like bad reviews, don't write, you willl never please ever one with every story, this is a reality of life, not even Steven Speilberg had hits with every movie he made, he made 1 or 2 turkey's during his career

I tend to agree with your statement - mostly. However...

Crap:

Crap is not subjective. Crap is crap. When I speak of crap I mean stories that appear to have been written by a 3 year old or worse. I have seen stories that were so badly written that they were nearly impossible to understand. I have also seen these stories get 10/10. That's what I am talking about. Any reviewer who routinely gives indicipherable stories big time reviews is a reviewer I dislike getting reviews from.

[Dragon's muse]

I tend to agree with your statement - mostly. However...

Crap:

Crap is not subjective. Crap is crap. When I speak of crap I mean stories that appear to have been written by a 3 year old or worse. I have seen stories that were so badly written that they were nearly impossible to understand. I have also seen these stories get 10/10. That's what I am talking about. Any reviewer who routinely gives indicipherable stories big time reviews is a reviewer I dislike getting reviews from.

See, even the definition of "crap" is subjective. You define crap in terms of language usage. i define crap in terms of storyline creation.

Example: i think John Grisham writes crap. The storyline never changes, only names, settings and few minor specifics. Obviously, a lot of people disagree with me. But i fail to see how that makes my opinion any less valid, just different.

But for the scoring system here, we could adopt what the ice skating scores do in the olympic and throw out the high score and the bottom score. just a thought.

My tuppence, your mileage, as always, may vary.

[Mad Lews]

But for the scoring system here, we could adopt what the ice skating scores do in the olympic and throw out the high score and the bottom score. just a thought.

My tuppence, your mileage, as always, may vary.

But but what about the stories with just one or two reviews?
ya throw out the high and low and you're left with 0
Mad

[H Dean]

See, even the definition of "crap" is subjective. You define crap in terms of language usage. i define crap in terms of storyline creation.

Example: i think John Grisham writes crap. The storyline never changes, only names, settings and few minor specifics. Obviously, a lot of people disagree with me. But i fail to see how that makes my opinion any less valid, just different.

But for the scoring system here, we could adopt what the ice skating scores do in the olympic and throw out the high score and the bottom score. just a thought.

My tuppence, your mileage, as always, may vary.

I was merely referring to the sort of crap that is not subjective. I find Picasso's art to be crap. That is subjective. So, on that note, I tend to agree. But there is some crap which is, objectively, crap, even if the story is not, subjectively, crap.

[mkemse]

Alex,
Thanks for your kind remarks and support even with movie reviews with Ebert & Roeper, they do not always agree om every movie , i have seen many 1 thumb up 1 thumb dwon, this is life
i would hate to see everyone where i live wear the same clothe oufits everday imagine 500 people everyday wearing the exact same clothes as the next perso,n it would be very boring within a day or 2 and have everyone look like eveyone else
I may not agree with another reviewer or thier review but I will defend thier right to express their feelings about a story whether i agree with what they said or not
The only time i have a major issue with any author is when they have say 25 stories posted and all are very similar in genre and storyline you can only cook a hamburger so many ways without repeating a way

[Mad Lews]

I may not agree with another reviewer or their review but I will defend their right to express their feelings about a story whether i agree with what they said or not
The only time i have a major issue with any author is when they have say 25 stories posted and all are very similar in genre and storyline you can only cook a hamburger so many ways without repeating a way

Got to agree mkemse, freedom of thought and expression needs to be celebrated when it's found, even when it's dead wrong. That doesn't mean you can't have healthy disagreements.
I do trust you'll let me know if my storylines become stale though they do all tend to revolve around BDSM (at least on this site)
Mad

To your full credit, mkemse, from what I've seen, your reviews are good and a good indication for other readers of what's hot and what's not.

And Mad Lews..*hugs x 2* I love you both equally! *gg*

Yes Alex but will you still respect us in the morning?

I suspect part of the hub-bub is that reviews have two not necessarily compatible functions. Readers want a heads up on the story before they invest the time, and writers want some feed back. OK writers want good PR, accolades for their efforts, and then any helpful feedback.(It's nice to want things, gives you motivation and what not.) So I suspect many shorter reviews are directed more at fellow readers than at the authors themselves, but writers are an egotistical lot and probably expect everything written about their story to be addressed toward themselves and we have been known to ignore readers on occasion, much to our peril .

& Lews

[mkemse]

Mad Lewis,

I have only run into 2 authors on this site who does the same basic storyline evertime they write the stories vary slightly but the same exact theme is there
There are authors who get real testy over alot of bad reviews, as i said if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen, if you do not want to be critized for any reason and expect everyone to love your stories all the time you may need a major reality check, no author is going to post the prefect story, if they did, they would go professional and have them publishedand even atthat point someone for some reason will find something wrong about it, it is human nature

[tessa]

mkemse-

How kind of you to send me your answer to my question. Your reply gave more perspective as to what you posted here about reviews and the stories that get them.

tessa

[J's blu]

well, i think i have to jump back in again here. as a BIG time reader and sometime reviewer, and ardent member of several Fan Clubs of authors,(not looking at Anyone in Particular of course) i will just say this. i quite often read the reviews for a story before i read it if i havent read any of that persons work before. if any of the reviews are from people i have come to recognise as others who have similar tastes to me, and who seem to appreciate the same level of writing as me, then i tend to take their reviews very seriously. if i see reviews by some whom i have little respect or affinity for, then i totally disregard them. i usually try to write a review to the author, while giving other readers some idea of why i like or dislike the story.
i will add, that if i feel like reading a story and cant be bothered scrolling to look for myself, i will go to the reviewers list and choose someone i trust and see what they have been reading lately, and try some of those.
*steps back, takes her seat, and listens once more*

[mkemse]

J's Blu

while giving other readers some idea of why i like or dislike the story.
my point exacly, authorsneed to be told what otherthink oftherework and i admire that ifyou do not carfor a story will will sayso and say why, this is called CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISISM, not intend to hurt an author, onthe contart it is to HELP the author improve in weak area of a story, nothingmore noting less, if i give apoor review i an not intending to sound condicending or appear to be "looking down on him or her" but rather pffer ideas andsuggestions as to how to improve a story but saying what I like is did not like about a particular story

[Eponine]

jamb,
I think "Petrol Station" is great!
I read the review which was a 1-star and the reviewer's comments- although I think 1 star is way too low, I can see the point made. In the beginning of your story, Valerie's thoughts vacillated between fear and retaliation; however, I saw this as more realistic and that is one thing I enjoyed about the story. I think you did a good job getting into her mind and explaining it to the reader.
I understand you would find the one star rating annoying, as it brings down your average unfairly. But more good reviews- which are well-deserved, will take care of it.
I just submitted a story for the first time and I am curious as to how I will react to the reviews. I imagine it's difficult to have that necessary tough skin, no matter how prepared I think I am.
Anyway, good job on the story and don't worry about one bad review that seems unfounded.

[mkemse]

This goes back to what was said before, what s CRAP to one person by their own defintion may not be to another by theirs

[tessa]

...

[Eponine]

LOL tessa....

yes, this CRAP argument is getting comical...

if i could interject- just a tiny squeak of an opinion from someone new to the forums, but -

Yes, the definition of CRAP is subjective, but only up to a certain point because there are agreed-upon standards of quality, at least in terms of writing technique- is that what you mean, H Dean?

And between the two who are most heated in the debate- mkemse and H Dean- from the posts and reviews of yours that i've read, you both have a sense of that standard, anyway.

ok, that's just my little two cents.

spank me if i'm wrong.
hell, spank me if i'm right

[tessa]

LOL tessa....

yes, this CRAP argument is getting comical...
ok, that's just my little two cents.

spank me if i'm wrong.
hell, spank me if i'm right

If she gets spanked, I wanna watch.

[Dragon's muse]

i want to know where the sign-up sheet for the spanking is.

[tessa]

There's a spanking sign-up sheet?

Have pen, will sign.

[H Dean]

Crap is like a wife: take my crap, please.

[tessa]

Buhdum Bumm

[isabeau6]

i have written reviews on the site, and what annoys me to hell and back is the author acknowledging everyone but me..now i'm not vain, nor do i want attention but gesh i take the time to read the story first..then i take more time to write an intelligent review..and i get ignored???? dayum...i also in the past have emailed authors...it's nice when they respond back...i've had those who have not.. and now thanks to my writing to this one author about his story and writing a review, he has sent me the finished version of his story and another book he wrote, all because i took the time to write and also he would like a female's view of the next story he plans on writing..and i will say wow..he is diabolical to the extreme and his tortures eeks..but it's all so well written, including the snuff which i have grown to accept if it's incorporated well in the plot.. that i find his stories fascinating and intriguing...

[Mad Lews]

i have written reviews on the site, and what annoys me to hell and back is the author acknowledging everyone but me..now i'm not vain, nor do i want attention but gesh i take the time to read the story first..then i take more time to write an intelligent review..and i get ignored???? dayum...i also in the past have emailed authors...it's nice when they respond back...i've had those who have not.. and now thanks to my writing to this one author about his story and writing a review, he has sent me the finished version of his story and another book he wrote, all because i took the time to write and also he would like a female's view of the next story he plans on writing..and i will say wow..he is diabolical to the extreme and his tortures eeks..but it's all so well written, including the snuff which i have grown to accept if it's incorporated well in the plot.. that i find his stories fascinating and intriguing...

Now I need to check my stories reviews to see if I'm the culprit here.
As a line of defense I should say the author isn't given a notice when there's a new review. Used to be that way but not so any more. If you want to post public remarks go the review route. It's appreciated by most writers. For a more personal exchange e-mail might work better as your experience shows.
Mad Lews

[RiverOtter]

Do you mean the author should send an email to the reviewer, or reply to the post on the review page?

I'm fairly new to the site, and I hesitate to write reviews of stories I don't like, since 1) I'm not likely to finish the story anyway and 2) I find that the wirters of badly written stories are much less receptive to criticism (wonder if there's a correlation there?)

Oh, and as for "Petrol Station," I thought it was fine, except it needed to take place in Disneyland and be about a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister of Canada. Also, in the ending Twinkles the pink magic dragon should have appeared and taken everyone to Happyland.
--Wait a minute...you mean the review should be based on what's actually *in* the story, not what you think should be in it. I gotcha.

[ElectricBadger]

I've encountered some angst from authors too, and now I'm a bit more hesitant to give feedback to anyone who doesn't ask for it. Usually, though, if you say something good (even if it's just, "Thanks for sharing with us,") people will hear you out.

[H Dean]

I've encountered some angst from authors too, and now I'm a bit more hesitant to give feedback to anyone who doesn't ask for it. Usually, though, if you say something good (even if it's just, "Thanks for sharing with us,") people will hear you out.

So long as a review is thought out and based upon valid story components no author should object to any review. Unfortunately, too many people complain about the story contents - I don't like ass fucking so I give this story a 2. I hate those assholes and will always give them a piece of my mind.

Though, I will admit that when someone posted a "2" which indicates that my grammar was complete shit, it irked me rather dramatically. I almost took my ball and went home. Fortunately, I was able to suck in my gut and stand tall. Yes, I just assumed that person to be an utter jack ass.

I must be in a mood.

[Snark]

Petrol Station was enjoyable, I'd read more of Jamb's work based on it. As for reviews, I tend to respond to either good work or very bad work. As an example of crap, misspellings with run-on words, revolving tenses, wrong version of the word (to, too, two?) get in the way to the point of not being able to follow the story. If English is not the writer's native language, fine; get a proof reader or wait until he/she has a better grasp of the language, or post it in the native language. Maybe the reviews will be better. A review should impart information that the writer can use to improve his work. Unless, of course, you review for the NY Times. I must admit I never expected to read a discourse on Ceasar in this forum. It demonstrates a refreshing depth of reading experiences!
And Tessa & Muse...I'll be posting a sign up sheet soon.