When you click to rate stories/poems you have a choice of 5 options. Each of the 5 options has a description next to it.
5 - excellent
4 - good
3 - average
2 - fair
1 - poor
Yesterday I voted one poem as fair. Since then I've received several messages suggesting that if I don't like something that I shouldn't read it, or that a score of 2 is mean. Obviously one cannot tell if one likes something without reading it, so that doesn't work, but the implication of what has been said is that if I don't like the quality of writing that I shouldn't vote.
My question...is there any point in having the scoring system including poor and fair, if the expectation is that they're not used.
Second question...if you read something that is below par, do you score and/or comment or do you just ignore it?
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Rating stories
Her Royal Spriteness
Lush culture. I happen to agree with you, Mr Mark. If you look at the way things are set up, most stories should get 3s and 4s here, and 5s should be given out sparingly - the culture here, however, has grown up so that people are actually pissed if you given them 4s. 3s are practically insulting - a lot of readers are now like me - i won't score an a story unless it's truly excellent - it's too much of a pain to give out an honest score -3 IS average, after all, but you hand those out, you get hate mail and revenge scoring. if i'm honest, the scoring system here is broken - it's more of a feel good thing - that said, it's not going to change - it's not something that can be "fixed" - it's just how the site has evolved. we're a lot nicer than most sites who are really brutal - given the choice, i'd rather be nice - if you've ever published a story on a competitors site and actually gotten death threats because they didn't like the subject, you'd understand that statement.
so, in a nutshell, if you're going to be honest, i applaud you - i will also warn you that you're going to get flak for it.
so, in a nutshell, if you're going to be honest, i applaud you - i will also warn you that you're going to get flak for it.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
Big-haired Bitch/Personality Hire
There have been so many threads started on this subject, but I'll add my two cents anyway.
I'm in total agreement with you Mark, that's the way the scoring system should be used. It would be great to read an OK story, give it a 3 or a 2, and move on. I hate the whole, 'If you didn't like my story, why did you read it?!' mentality. It's like going to a restaurant, taking a bite of something that tastes terrible, and the chef going "If you didn't like my food, why did you eat it?!" You don't know unless you try. I've personally continued reading terrible stories in the hopes that maybe it gets better, or perhaps the overall plot will win me over as opposed to just the story-telling itself.
But as Sprite mentioned, the current Lush culture is to leave good feedback or none at all. And I despise that culture.
I think the reason that has become the culture is because of what you've just experienced. Give someone below a four, and they'll contact you under the guise of 'Tell me what I did wrong as I'd like to improve.' But that's seldom the case. It's really to tell you that you've got it all wrong. And they'll throw numbers at you and whatever else to make their case. Does this apply to all writers? Of course not. But it applies to many. And because of this, people just try to avoid the hassle of giving honest feedback. So if they read a story and think it warrants less than a four, they just won't vote on it because it isn't worth the back and forth with the author, which probably leads to the author blocking you so you can never taint their scores with your honest feedback again.
However, I will say that there's a way to give constructive feedback without being an asshole about it. If your idea of constructive feedback is "Your writing is shitty, fix that shitty shit," then of course you're gonna get a reaction. People put a lot of work into what they do, and they feel strongly about it. So if you're ridiculing someone and their work under the guise of constructive criticism, then you're one of the biggest flaws in the system as you're making authors' reactions to less than perfect feedback justifiable.
I'm in total agreement with you Mark, that's the way the scoring system should be used. It would be great to read an OK story, give it a 3 or a 2, and move on. I hate the whole, 'If you didn't like my story, why did you read it?!' mentality. It's like going to a restaurant, taking a bite of something that tastes terrible, and the chef going "If you didn't like my food, why did you eat it?!" You don't know unless you try. I've personally continued reading terrible stories in the hopes that maybe it gets better, or perhaps the overall plot will win me over as opposed to just the story-telling itself.
But as Sprite mentioned, the current Lush culture is to leave good feedback or none at all. And I despise that culture.
I think the reason that has become the culture is because of what you've just experienced. Give someone below a four, and they'll contact you under the guise of 'Tell me what I did wrong as I'd like to improve.' But that's seldom the case. It's really to tell you that you've got it all wrong. And they'll throw numbers at you and whatever else to make their case. Does this apply to all writers? Of course not. But it applies to many. And because of this, people just try to avoid the hassle of giving honest feedback. So if they read a story and think it warrants less than a four, they just won't vote on it because it isn't worth the back and forth with the author, which probably leads to the author blocking you so you can never taint their scores with your honest feedback again.
However, I will say that there's a way to give constructive feedback without being an asshole about it. If your idea of constructive feedback is "Your writing is shitty, fix that shitty shit," then of course you're gonna get a reaction. People put a lot of work into what they do, and they feel strongly about it. So if you're ridiculing someone and their work under the guise of constructive criticism, then you're one of the biggest flaws in the system as you're making authors' reactions to less than perfect feedback justifiable.
░P░U░S░S░Y░ ░I░N░ ░B░I░O░
Cryptic Vigilante
I agree with everything that has been said by the three posters above. Making friends and getting along with people is part of the Lush culture, and in more than one way this aspect is downright detrimental when it comes to offering/receiving sincere feedback.
When I first joined here, I gave honest scores to stories according to my own impressions. To me, a score of 3 was still 'positive feedback', meaning that it still showed that I appreciated reading that story even though it didn't really correspond to my own preferred style/fantasies. Scores of 4 were reserved for stories of superior quality or for those that hit right in my own fantasies; scores of 5 were much more of a rarity, given only to stories of 'literary' quality.
I soon discovered the 'Lush culture' though, where a score of 4 is considered an utmost insult. And I also experienced quite a bit of jealousy from a few of my friends, from the typical "Why haven't you read my story yet!?" to the whiny "Why have you favorited her story and not mine!?". For a short while that just demotivated me to read stories altogether; it just made me feel like I was some kind of good puppy that was performing a chore.
I don't read as often as some other people here, but nowadays I just give a score of 5 to everything I read. That's just my little sign of approval, as if saying "Yeah, I read your story/poem". Writers still do something creative with their time, which I'm appreciative of and which I think deserves some kind of recognition. For me, offering sugarcoated feedback is still the preferred solution over offering no feedback at all. The only exception to this is when I'm voting on competition entries; then I vote according to my own impressions, to differentiate the good from the not-so-good and to offer the judges something a bit more tangible to work on.
I've only published two pieces so far, but personally I much prefer honest feedback. To me, the number of votes on my stories is much more rewarding than receiving perfect scores of 5. I'd like to know that people took some time to read my work, their opinion of it is only of secondary importance to me.
When I first joined here, I gave honest scores to stories according to my own impressions. To me, a score of 3 was still 'positive feedback', meaning that it still showed that I appreciated reading that story even though it didn't really correspond to my own preferred style/fantasies. Scores of 4 were reserved for stories of superior quality or for those that hit right in my own fantasies; scores of 5 were much more of a rarity, given only to stories of 'literary' quality.
I soon discovered the 'Lush culture' though, where a score of 4 is considered an utmost insult. And I also experienced quite a bit of jealousy from a few of my friends, from the typical "Why haven't you read my story yet!?" to the whiny "Why have you favorited her story and not mine!?". For a short while that just demotivated me to read stories altogether; it just made me feel like I was some kind of good puppy that was performing a chore.
I don't read as often as some other people here, but nowadays I just give a score of 5 to everything I read. That's just my little sign of approval, as if saying "Yeah, I read your story/poem". Writers still do something creative with their time, which I'm appreciative of and which I think deserves some kind of recognition. For me, offering sugarcoated feedback is still the preferred solution over offering no feedback at all. The only exception to this is when I'm voting on competition entries; then I vote according to my own impressions, to differentiate the good from the not-so-good and to offer the judges something a bit more tangible to work on.
I've only published two pieces so far, but personally I much prefer honest feedback. To me, the number of votes on my stories is much more rewarding than receiving perfect scores of 5. I'd like to know that people took some time to read my work, their opinion of it is only of secondary importance to me.
Devil's Advocate
Fight the power, Mr Mark! Honest scoring and constructive criticism are essential on a site like this. It's the best way for authors to learn, and hone their skills to become better writers.
I've voted below the line many times, even handing out a few 2s and the occasional 1. I've not actually copped an earful over any of it either. I put that down to offering a constructive comment to go along with my score. I stay away from value-laden judgements, and focus on something specific, with a suggestion for how it can be improved. And I always try and soften it with something positive I liked about the story.
But as a mod, I've had to temper that somewhat, lest my feedback be misinterpreted as official site criticism. I've since become a little more generous, leaning more towards supportive than constructive. But I'm finding that's not entirely consistent with my values and integrity. The upshot being I score and comment less these days.
I do agree somewhat with Sprite, as we're all required to under site guidelines, the culture here is positive at all costs. And that's a great environment for timid new writers who are just starting out. Support and encouragement is invaluable. It's also addictive. I think a little more maturity is what's needed. And unlike Sprite, I think you can change a culture.
Keep doing what you're doing, Mark. Hopefully more of us will follow.
I've voted below the line many times, even handing out a few 2s and the occasional 1. I've not actually copped an earful over any of it either. I put that down to offering a constructive comment to go along with my score. I stay away from value-laden judgements, and focus on something specific, with a suggestion for how it can be improved. And I always try and soften it with something positive I liked about the story.
But as a mod, I've had to temper that somewhat, lest my feedback be misinterpreted as official site criticism. I've since become a little more generous, leaning more towards supportive than constructive. But I'm finding that's not entirely consistent with my values and integrity. The upshot being I score and comment less these days.
I do agree somewhat with Sprite, as we're all required to under site guidelines, the culture here is positive at all costs. And that's a great environment for timid new writers who are just starting out. Support and encouragement is invaluable. It's also addictive. I think a little more maturity is what's needed. And unlike Sprite, I think you can change a culture.
Keep doing what you're doing, Mark. Hopefully more of us will follow.
My latest story is a racy little piece about what happens when someone cute from work invites you over to watch Netflix and Chill.
Prolific Writer
Quote by MrMark
When you click to rate stories/poems you have a choice of 5 options. Each of the 5 options has a description next to it.
5 - excellent
4 - good
3 - average
2 - fair
1 - poor
Yesterday I voted one poem as fair. Since then I've received several messages suggesting that if I don't like something that I shouldn't read it, or that a score of 2 is mean. Obviously one cannot tell if one likes something without reading it, so that doesn't work, but the implication of what has been said is that if I don't like the quality of writing that I shouldn't vote.
My question...is there any point in having the scoring system including poor and fair, if the expectation is that they're not used.
Second question...if you read something that is below par, do you score and/or comment or do you just ignore it?
**Content removed by moderator because personal disputes should remain private.**
Her Royal Spriteness
Quote by Mysteria27
Wow, now you have made a forum post about this. You really are something else. I mean you certainly have your own opinion about my work and I thanked you kindly for your score of your 2 it is your opinion to give me that. It is your RIGHT to give me WHATEVER YOU WANT TO GIVE ME. It is also my right on MY POEM TO RESPOND TO YOU.
Here is what you said on my poem. And I have every right to comment on my poem back to you. This is what you said:
You'd be better off producing less work but making them all of a higher standard. Most school children could choose more imaginative descriptive words than you have done here.
This is what I said back:
I have 2 million views to my stories and poems. So I would guess that lots of people enjoy my work. I can't wait to see what you post here. Funny, I remember that you did write a poem that I gave you a 5 on. I see that you now hid your work. I guess you don't want to get a 2 back on the 2 you gave me. You can't respond to me as I have blocked you. Insulting people really isn't going to get you very far here. I am hoping you got off on the 2 you gave me. Because you probably are the kind of man that loves an audience. I bet your a very small man with a small dick. That is my guess. Happy lushing...and thanks again for the lovely score of a 2. xoxooxxo
I mean if you are going to GIVE A 1 OR A 2....YOU MIGHT GET SOME FLACK FOR IT.
I really hope you will put this to bed AS I AM A BIT TIRED OF IT....
Happy Lushing...
xo
Thank you for illustrating my points so perfectly.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
Prolific Writer
*Poem removed by moderator. There is a different section of the forum reserved for posting poetry as well as promoting your writing.**
Also, please remember to keep personal disputes out of the forum. Thanks!
Also, please remember to keep personal disputes out of the forum. Thanks!
Active Ink Slinger
I gave up trying to give honest feedback. If I like something I give it a 5 or a 4 if it has a lot of typos or something. it seems many on here have no interest in improving their writing, they only want to be told it's wonderful.
Dare I???
I am a novice new writer here, but I agree the score system is flawed..Seems to me alot of it can be retaliation, jealousy, or simply to knock someone off the top 10 author list hoping they will get on it.
Maybe it's just me but even before I started publishing, I felt that not all stories are to everyones liking but still writing takes time and work...I know that more than ever now and the author should get acknowledged for that. If I dont like a story/poem I wont comment or score it that way no feelings are hurt.
There have been a couple of occasions though that i noted some errors and I wouldnt have dreamed of commenting them publicly, I privately told the person so they could quickly edit. Also another time someone was a bit baffled about why one story hadnt done better and i privately told them why from my pov..though it wouldnt be all that could be and they thanked me but again I kept it private.
LOL recently I published a poem and bless someone emailed me a re version of what I wrote, I thought it was sweet and from their POV they felt the poem would work better how they had worded it..tbh I kinda cringed some of it didnt rhyme...sorry I like my poems to rhyme..but I wasnt offended and was grateful they kept it private. I thanked them and said that I appreciated it but I felt that my version was better suited to my style of writing.
As a novice I appreciate any feedback and advice but I also have feelings, we all do so if the comment is going to be insulting and ridicule me when I have worked hard then that would upset me. I would far prefer a person do as the one did above and offer his/her advice on how I can improve privately and I can choose to either take it or not, we all have different writing styles.
Moving on...Mysteria yes is a friend of mine but so are you Mark, we recently connected over your loss and your miscarriage forum and became friends..in addition to this it was me who first saw your very sad first poem and directed a few friends to go see..wasn't the best poem I ever read tbh but its was full of emotion, Mysteria was one of them that I showed it to.
**Content removed by moderator because personal disputes belong in a private setting. Seriously, send a PM.**
I am a novice new writer here, but I agree the score system is flawed..Seems to me alot of it can be retaliation, jealousy, or simply to knock someone off the top 10 author list hoping they will get on it.
Maybe it's just me but even before I started publishing, I felt that not all stories are to everyones liking but still writing takes time and work...I know that more than ever now and the author should get acknowledged for that. If I dont like a story/poem I wont comment or score it that way no feelings are hurt.
There have been a couple of occasions though that i noted some errors and I wouldnt have dreamed of commenting them publicly, I privately told the person so they could quickly edit. Also another time someone was a bit baffled about why one story hadnt done better and i privately told them why from my pov..though it wouldnt be all that could be and they thanked me but again I kept it private.
LOL recently I published a poem and bless someone emailed me a re version of what I wrote, I thought it was sweet and from their POV they felt the poem would work better how they had worded it..tbh I kinda cringed some of it didnt rhyme...sorry I like my poems to rhyme..but I wasnt offended and was grateful they kept it private. I thanked them and said that I appreciated it but I felt that my version was better suited to my style of writing.
As a novice I appreciate any feedback and advice but I also have feelings, we all do so if the comment is going to be insulting and ridicule me when I have worked hard then that would upset me. I would far prefer a person do as the one did above and offer his/her advice on how I can improve privately and I can choose to either take it or not, we all have different writing styles.
Moving on...Mysteria yes is a friend of mine but so are you Mark, we recently connected over your loss and your miscarriage forum and became friends..in addition to this it was me who first saw your very sad first poem and directed a few friends to go see..wasn't the best poem I ever read tbh but its was full of emotion, Mysteria was one of them that I showed it to.
**Content removed by moderator because personal disputes belong in a private setting. Seriously, send a PM.**
The Duchess of Tart
Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx
And my latest poem, The Temptation.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx
Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx
And my latest poem, The Temptation.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx
Active Ink Slinger
It is a very interesting topic and I would believe a topic that will be discussed as long as Lush lives. Sprite is absolutely correct that Mysteria proved her point. The point of feedback ... to offer a writer some information that would be helpful in future writing. When I joined Lush I made a point to ask for helpful advice. But that just doesn't happen here in the open forum. I gave a writer a '4' on a poem, stating that I was not a big fan of poetry, but liked what he had written. He went ballistic! Called me vile names and couldn't believe I would write such things in my comments. So you learn to just not leave comments, even when you can see that a writer needs some help.
We have people here who write 3rd grade level junk, but have many followers that like that junk. You just have to decide to ignore the junk if you take your writing seriously. Leave comments for those that you know want them ... send private messages to those that may need some help.
If you read one of my stories and want to offer some "help," please feel free to do so. Leave a comment or send me a private message. My goal is to improve as a writer ... if you want to help me, I'd be pleased to have your offering.
We have people here who write 3rd grade level junk, but have many followers that like that junk. You just have to decide to ignore the junk if you take your writing seriously. Leave comments for those that you know want them ... send private messages to those that may need some help.
If you read one of my stories and want to offer some "help," please feel free to do so. Leave a comment or send me a private message. My goal is to improve as a writer ... if you want to help me, I'd be pleased to have your offering.
Convict
I know it's always going to be difficult to create a scoring system that is fair to all, however I've said it before that some members weren't so agro about getting scored lower than a 5 when we DIDN'T know who made the score.
It's the timeline, which I think is an excellent idea and I love it, but does the timeline HAVE to tell us who voted? can't it just reflect that a vote has been made on a particular story? Does it have to tell us at ALL that a story was read and voted on? Sure, it might change that we can turn it off if we want to, but there are still going to be members who will leave it on, and who WILL continue with the petty stuff. I just don't see the need to know who scored, that's when the revenge scoring begins and we all know it's childish, the fact is, the childish people do it and that's one of the things you can't ever stop as long as we are able to identify who gave us which scores. It wasn't like this before the timeline. There weren't so many 5's being flung around then either.
I appreciate this subject has been flogged to death
like a lot of other things on lush that people don't like, but isn't it worth a try, to take names off a scoring notification to see if that calms things down a bit? I think it is (doesn't mean I am right though)
I'm not suggesting people vote higher than they think a story deserves, I'm hoping that members should be able to vote freely without being afraid they are going to receive an unfair low score in retaliation. Personally I get a little annoyed if I am given a 1 or a 2 without even some legit, polite private feedback. If a reader thought my story was that bad, I'd really like to know why. If they choose not to do that, they have to right to do that too. I am one of the writers who has sent a polite PM to a reader, asking if they would give me some feedback as to why they may not have liked my story. I don't do it every time, but I have done so in the past, because if people don't tell me, I can't change it, can I? I don't do it for any other reason than to improve my writing, not to intimidate a reader. Sometimes I get an answer some times I don't, which is fair enough.
Some members say they don't care about the scores, it's the views that matter to them. That's their decision but I'll be honest and say personally, I LIKE seeing if my story or poem is on one of the lists on the home page and I'm not the only one who does. No it doesn't really matter if I am or not, but I get a little kick out of it if I am.
I'm one of the little people trying to tell you what I see amongst the other little people here, my friends. I noticed it almost immediately. All I'm suggesting is a trial of changing the notification to reflect a vote only.
It's the timeline, which I think is an excellent idea and I love it, but does the timeline HAVE to tell us who voted? can't it just reflect that a vote has been made on a particular story? Does it have to tell us at ALL that a story was read and voted on? Sure, it might change that we can turn it off if we want to, but there are still going to be members who will leave it on, and who WILL continue with the petty stuff. I just don't see the need to know who scored, that's when the revenge scoring begins and we all know it's childish, the fact is, the childish people do it and that's one of the things you can't ever stop as long as we are able to identify who gave us which scores. It wasn't like this before the timeline. There weren't so many 5's being flung around then either.
I appreciate this subject has been flogged to death
like a lot of other things on lush that people don't like, but isn't it worth a try, to take names off a scoring notification to see if that calms things down a bit? I think it is (doesn't mean I am right though)I'm not suggesting people vote higher than they think a story deserves, I'm hoping that members should be able to vote freely without being afraid they are going to receive an unfair low score in retaliation. Personally I get a little annoyed if I am given a 1 or a 2 without even some legit, polite private feedback. If a reader thought my story was that bad, I'd really like to know why. If they choose not to do that, they have to right to do that too. I am one of the writers who has sent a polite PM to a reader, asking if they would give me some feedback as to why they may not have liked my story. I don't do it every time, but I have done so in the past, because if people don't tell me, I can't change it, can I? I don't do it for any other reason than to improve my writing, not to intimidate a reader. Sometimes I get an answer some times I don't, which is fair enough.
Some members say they don't care about the scores, it's the views that matter to them. That's their decision but I'll be honest and say personally, I LIKE seeing if my story or poem is on one of the lists on the home page and I'm not the only one who does. No it doesn't really matter if I am or not, but I get a little kick out of it if I am.
I'm one of the little people trying to tell you what I see amongst the other little people here, my friends. I noticed it almost immediately. All I'm suggesting is a trial of changing the notification to reflect a vote only.
My new Flash Fiction:
An Extraordinary Orgasm.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/flash-erotica/an-extraordinary-orgasm-2
Quote by MrMark
When you click to rate stories/poems you have a choice of 5 options. Each of the 5 options has a description next to it.
5 - excellent
4 - good
3 - average
2 - fair
1 - poor
Yesterday I voted one poem as fair. Since then I've received several messages suggesting that if I don't like something that I shouldn't read it, or that a score of 2 is mean. Obviously one cannot tell if one likes something without reading it, so that doesn't work, but the implication of what has been said is that if I don't like the quality of writing that I shouldn't vote.
My question...is there any point in having the scoring system including poor and fair, if the expectation is that they're not used.
Second question...if you read something that is below par, do you score and/or comment or do you just ignore it?
For me - generally speaking far beyond Lush - If you feel the rating is appropriate, click that sucker. Even if it's a 1.
I find the suggestion that authors are too sensitive to handle the idea that someone read and did not like their work to be rather banal. It tells me they can't accept honesty.
People who complain about it can really get on my nerves. I'm sure SOME people abuse the system and down-vote an author purely for personal qualms or what have you but that's few and far between. I'm an author and I NEED honesty to improve and see my story from a different viewpoint.
Convict
Quote by Metilda
For me - generally speaking far beyond Lush - If you feel the rating is appropriate, click that sucker. Even if it's a 1.
I find the suggestion that authors are too sensitive to handle the idea that someone read and did not like their work to be rather banal. It tells me they can't accept honesty.
People who complain about it can really get on my nerves. I'm sure SOME people abuse the system and down-vote an author purely for personal qualms or what have you but that's few and far between. I'm an author and I NEED honesty to improve and see my story from a different viewpoint.
Actually Metilda, they are not few and far between. Perhaps for you they are, but this is happening to a lot of people and that includes some of the more experienced writers having Editor's Pick awarded to their stories. I know one writer had someone downvote every one of his Editor's Pick stories in his profile. It is quite rife.
My new Flash Fiction:
An Extraordinary Orgasm.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/flash-erotica/an-extraordinary-orgasm-2
It is a rarity to see any stories/poems with less than an average score of 4.5. This is probably because people receive abuse or are suddenly blocked by the author.
I've read this discussion in the forum time and time again. People are obviously very passionate about their work and put time and effort into it. However, they have to suck it up when it goes out to the general public and they ask for others opinions, which maybe different to their own.
I remember feeling totally butthurt when I received my first 3!
There are authors on here who strive to be on the "top authors" or "story picks" every month. There are some who are great at marketing themselves, yet there are other incredible writers who don't receive the same recognition as they don't shout it from the rooftops everytime (I'm not saying there is anything wrong with either approach).
Leaving a comment with the score is more beneficial so the author can take the 'advice' on board and aim to improve their work. Criticism can be difficult.to absorb and of course it is wonderful to receive glowing comments on how marvellous we all are!
I've read this discussion in the forum time and time again. People are obviously very passionate about their work and put time and effort into it. However, they have to suck it up when it goes out to the general public and they ask for others opinions, which maybe different to their own.
I remember feeling totally butthurt when I received my first 3!
There are authors on here who strive to be on the "top authors" or "story picks" every month. There are some who are great at marketing themselves, yet there are other incredible writers who don't receive the same recognition as they don't shout it from the rooftops everytime (I'm not saying there is anything wrong with either approach).
Leaving a comment with the score is more beneficial so the author can take the 'advice' on board and aim to improve their work. Criticism can be difficult.to absorb and of course it is wonderful to receive glowing comments on how marvellous we all are!
Testing The Waters.
I have to agree that displaying who cast a vote on the timeline is a bad idea. It presents a reason to retaliate, causes some people not to vote for fear of retaliation, and causes others to artificially inflate their scores.
I really see no positives to displaying that member name, and lots of negatives.
I really see no positives to displaying that member name, and lots of negatives.
Good Will ---|--- You Serious?
Prolific Writer
On another popular erotica site people just vote anonymously. I have some of the same stories I post here and they are scored much lower like around 3.80-4.25. You don't know who is voting for you.
There top lists are broken down by views and by votes. They do it as the top 250 stories of the last 30 days, the last 12 months and of all time.
Lush stories is a place that is more friendly and a much warmer environment. You can really build a fan base here. I like it best here because of the social aspect where you can talk with your readers.
There top lists are broken down by views and by votes. They do it as the top 250 stories of the last 30 days, the last 12 months and of all time.
Lush stories is a place that is more friendly and a much warmer environment. You can really build a fan base here. I like it best here because of the social aspect where you can talk with your readers.
Active Ink Slinger
I've scored a grand total of three stories in the past two years - all fives - purely, as seeker4 mentioned, as a "like". The scoring system here is broken but as Trinket says, some people love it despite its obvious flaws.
When you put something up for public consumption you have to put up with the fact that people are often clueless. You will get people giving a low score to a Flash Erotica story because it's "too short". There's also a lot of baffling popular stuff here. Weak, terrible stuff that people can't seem to get enough of. There really is no accounting for taste; scores, views and comments offer no true reflection of writing quality. Poems are even tougher to score with any degree of honesty. How are you meant to vote on someone's anguish? 3/5 could sob harder? No wonder they just rack up the 5s.
Being able to work out who has voted on your story has just made things worse.
My lowest scored stories are the ones I've done for competitions. At first I was deluded and conceited enough to imagine that this was because petty types had voted me down to improve their own story's position in the competition. Now however I'm of the opinion that these stories are the most honestly reviewed stories I've done. That month or so where even your best friends can give you a completely anonymous score allows a much needed variety to scoring - maybe that's the way ahead.
When you put something up for public consumption you have to put up with the fact that people are often clueless. You will get people giving a low score to a Flash Erotica story because it's "too short". There's also a lot of baffling popular stuff here. Weak, terrible stuff that people can't seem to get enough of. There really is no accounting for taste; scores, views and comments offer no true reflection of writing quality. Poems are even tougher to score with any degree of honesty. How are you meant to vote on someone's anguish? 3/5 could sob harder? No wonder they just rack up the 5s.
Being able to work out who has voted on your story has just made things worse.
My lowest scored stories are the ones I've done for competitions. At first I was deluded and conceited enough to imagine that this was because petty types had voted me down to improve their own story's position in the competition. Now however I'm of the opinion that these stories are the most honestly reviewed stories I've done. That month or so where even your best friends can give you a completely anonymous score allows a much needed variety to scoring - maybe that's the way ahead.
Warning: The opinions above are those of an anonymous individual on the internet. They are opinions, unless they're facts. They may be ill-informed, out of touch with reality or just plain stupid. They may contain traces of irony. If reading these opinions causes you to be become outraged or you start displaying the symptoms of outrage, stop reading them immediately. If symptoms persist, consult a psychiatrist.
Why not read some stories instead
NEW! Want a quick read for your coffee break? Why not try this... Flash Erotica: Scrubber
Why not read some stories instead
NEW! Want a quick read for your coffee break? Why not try this... Flash Erotica: Scrubber
Active Ink Slinger
I fully agree you MrMark no point whatsoever in having a voting system if you can not be free to use it.
Convict
Quote by sweet_as_candy
I remember feeling totally butthurt when I received my first 3!
I got a ONE on my first story. I was incredulous that someone could think it was THAT bad. All the other scores were 3's and 4's. One of the popular writers here said to me "don t worry, that person obviously thought it was a good story and voted a one to make it look worse"
She really did make me feel better. My new Flash Fiction:
An Extraordinary Orgasm.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/flash-erotica/an-extraordinary-orgasm-2
Mysteria - My comment probably fueled our dispute as all it did was put you down rather than offer constructive feedback. I apologise for that.
I tried to message you about it, but as you blocked me that didn't work.
I stand by what I said about publishing so prolifically..
I think you could be an outstanding writer in terms of quality if you polished each piece more.
I think this YouTube clip illustrates the point well...
My own poem was removed by the lush team as it didn't fit the category of erotic love. It's on storiesspace instead though.
I tried to message you about it, but as you blocked me that didn't work.
I stand by what I said about publishing so prolifically..
I think you could be an outstanding writer in terms of quality if you polished each piece more.
I think this YouTube clip illustrates the point well...
My own poem was removed by the lush team as it didn't fit the category of erotic love. It's on storiesspace instead though.
Devil's Advocate
This is what you said:
You'd be better off producing less work but making them all of a higher standard. Most school children could choose more imaginative descriptive words than you have done here.
Really? This isn't constructive. In fact, it's rude, belittling and mean-spirited. Even the kids in the Youtube clip you reference said, "be specific and don't be mean about it."
But to be fair, at least you seem to get that now...
If you'd actually said that instead, with something more tactful about the piece benefiting from a more extensive vocabulary, I doubt this thread would even be here.
Honest is good, but you absolutely have to be respectful in its delivery.
You'd be better off producing less work but making them all of a higher standard. Most school children could choose more imaginative descriptive words than you have done here.
Really? This isn't constructive. In fact, it's rude, belittling and mean-spirited. Even the kids in the Youtube clip you reference said, "be specific and don't be mean about it."
But to be fair, at least you seem to get that now...
Quote by MrMark
Mysteria - My comment probably fueled our dispute as all it did was put you down rather than offer constructive feedback. I apologise for that.
I stand by what I said about publishing so prolifically..
I think you could be an outstanding writer in terms of quality if you polished each piece more.
If you'd actually said that instead, with something more tactful about the piece benefiting from a more extensive vocabulary, I doubt this thread would even be here.
Honest is good, but you absolutely have to be respectful in its delivery.
My latest story is a racy little piece about what happens when someone cute from work invites you over to watch Netflix and Chill.
Quote by trinket
Actually Metilda, they are not few and far between. Perhaps for you they are, but this is happening to a lot of people and that includes some of the more experienced writers having Editor's Pick awarded to their stories. I know one writer had someone downvote every one of his Editor's Pick stories in his profile. It is quite rife.
Streak-voting is responded to when complaints are made. Here at Lush no one votes in the void. [Wait - maybe some do. It's up the author whether or not they want to permit voting from non-members. I don't allow non-members to vote on my work.] so I'm not even counting Streakers as something to 'allow' but rather something that happens [in any venue] and thus moderators deal with that when it's brought to their attention.
I honestly think we'd be better off with a 'like' button and nothing else. Low-votes are discouraged. Some people streak-vote for personal reasons. Others high-vote regardless of quality [to push a friend to win a contest - to give moral support to a new author - etc]. So the numbers mean next to nothing to me as they do to quite a few others.
Quote by overmykneenow
I've scored a grand total of three stories in the past two years - all fives - purely, as seeker4 mentioned, as a "like". The scoring system here is broken but as Trinket says, some people love it despite its obvious flaws.
When you put something up for public consumption you have to put up with the fact that people are often clueless. You will get people giving a low score to a Flash Erotica story because it's "too short". There's also a lot of baffling popular stuff here. Weak, terrible stuff that people can't seem to get enough of. There really is no accounting for taste; scores, views and comments offer no true reflection of writing quality. Poems are even tougher to score with any degree of honesty. How are you meant to vote on someone's anguish? 3/5 could sob harder? No wonder they just rack up the 5s.
Being able to work out who has voted on your story has just made things worse.
My lowest scored stories are the ones I've done for competitions. At first I was deluded and conceited enough to imagine that this was because petty types had voted me down to improve their own story's position in the competition. Now however I'm of the opinion that these stories are the most honestly reviewed stories I've done. That month or so where even your best friends can give you a completely anonymous score allows a much needed variety to scoring - maybe that's the way ahead.
I gave u a 5 just sayin your godliness..Hey Sexy
The system is as I said flawed tho, its so easy to just low score a person..surely it cant be that hard to have the scorer give a private reason for their score of say its under 3?? Maybe??
That said forgive me..i cant even virus check my laptop so maybe im wrong...im just banking on people who know what they are doing with computers and ta da lol xo
The Duchess of Tart
Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx
And my latest poem, The Temptation.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx
Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx
And my latest poem, The Temptation.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx
Site administrator
Quote by kiera
I gave u a 5 just sayin your godliness..Hey Sexy
The system is as I said flawed tho, its so easy to just low score a person..surely it cant be that hard to have the scorer give a private reason for their score of say its under 3?? Maybe??
That said forgive me..i cant even virus check my laptop so maybe im wrong...im just banking on people who know what they are doing with computers and ta da lol xo
At the moment you can force a comment when someone scores via the Profile Settings/Privacy options. However perhaps that could be rather enhanced to select at what score and below one wishes to force a comment but even then you may not get a valid reason. Apologies if you already knew this.
Quote by simplyjohn
At the moment you can force a comment when someone scores via the Profile Settings/Privacy options. However perhaps that could be rather enhanced to select at what score and below one wishes to force a comment but even then you may not get a valid reason. Apologies if you already knew this.
is that the one with the icon of you in a beige wilikini??...not the best colour for your complexion babes..just sayin
The Duchess of Tart
Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx
And my latest poem, The Temptation.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx
Please check out my new story, co-written with the amazing Wilful.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/long-time-coming.aspx
And my latest poem, The Temptation.
https://www.lushstories.com/stories/erotic-poems/the-temptation.aspx