Bad Reviews/ Interpretation

[KrakenRiderEmma]

You didn't watch the video, did you?

Heh, don’t worry. I was actually more or less agreeing with you, but we had a failure to communicate (drum roll into rimshot).
And I teach with that audience segmentation / Moskowitz anecdote all the time, so yes I know it :D

 

[HungrySheep]

Everyone has different tastes. There is no one work that will fit everyone's preferences, nor does it mean that a work is well-written if it appeals to a large audience. The same is true for the reverse. Dazai's No Longer Human has less mass appeal than practically any isekai novel out there, even the most garbage one. Does that mean No Longer Human is a worse work than the worst isekai novel?

Not unless you're looking at it from a profit-oriented perspective. On a literary level, it is superior in every way. So how does this relate to criticism?

Simple: evaluate your goals. If I get a review flaming my novel for not having a harem plot, okay. Obviously, I'm not going to enjoy the rating getting tanked; no one enjoys that. But is the criticism something I have to care about outside of that? No. I am not writing for that particular audience. Their criticism means absolutely nothing.

If you're being criticized for something your story isn't supposed to do, you can safely discard that review. The only instance in which it would matter is if you're trying to write a mass-appeal novel that can net you as much Patrons as possible. Looking at your novel, that doesn't seem to be the case. I read the review and I can't say much about it seeing as I know nothing about your story outside of the synopsis, but if you think any of the reviewer's comments point out inconsistencies or plot holes that you failed to address, you should probably take their review into consideration.

No one can be perfect. Writing is about improving upon each iteration.

From experience:
A lot of people who leave 'feedback' are just in a bad mental state and want to lash out and hurt you. Since you can't really do anything to defend yourself, we webserial authors are an easy target. Engaging them just allows them to create a flame war and turn on their troll game, and they always win, and you'll always feel dirty afterword. If its in public, there will be neutral or innocent readers who avoid drama and the story because of it even.

That's why so many people will remind you that posting means you have to grow a thick skin. I generally ignore all feedback now, ban/delete negative comments, and smile and nod when there are positive ones. (Good feedback can be bad just as too much bad. Just remember you always need to work on improving your writing and skills. Nothing is ever perfect.)

Mental health can really be affected by all this and its important to keep a mindful watch on it while you work.

Out of curiosity, what is the pressure like as an author who makes a sustainable living wage purely off writing? I know a lot of people wish they were in your position, but I feel like there's a lot that we don't/won't understand unless we were to reach that level. It's all well and fine to hop onto RR or SH and post a chapter and then leave if you don't have a large paying fanbase, but with nearly 500 patrons, do you feel as though your chapters sometimes aren't good enough when you release?

Is there a pressure of making every chapter one that's "worth the price" rather than simply enjoying the process of writing? I know a lot of us (and probably yourself) started this out without dreams of making it "big", writing as a creative outlet or simply to share a story with the world. Does gaining a large paying fanbase change that?

 

[RedHunter2296]

Come on, who hasn't come across a review similar to :

"This novel has elements of Gender Bender, Yuri, LGTB, Harem and I don't like that, so this story is bad and I leave a bad review"

Well, if you don't like it, you don't like it, no problem with that, I still don't care anyway about you.

The novel is marked all over the place, that you don't know how to read a written story is not my problem.

I only wrote the topics I wanted to write about. Gender Bender was fun to write, focusing more on someone who wants to continue to be treated the same way despite his change. The Yuri I just thought it was a continuation of the theme showing how the other girls support the main character and continue to be with him showing that they appreciate him for the person he is instead of his sex.

Personally, I hate soccer, and I'm never going to be going to soccer games just to say I hate the sport, that's stupid.

 

[melchi]

spectacularly based melchi

Endeed

 

[M.G.Driver]

Okay. I'm gonna talk to you like you are serious about being a writer, okay? If you are just doing this for fun, then ignore everything I say. DO NOT CLICK ON THE SPOILER BELOW FOR ANY REASON OTHER THAN YOU ARE A SERIOUS WRITER AND YOU WANT TO BE GOOD AT THIS. AND BY GOOD I MEAN YOU WANT TO BE GOOOOOOOOD. NOT "I want to improve my craft" BUT YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO LOOK SOMEONE IN THE EYE AND SAY WITH CONFIDENCE, "I am a damn good author."

Because I can do that. I can look anyone in the eye and say, "I'm a damn good author." and mean it.

If you are doing this for FUN. again...

DO NOT CLICK.

Spoiler: YOU WILL NOT FIND ANY JOY HERE.

You are a goddamn IDIOT.

FIRST. GODDAMN RULE, KID: It doesn't matter what you say, but what your audience HEARS!

You need to get out of this fan fiction, 'I'm just having fun, TEE HEE!" Teeny-Bopper, I draw Hearts on top of all my i's Fuckin' MINDSET.

Look, I once saw this beautiful design. It was all out of glass and looked UGLY AS HELL. I did not goddamn get it. Nobody got it. Do you know why? Because the artist designed it to have LIGHT shown through it and the GODDAMN MUSEUM put it in the MIDDLE of the exhibition hall.

I never forgot that when I figured it out. I asked for a frickin flashlight from the staff and dad showed it through the glass and it became a lighthouse where the beam of light shifted depending on the angle. It was supposed to change as the sun moved through the sky, but because it was layered in three dimensions it looked like ASS. Only the light made it look good.

THIS IS BEING AN AUTHOR IN A NUTSHELL.

It was old, made over a century ago. So nobody understood the context. It was in the wrong environment. Everyone looked at it wrong.

But in the end, it was the ARTIST'S FAULT.

If your audience doesn't understand you, YOU SUCK. YOU FAILED. YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO GET THROUGH TO PEOPLE. THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO UNDERSTAND YOUR WORK, WITHOUT YOU EXPLAINING IT.

THIS.

This is why you suck.

Because you are WRONG. If you are a great storyteller, your audience will understand your story.

I write every story with one goal: You will read my story and think of one thing, then when you get to the end, you will thing a second thing that is better than what you thought was happening. Then people read the story a SECOND TIME and it is even BETTER for having known the ending.

A story should get BETTER every time it is read. It should have passages that you go back to read to feel good, to smile, to find wisdom, to find strength, to grant courage, or succor, or just... FEEL.

HKN. Chapter 20. I reread that chapter when I am having a bad day and I AM THE ONE WHO WROTE IT. I have chapters that have brought readers to tears from how sad they are, and for how UPLIFTING they are.

if you read such a chapter and you don't cry, IS IT YOUR FAULT?

No. It is MY fault for failing as a storyteller.

Nobody hits it out of the part 100% of the time. Not every story is for everyone. HKN is not a story for the people who enjoy IWS or FTS, and not even close to my audience for Hotrod Lantern. But if you are the target audience for HKN, it is a real page turner. If it is the sort of story you like, you will find it a gripping tale, I promise you that.

You are not writing for EVERYONE, so if only some people get it, that's the audience you reached. if you didn't want to reach that audience, you failed. If your target audience doesn't understand, you failed.

I didn't write HKN for money. I'm done with that shit. I made a 100k last year and I have a job where I get to sit around and type for hours because I'm just sitting here waiting for something bad to happen. If nothing bad happens, it's a slow night.

So I write what I write knowing that for those who enjoy a certain type of tale, where your MC is broken, but picks himself up and keeps moving forward, to fall, and fail, and try again, then fall, then pick up again, only getting stronger, holding onto his values when he has every reason not to. When he learns he was wrong and accepts it, he becomes a better person for it. To be a false hero then grows beyond that to become a REAL HERO. A flawed man, but a MAN, nonetheless. If you like that sort of story, a story that takes 300k words to get to the end of the first book in a trilogy, then you will LOVE HKN. A story with secret hidden messages, layered intricate plots, mysteries, chaste romance with set backs, risk, and reward.

And so, needless to say, it's got about 12 readers.

I care about what my target audience thinks. I care about those people who can recognize you need to shine a light through the sculpture to understand the art.

And then I wrote Flip The Script and it was so much more popular because it was set in a world where all the women are horny and it's easy to get laid. THEN I only had one sex scene at the end of book one, and most of the book is about setting and slice of life and how growing up is a bitch.

Way more popular.

I Was Summoned is plot with porn, but light on the descriptions of the porn, because I find porn boring. I give you enough to fap. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own.

And each and every one of my books has complaints.

Complaints from people who are not my target audience.

No.

A novel's job is to COMMUNICATE. You are communicating. If the target does not understand you, YOU FAILED.

It doesn't matter if YOU understand it, but you aren't a reader, are you? YOU ARE AN AUTHOR! ACT LIKE ONE!!!

UGH... NO.

here...

WATCH THIS. RIGHT NOW. EVERY SECOND OF IT.
And after you watch it, you KNOW what I want you to reply to my post with.

best rant i've seen on this site.

 

[RynnTheTired]

Key phrase here "They are wrong"

The moment things become about a person and not the thing in question the whole exchange becomes meaningless.

Critic says: I don't like this.
Author replies: You are wrong.

See the problem? It invalidates the person instead of addressing the things they didn't like. It isn't a meaningful exchange. People are different, they will have distinct likes and dislikes. Yeah, there are not any examples of reviews given but calling people wrong for expressing how they think of a fiction can't go anywhere good.

Some reviews are objectively wrong, though.

I've seen quite a few reviewers grossly exaggerate or misrepresent parts of a story. Or even get things flat-out wrong. Opinions aren't right or wrong, true, but if you can tell that a reviewer didn't make a good faith effort to read and understand the story, or if they seem to be deliberately looking for things to complain about, I think it's perfectly fine to ignore their opinion. Conclusions based on faulty arguments aren't helpful.

And as I see it, that's the real distinction you should make with reviews—not whether it's right or wrong, but whether it's helpful or not helpful. Does it point out things that you agree are legitimate problems? Does it give you ideas for ways you can improve your writing? If so, use it to your advantage. If not, try to ignore it and move on.

 

[M.G.Driver]

You didn't watch the video, did you?

There is no perfect story, only perfect stories.
There is no success or failure, only DEGREES of success and failure.

The fact you are making excuses means you will not be a good writer. A GOOD writer knows it is his fault if the audience doesn't understand EVERY TIME. A good writer creates solutions, he does not look for EXCUSES.

You make excuses.

Until you learn to accept that Your Success and Your Failure goes hand in hand with Blame and Accolades, you will never be a GOOD writer. You see blame where you should see responsibility. If I am responsible, even if I have no control over the outcome, it is still MY FAULT. I am responsible. Just because my failure was beyond my control does not mean I did not fail.

UNTIL you get OVER this need of yours to care about BLAME and move onto being responsible for your actions, regardless of the amount of control you have, you will never be able to truly become your best self. You will ALWAYS be held back by the limitations imposed upon you.

To reach greatness, one must be willing to risk greatly. If you are forever obsessed with Who Is To Blame, then you will never be able to get past that to what truly matters.

Is what I say "fair"?
Is what I say "just"?

No. It sucks. You might "feel bad". Well, I said at the beginning, if you want to be a GOOD writer, click on the spoiler. You clicked, but you did not like what you read. I don't care. What I speak is the truth. Everyone who internalizes that Success or Failure starts and begins with themselves and nothing else matters, ALWAY goes further and reach higher because they don't waste their time with trivial matters, like pointless excuses. Achieving greatness means getting rid of useless ideas.

"WHO IS TO BLAME?" is MEANINGLESS.

Who will fix it?
How will it be fixed?
What can you do to prevent failure in the future?

THESE are the questions to ask.

You cannot control anything beyond yourself. The world around you cannot be controlled, only influenced. To focus on something you cannot control is a waste of time. Instead, realize the only thing you can control is your own mind and focus on THAT, because anything else is a waste of time.

Control your mind to influence the world and accept that even if you do your best, you can do everything right and still lose.
When you lose, learn from your mistakes and do better, or give up. Everything else is wasted energy.

damn i just saw this. second best rant.

 

[Erios909]

Out of curiosity, what is the pressure like as an author who makes a sustainable living wage purely off writing? I know a lot of people wish they were in your position, but I feel like there's a lot that we don't/won't understand unless we were to reach that level. It's all well and fine to hop onto RR or SH and post a chapter and then leave if you don't have a large paying fanbase, but with nearly 500 patrons, do you feel as though your chapters sometimes aren't good enough when you release?

Is there a pressure of making every chapter one that's "worth the price" rather than simply enjoying the process of writing? I know a lot of us (and probably yourself) started this out without dreams of making it "big", writing as a creative outlet or simply to share a story with the world. Does gaining a large paying fanbase change that?

There's certainly a pressure to maintain a 'schedule' that patrons are expecting. It can be very draining to know you need to produce on time to a clock, at least for me. There's been times where I've forced myself to push material just because I was behind schedule, and the story and myself suffered from it. Worse, the deeper the hole gets the worse the feeling of 'failing' can be, which just makes it that much harder to keep shoveling what feels like a endless pit.

I think I managed like that for about 8 months, about 500,000 words of published material. I've changed to a much more healthier style of writing not just one thing constantly but having 3 different series. I usually am writing one full arc/book before feeling burned out on it now, and then switch to the next series for something fresh.

Unfortunately, this has been rather bad for my income, lost about 1/3rd of my patrons, and there is a lot of patron churn every month, because from what I have seen, patrons are '1 story patrons' and they only signed up to get a certain story and don't care about the others much. So when I have finished a book and switched to the next one, there is always an exodus that hasn't quite been made up for new people signing up for the next story.

I haven't had my main story go on amazon yet, but I believe it will be out early next year. From what I've seen in peer reports and chatting in author discords, its very likely to make 5-10x as much as it did on patreon. If that turns out to be true, then all the super heavy pressure about what I write and when will be reduced, which would be a real blessing. (I mean besides the fact that would be a huge ass amount of money, I still can't really believe that it would do that much, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic.)

 

[HungrySheep]

There's certainly a pressure to maintain a 'schedule' that patrons are expecting. It can be very draining to know you need to produce on time to a clock, at least for me. There's been times where I've forced myself to push material just because I was behind schedule, and the story and myself suffered from it. Worse, the deeper the hole gets the worse the feeling of 'failing' can be, which just makes it that much harder to keep shoveling what feels like a endless pit.

I think I managed like that for about 8 months, about 500,000 words of published material. I've changed to a much more healthier style of writing not just one thing constantly but having 3 different series. I usually am writing one full arc/book before feeling burned out on it now, and then switch to the next series for something fresh.

Unfortunately, this has been rather bad for my income, lost about 1/3rd of my patrons, and there is a lot of patron churn every month, because from what I have seen, patrons are '1 story patrons' and they only signed up to get a certain story and don't care about the others much. So when I have finished a book and switched to the next one, there is always an exodus that hasn't quite been made up for new people signing up for the next story.

I haven't had my main story go on amazon yet, but I believe it will be out early next year. From what I've seen in peer reports and chatting in author discords, its very likely to make 5-10x as much as it did on patreon. If that turns out to be true, then all the super heavy pressure about what I write and when will be reduced, which would be a real blessing. (I mean besides the fact that would be a huge ass amount of money, I still can't really believe that it would do that much, but I'll remain cautiously optimistic.)

Thank you for the detailed and informative answer! Honestly, this sounds super stressful and although I don't have as large of an audience as you do, I can definitely relate to the "hole" of material pushing despite the chapters not being up to personal standards. Just recently, I placed my story on a 10-day hiatus to fix that issue, but I feel like it was only possible because I didn't have a large paying fanbase and I honestly can't imagine dealing with the stress of having to deliver to such a large fanbase without blowing out and losing my passion. Maybe it'd fare better in traditional publishing, but keeping up with webserials seem pretty stressful.

That aside, I hope your book does well on Amazon! Spend wisely and remember to save some for a rainy day!

 

[breakofdawnstories]

I personally love feedbacks. May it be bad or good. (But not from pure trolls) But getting feedbacks from my readers is not the end for me. Because most of the time reader's feedback is the first layer of their true meaning. If you're really bothered by what they said, ask them why they felt that way or what made them feel that way in your writing. You will always learn a one or two from them. Maybe by hearing what made them feel that way, you would improve your storytelling to the point you can communicate your subtext without them misunderstanding it. Or maybe an addition of little footnotes would suffice to fix the misunderstanding. Maybe a little context would make a big difference, give readers with different culture context. Just always remember that feedbacks are not personal attacks. It's a chance to improve and be better. Good luck to us! And may we have an enjoyable and fruitful writing journey hehehe