Got my first bad review today on RR

MasterHiatus

I am back
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Writing used to be my source of self-hypnotism. That with each of these readers complimenting me, I am living in a kingdom surrounded by good people complimenting my work. Then, bad reviews opened my eyes to the reality. And now that is it.....
Well, one of the reasons I hiatus, put that on list.

I don't want a fellow writer go on hiatus and be traumatized to reviews and comments. Keep on writing, and remember if you do encounter another bad comment or review, remember to check if you can learn something from it. If none, put that review to your 'Let-this-b*tch-review-out-of-his-ass section :)'
 

Suzumiya

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....and it sucks. Any tips on how I can move on?
I know there’s multiple threads discussing criticism and reviews on here, but I would like some advice on what to do after the bad reviews come.

This is the first time I’ve received such a negative response so I’m not sure how to digest it. The review in question was a one-star review that was posted after the read the first three chapters. They just said my story was cliche after reading the first three chapters. But I mean, what’s wrong with cliche? I don’t believe the review worked as constructive criticism since it didn’t give me anything to work with that I could use to improve my story.

thank you in advance!
Commission a cheap Ugly Bastard OC, print them out, and scream at their image until you feel better. Maybe stab em a few times with a pencil!

Then move on.

Bad reviews are a part of life. Can't win 'em all; some will like you and some won't. Just gotta do your best to keep the ones who do like you on your side. :)

EDIT: Also, I'm sure this wasn't what you were looking for but what's your story called on Royal Road? I could read and review your work. Maybe it'll go some ways toward helping you feel better?
 

tofu_moon

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I can relate to you, I got two drive-by 0.5 stars with no review and was quite taken a back for a while. But seems like you are doing very well! Congrats and keep going!
0.5 stars are the worst! I’ve started thinking people who leave a 0.5 are just straight up bumholes trying to ruin your day


Commission a cheap Ugly Bastard OC, print them out, and scream at their image until you feel better. Maybe stab em a few times with a pencil!

Then move on.

Bad reviews are a part of life. Can't win 'em all; some will like you and some won't. Just gotta do your best to keep the ones who do like you on your side. :)

EDIT: Also, I'm sure this wasn't what you were looking for but what's your story called on Royal Road? I could read and review your work. Maybe it'll go some ways toward helping you feel better?
Thank you for the advice! I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, but after this post my story got on trending on RR. I’ve gotten a few more negative ratings, so I’m starting to get desensitized to the bad ratings/review/comments...guess that’s a good thing?

Thank you for the offer btw! my story’s called black wing, feel free to check it out if the summary interests you😆
 

UYScuti

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0.5 stars are the worst! I’ve started thinking people who leave a 0.5 are just straight up bumholes trying to ruin your day



Thank you for the advice! I’m a bit embarrassed to say this, but after this post my story got on trending on RR. I’ve gotten a few more negative ratings, so I’m starting to get desensitized to the bad ratings/review/comments...guess that’s a good thing?

Thank you for the offer btw! my story’s called black wing, feel free to check it out if the summary interests you😆

The 0.5 bombs come fast and heavy there. Some are trolls, some feel it’s their moral duty to fix the skewed rating system, and some come from authors.

The 0.5 bombs that are the worst are when a story creeps up on the leaderboard and people make sure to put them in their place. Nobody will ever topple MOL there. Too many fans that won’t allow that to happen.
 

tofu_moon

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The 0.5 bombs come fast and heavy there. Some are trolls, some feel it’s their moral duty to fix the skewed rating system, and some come from authors.

The 0.5 bombs that are the worst are when a story creeps up on the leaderboard and people make sure to put them in their place. Nobody will ever topple MOL there. Too many fans that won’t allow that to happen.
I hate 0.5s because I feel like they don’t acknowledge the work an author’s put into a story. And I never knew about the leaderboard thing! I knew MOL was popular, but to think it was that popular’s surprising.
 

Suzumiya

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I hate 0.5s because I feel like they don’t acknowledge the work an author’s put into a story. And I never knew about the leaderboard thing! I knew MOL was popular, but to think it was that popular’s surprising.

From an academic viewpoint, a 0.5 star rating would be equivalent to complete failure to present the medium, similar to writing an academic essay about the merit of sweet corn rather than writing a documentary about the history of cornfields.

In fictional literature, it would mean a product either akin to the above or illegible and incoherent, e.g. "Fn;t glew pand levvit grab stonk."

That said, given a rating system with a range of (0.5,5), the worst story conceivable should still receive a rating of 1/5. The only reason a story on RR should receive a 0.5* rating after being approved by site administration would be something which should have failed to qualify for publication on the site.

tl;dr yeah, they're trolls
 

Temple

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When I do receive 0.5 ratings I just tell myself I receive 5 star ratings from other people anyway because they like my story, not because my story is perfect. So there will be people who will drop 0.5 the moment they see something they don't like. Of course, we want people to actually review the story, but that's not going to happen.
 

Freesia.Cutepearl

Nonsensically Weird while Weirdly Nonsensical
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My recently published first story on here, got a one star in the first day, after having gotten two 5 stars. My heart sank a bit when I saw it, without any feedback(no comments or anything at the time). I had to just try to ignore it. I realize not everyone will like everything.

It's hard but, I think, maybe if I take the same attitude towards it that I have some multiplayer games, about, not stressing over scores, and just trying to enjoy my time, that I can have much more fun.
 

Aleth08

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I heard a great advice while I was watching vids on how to improve my writing. "Reviews are for readers, not the authors". In fact, you're not supposed to read it. But we all know thats not happening. You get that notification about a review, and ur heartbeat goes up. Anticipation, anxiety, nervousness, all just floods u. It is like that for me. But if u want to continue writing, u'll have to learn a hard fact--u cant please everyone. I got a 1 star review from someone who didnt even read the first chapter completely. I mean, his title is "Couldnt even read first chapter". And theres nothing to be done to remove that. Cuz its his freedom to like or dislike my story. Unless he breaks the rules, his review will be valid. And thats fine. It feels bad as a author, but thats not a criticism. Thats his preference.
About constructive criticism, there's no such thing truly. People give advice, but its always based on what they think is right. They criticize based on their preferences. If u can take something from that and improve ur writing, its constructing criticism. Even if that review/comment is absolute garbage. And if u cant, then thats just criticism, negative, there's nothing constructive about it. Regardless of how well described or written that review/comment is.
I'll give you an example. One guy was going nuts in my comment section [RR], he was using curses, profanities, etc etc. Not only towards the char, but also me. I kinda snapped and had a back and forth with him, but that aside. What he was saying, I took something from it and improved. He was ranting about show not tell part. He made me see the mistakes I made in that part[even tho his language was anything but constructive, his criticism became constructive for me]. On the other hand, I've had several comments and reviews who tried to be 'constructive', but all they were were biased opinions. One guy went nuts over guns in fantasy part of my story. He wrote long and long essays on why its a disaster to do so. And turned out, he just read wrong, and was mistaken about how guns were used in my story. I took nothing from his essays, and it became just negative criticism for me, not even a valid one at that.
Anyway, all I would say, when u get such a review, read it, rant about it, then give it some time. It'll soon become obsolete to u.
 

kira

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Comrade! Venting is good for the soul! Personally, I posted a rant not long ago about a bad review I felt they only read one chapter..feels good to let the Universe know you are annoyed! Haha..I felt so refreshed afterwards..like having a cold beer on a hot day..(y):giggle: 🍺 clink 🍺
 

tofu_moon

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Comrade! Venting is good for the soul! Personally, I posted a rant not long ago about a bad review I felt they only read one chapter..feels good to let the Universe know you are annoyed! Haha..I felt so refreshed afterwards..like having a cold beer on a hot day..(y):giggle: 🍺 clink 🍺
Agreed!! Really loving the community here! Everyone’s so great! *clinks back*
 

clover2218

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At least you got a review. I got none...:cry:

Jokes aside, reviews, though preferably could include criticism to help the author improve, it's not their job to. It's usually more about the reader's personal experience with the story and should be informative enough to let future readers catch a glimpse of what they are getting into. And there's no way for a story to please everyone, so a bit of bad rap can't really be avoided, especially if your story is popular. That being said though, it hurts like a bitch if someone badmouths your creation...

But what can we do other than take what we can from it and move on? On the bright side though, the person did care enough for what you wrote that they left a review, and as they say, just take it as any publicity is good publicity...
 
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