How do you deal with opinionated reviewers?

[Paul_Tromba]

I have my story on another site and someone who just started reading not too long ago told me I'm a terrible writer because some of the characters are assholes to the main character and that it's not enjoyable to read about the main character getting bullied by them. To be fair, the other characters are assholes but they're assholes to everyone. It's just part of who they are as characters. Though I try to write it in such a way that it's obvious that they do it to poke fun and the main character doesn't seem to care because he doesn't treat them any differently for the most part. Anyways, the reader gave no basis for why they didn't like the story in their review other then that they don't like characters getting treated poorly.(BTW it's a somewhat dark and gory story) They gave no feedback on the writing style or story which is what I really need to hear about. I am just ignoring them for now because I can't change what they want in a book but I don't think it's good to leave a one star review based on an opinion of two characters rather than the book as a whole. any idea how to deal with this?

 

[Snusmumriken]

I treat every opinion and review as statistical data. After stripping all emotions from it. for example, I would perceive your review as "reader didn't like MC/asshole interactions.

Would I do anything about it? Depends. If it was my intent to make these interactions unbearable - this review might as well told me I've succeeded. If these are completely unimportant interactions and are almost a background part of my story I might take a look at it again.

Otherwise, I will leave it as a tick mark - if I will get consistent reviews about that in the future they will become a statistic and would warrant a more in-depth review.

AN example from my story - I got a negative review from a person who simply said he wouldn't read my story because of the MC being a slave. But because for my story, that part is extremely important I took it but I've done nothing to it in response - i simply acknowledged that my story was simply not for him.

 

[SailusGebel]

I have my story on another site and someone who just started reading not too long ago told me I'm a terrible writer because some of the characters are assholes to the main character and that it's not enjoyable to read about the main character getting bullied by them. To be fair, the other characters are assholes but they're assholes to everyone. It's just part of who they are as characters. Though I try to write it in such a way that it's obvious that they do it to poke fun and the main character doesn't seem to care because he doesn't treat them any differently for the most part. Anyways, the reader gave no basis for why they didn't like the story in their review other then that they don't like characters getting treated poorly.(BTW it's a somewhat dark and gory story) They gave no feedback on the writing style or story which is what I really need to hear about. I am just ignoring them for now because I can't change what they want in a book but I don't think it's good to leave a one star review based on an opinion of two characters rather than the book as a whole. any idea how to deal with this?

If you are offended by it, you can try and delete the review, I guess?

Obviously, it's not good to get a review that isn't actually a review. There is no way to deal with it other than try to discern if there is at least something usable. I mean, don't look into reviews that are blatantly offending you. But, look into those types of reviews, that are negative yet there is a sufficiently formulated opinion.

Try to grow a thicker skin. There is really no other way. Either you try to delete the reviews\migrate to other sites. Or you grow a thicker skin and try to find at least something usable.

 

[Ai-chan]

I have my story on another site and someone who just started reading not too long ago told me I'm a terrible writer because some of the characters are assholes to the main character and that it's not enjoyable to read about the main character getting bullied by them. To be fair, the other characters are assholes but they're assholes to everyone. It's just part of who they are as characters. Though I try to write it in such a way that it's obvious that they do it to poke fun and the main character doesn't seem to care because he doesn't treat them any differently for the most part. Anyways, the reader gave no basis for why they didn't like the story in their review other then that they don't like characters getting treated poorly.(BTW it's a somewhat dark and gory story) They gave no feedback on the writing style or story which is what I really need to hear about. I am just ignoring them for now because I can't change what they want in a book but I don't think it's good to leave a one star review based on an opinion of two characters rather than the book as a whole. any idea how to deal with this?

Ai-chan accepts that it's their opinion and not respond.

After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As long as it's not abusive, Ai-chan has no reason to report them. Getting on a shouting match with them is a total no-no as Ai-chan has very thin skin and quite easily resort to nuking down the story when Ai-chan gets mad.

If it bothers you, you can try to report them for bullying or whatever. But if your story is actually good, then that 1 star is not going to affect you. If that 1 star affects you significantly, then maybe you need to reexamine your story and find out what's really wrong with it.

You need to understand though, that your first few chapters determine the expectations of readers on your story. If you first write a story about a dude being a winner then suddenly out of nowhere make him the victim of NTR, your readers will rage, because that's not what they signed up for. It is okay if there is a hint that this could happen, but when it hits them like a cloaked wrecking ball, your readers will definitely insult you to death. Gun-ota was particularly guilty of this and the author received hundreds of hate messages because of that particular scene, and the manga skipped that particular scene completely because they knew it would make people drop the manga like a sack of shit.

Ai-chan is not saying that you're guilty of doing this. This is just an advice. You're free to take it or ignore it. Ai-chan is magnanimous.

 

[KrisVFX]

I have my story on another site and someone who just started reading not too long ago told me I'm a terrible writer because some of the characters are assholes to the main character and that it's not enjoyable to read about the main character getting bullied by them. To be fair, the other characters are assholes but they're assholes to everyone. It's just part of who they are as characters. Though I try to write it in such a way that it's obvious that they do it to poke fun and the main character doesn't seem to care because he doesn't treat them any differently for the most part. Anyways, the reader gave no basis for why they didn't like the story in their review other then that they don't like characters getting treated poorly.(BTW it's a somewhat dark and gory story) They gave no feedback on the writing style or story which is what I really need to hear about. I am just ignoring them for now because I can't change what they want in a book but I don't think it's good to leave a one star review based on an opinion of two characters rather than the book as a whole. any idea how to deal with this?

This has happened in two of my novels, the first one they called how the story made no sense and too op without understanding what the mc went through, and the second novel some readers complained about how the mc is stupid and the story has no realism even though its a fantasy world.
so the best thing you can do is to just ignore them...

 

[Paul_Tromba]

If you are offended by it, you can try and delete the review, I guess?

Obviously, it's not good to get a review that isn't actually a review. There is no way to deal with it other than try to discern if there is at least something usable. I mean, don't look into reviews that are blatantly offending you. But, look into those types of reviews, that are negative yet there is a sufficiently formulated opinion.

Try to grow a thicker skin. There is really no other way. Either you try to delete the reviews\migrate to other sites. Or you grow a thicker skin and try to find at least something usable.

It's not that I'm offended by it. I feel a little down that someone would give such a low review without giving me proper feedback so that I can work on it. What I'm trying to ask is more about how I should approach it. I created the characters as a way to push the character to do things and react in different ways. This allows me to try to make my characters as three dimensional as possible. Though, as the story progressed they become nicer people because the main character is finally being the proactive character. If I change this then the story will change into something else entirely so altering it is not an option. Though, I still want to try and work on the problem.

This has happened in two of my novels, the first one they called how the story made no sense and too op without understanding what the mc went through, and the second novel some readers complained about how the mc is stupid and the story has no realism even though its a fantasy world.
so the best thing you can do is to just ignore them.

Yeah, I can understand that.

This has happened in two of my novels, the first one they called how the story made no sense and too op without understanding what the mc went through, and the second novel some readers complained about how the mc is stupid and the story has no realism even though its a fantasy world.
so the best thing you can do is to just ignore them.

Yeah, I can understand that.

Ai-chan accepts that it's their opinion and not respond.

After all, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As long as it's not abusive, Ai-chan has no reason to report them. Getting on a shouting match with them is a total no-no as Ai-chan has very thin skin and quite easily resort to nuking down the story when Ai-chan gets mad.

If it bothers you, you can try to report them for bullying or whatever. But if your story is actually good, then that 1 star is not going to affect you. If that 1 star affects you significantly, then maybe you need to reexamine your story and find out what's really wrong with it.

You need to understand though, that your first few chapters determine the expectations of readers on your story. If you first write a story about a dude being a winner then suddenly out of nowhere make him the victim of NTR, your readers will rage, because that's not what they signed up for. It is okay if there is a hint that this could happen, but when it hits them like a cloaked wrecking ball, your readers will definitely insult you to death. Gun-ota was particularly guilty of this and the author received hundreds of hate messages because of that particular scene, and the manga skipped that particular scene completely because they knew it would make people drop the manga like a sack of shit.

Ai-chan is not saying that you're guilty of doing this. This is just an advice. You're free to take it or ignore it. Ai-chan is magnanimous.

Thank you.

 

[ElliePorter]

Stay calm and dont pick a fight. Its not necessarily a review or criticism but a user thats just itching for a thrashing... Dont let it get through you, OP!

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Stay calm and dont pick a fight. Its not necessarily a review or criticism but a user thats just itching for a thrashing... Dont let it get through you, OP!

Thanks, I thought it might be that but wasn't quite sure.

 

[SailusGebel]

It's not that I'm offended by it. I feel a little down that someone would give such a low review without giving me proper feedback so that I can work on it. What I'm trying to ask is more about how I should approach it. I created the characters as a way to push the character to do things and react in different ways. This allows me to try to make my characters as three dimensional as possible. Though, as the story progressed they become nicer people because the main character is finally being the proactive character. If I change this then the story will change into something else entirely so altering it is not an option. Though, I still want to try and work on the problem.

Yeah, I can understand that.

Yeah, I can understand that.

Thank you.

I understand your trouble. I deliberately wrote my MC as an unlikable fellow. He is weak mentally, and it's taboo for almost all readers. I've got lots of comments and even a few reviews that used my weak mc as an argument, that the novel is bad\trash\shit. You can't do anything with this kind of people. They are looking for a different kind of story, and you should see this as such. There is no need to feel down about this.

You should keep this in my mind. You can always improve and rewrite and so on. You can infinitely try to convey your thoughts better. In the end, it doesn't matter as much. What matters is if you, yourself, liked how the certain part is written. If you think that a certain part is required, write it.

Use it as an experience for newer novels. Just don't drop your novel while it is still in the beginning. You will gather more opinions, reviews, comments as you go on. A newer reader who came, later on, might as well give you the opinion you sought for.

 

[LinXueLian]

I'd probably take it with a grain of salt. One of the things I like to do with reviews like that is copy and paste it into an online text-to-speech renderer and enjoy it with a sip of tea. That shit is hilarious. Once I've had my Woody Woodpecker laugh at Microsoft Sam giving me a scathing review in a calm, robotic voice, I move on with whatever I was doing before.

I don't really make it a point to drive a story the way a reader or commenter wants, good or bad. It's my story, my direction. The only direction I'd ever take seriously is One Direction sans Zayn Malik. He can stay off the band if he wants.

But let's get to the bit about your review:

The thing about stories with bullying is usually the pacing making it a long, long unbearable and painful read. A reader wouldn't be able to tell you that, only that the story so far pisses them off for some reason. The one thing I try to remember is that these readers are not writers themselves - they can't express themselves and tell you what they think of your writing style, pacing, characterization etc. That's something only an editor or a fellow writer can articulate to you, not a consumer unless they're educated enough to do it.

Look, if you feel your commenter has a point and that stuff in the story should change to make it more enjoyable, you've got a right to change it retrospectively and post a note in the latest chapter that the content has been moved or changed. If you don't, it's in your right to drive it the way you want. Alternatively, you can consider showing a snippet to a community or a beta-reader and see if that review actually makes sense. One person saying it's a pain to read is an opinion, but if a group of people are also saying it.... then, yeah, you'd probably know what you've got to fix.

If you want clarity from the reader, you can always just politely ask them how you can improve on it. Perhaps reply to them or message them personally and ask how they'd do things, what exactly they feel about the story points, etc, so that you can work on it? A lot of things aren't instantaneous or placed on a platter for us - a good number of times we'll need to drive the discussion in order to receive the help we're looking for.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Thank you.

 

[witch_sorrowful]

any idea how to deal with this?

Get a bigger nail.

Or a gun. Preferably, Chekhov's.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Gun-ota was particularly guilty of this and the author received hundreds of hate messages because of that particular scene, and the manga skipped that particular scene completely because they knew it would make people drop the manga like a sack of shit.

Wait what the fuck?

yo I'm gonna need some citation or some source or some lick of information in this wtf

This came out of left field for me

 

[Ai-chan]

Wait what the fuck?

yo I'm gonna need some citation or some source or some lick of information in this wtf

This came out of left field for me

This was the story from back when the gun-ota webnovel was actively being translated by Rei. That's around 5 years ago, maybe. You need to be able to read Japanese. This used to be common knowledge in syosetu back then. You probably don't know this because this was around the time when novelupdates was still very new or maybe hasn't started yet. We chatted in irc during this time.

 

[bigbear51]

You just ignore it if you don't want to change the story for the sake of what's essentially one person. This isn't some secret that only the best authors know. There's just no way to please everyone and yourself.

 

[Kitsura]

You internalize it as an indication of your self-worth and spend the rest of the day question if you want to write that daily chappy update or give up because ur a sack of shit writer who can't even make this one person enjoy your story. You question everything you've ever done and wonder if you will ever finish your other novels that you want to traditionally publish because surely if your web novel gets shit reviews then why would anything else you do be better.

wait, don't do that.

 

[Derin_Edala]

It sounds like they're just telling you that they're not your target audience. This data isn't useful to you and can be discounted.

If you're getting multiple people with the same complaints, then you need to figure out whether there's something wrong with the story that needs correcting, or whether you're just getting a lot of readers who aren't your target audience (which means there's something wrong with your marketing, tagging, or synopsis, giving the wrong impression of what the story's about). One or two people is just random chance, though. Read the review to see if they've said anything useful, and discount the rest.

 

[TheTrinary]

Honestly, it's not the worst review you could receive. The reviewer told you what he disliked, and he explained why. That's as much as anyone could as for. You know exactly what they feel and where they are coming from. You hope people act compassionately and don't just punch down and try to hurt your feelings, but let's be honest we're online. You just have to have thick skin for dicks.

So now there are two questions you've got yourself. Do you agree with them? If so, lesson learned.

If you don't agree with them, are you happy with what you wrote? You are your number one audience member. As long as you are genuinely with what you wrote, then screw everyone else.

 

[llcoolnate]

I'd get an editor just to make sure your story doesn't suck (if you're worried about embarrassment). Once you're okay with your story, I'd listen to/read about .01% of what's written*. You take the time and write a project (sometimes years). Others take 5 min, bash it, and then get back to doing absolutely nothing. One thing I've learned: I've never once in my life witnessed a bully/internet douche who didn't have massive, massive self-esteem issues. It just doesn't exist. If you're a cool guy, have friends, feel confident in who you are, get the chicks you wanna get, etc. you don't bully...it just doesn't happen.

Keep writing! You got this my guy.


*It's usually pretty easy to tell what's constructive criticism and what's bullshit.

 

[Aza.Iva]

I have my story on another site and someone who just started reading not too long ago told me I'm a terrible writer because some of the characters are assholes to the main character and that it's not enjoyable to read about the main character getting bullied by them. To be fair, the other characters are assholes but they're assholes to everyone. It's just part of who they are as characters. Though I try to write it in such a way that it's obvious that they do it to poke fun and the main character doesn't seem to care because he doesn't treat them any differently for the most part. Anyways, the reader gave no basis for why they didn't like the story in their review other then that they don't like characters getting treated poorly.(BTW it's a somewhat dark and gory story) They gave no feedback on the writing style or story which is what I really need to hear about. I am just ignoring them for now because I can't change what they want in a book but I don't think it's good to leave a one star review based on an opinion of two characters rather than the book as a whole. any idea how to deal with this?

Well, I'd have enjoyed this review. Because this is what you are actually trying to get from people - emotions.