How is your way to deal with bad reviews?

[TheJudger]

You know the feelings when you got like, a chapter that you spend so much effort, editing it so much time, reading it again and again to make sure it is perfect, and when you post it, it gets like a bad review that has many likes, and you just don't know how to get this chapter better? Like, you don't know where and what you did wrong?

Yeah i know that peoples has different tastes, but when a bad review gets much likes, you can't handle yourself into thinking that you did something wrong

 

[J_Chemist]

I've had a few individuals leave some comments on my story over on RR asking things, pointing out details, and overall just being sour readers.

However, what those individuals fail to understand that we as the Writer have reasons for writing what we do. There are things we need to have happen in the story in order to progress the plot in the way we want it. Regardless of whether or not it makes proper sense or "follows the rules". Sure, we don't want to be egregious with it and completely off the wall, but for the most part there are explainable reasons for what we write.

The problem is that the readers don't know every single rule of our world. We are the Gods pulling the strings. They are just the onlookers, peering into the sphere of the Novel from a much different and outside perspective.

You'll get some people who disagree and want to voice their opinion. Shit happens, and there will be people who agree with them. But, as the Author/Writer, you're not obligated to care. Nor are you obligated to explain yourself, make any changes to suit their needs, or waste your time feeling emotional over their sentiments. It is unfortunate that such Readers exist but as has been seen time and time again- those with voices of dissent are more likely to speak out and speak loudly than those who are content and happy.

TLDR; I read. I shrug. I move on. Unless it's a reasonable complaint or a glaring problem- it's the Reader's skill issue.

 

[PervyCatHermit]

How do you deal with people who don't like you in life? Ignore them, you can't please everyone. It's only an issue if all of your readers turn on you.

 

[doravg]

You know the feelings when you got like, a chapter that you spend so much effort, editing it so much time, reading it again and again to make sure it is perfect, and when you post it, it gets like a bad review that has many likes, and you just don't know how to get this chapter better? Like, you don't know where and what you did wrong?

Yeah i know that peoples has different tastes, but when a bad review gets much likes, you can't handle yourself into thinking that you did something wrong

Bad reviews? Dude, you are on SH. You won't be getting any reviews here. XD

 

[Corty]

It depends on the attitude. I have a one-star, bashing review under my belt only with 4 chapters under the reviewer's belt. You can not do anything about it, it is going to happen.

Especially if it's not a valid criticism, coming from ignorance, I just tend to move on and continue writing. The best way to prove reviews like those wrong is to continue the story.

The only criticisms I take heed of are those who are trying to help in pointing out my grammatical mistakes and errors or story inconsistencies. I always appreciate the help from those. Of course, if the attitude is condescending I tend to ignore it or explain why did I write it X or Y way. That is why I don't like posting on Royal Road. I honestly feel like the reader base there is way too entitled and condescending. Here, when people pointed out what I did wrong and how it should have been written, it was helpful and constructive. There? Almost feel like I am being talked down to from a high horse on how should I write my own stories. Well, no thank you.

 

[SailusGebel]

Bad reviews? Dude, you are on SH. You won't be getting any reviews here. XD

 

[Deleted member 54065]

I'm a harem writer, so I get a lot of negative reviews, simply because I tagged my work as harem. Well, I do understand their saltiness, which I try to rectify on my novel. However, since many would have an immediate bias on my chosen genre, many would drop and diss it even before I/they made it to the parts where I did the divergence on the common tropes.

Which is fine by me, by the way.

In any case, I deal with bad feedback/comments/reviews by picking up on the things I needed. See, even before I wrote my work's first chapter, I already planned it way to the end. So, in my perspective, it's a 'finished' work. As such, I only choose what's relevant to improving my narration, and other aspects of the story, rather than to listen to others' saltiness (I throw away/ignore/delete useless feedback). Well, most of the negative comments I received often pertain to the apparent 'plot holes', which is actually, if they only read the entire chapter, they'd knew that there's no plot hole.

Or, for them, the motivations behind a character's action are too 'shallow'. And the parts they're complaining about are actually normal in my culture's set of traditions, customs and beliefs. I guess everyone's entitled to their own opinion.

Or, like I always tell the SH denizens, there's this one time I received a 0.5 star on RoyalRoad simply because some Melvin Wong (whoever the fuck he is) wanted sex in my story, and I won't let him have it.

Another way of dealing with negative reviews (especially if those revs are irrelevant to my plans to my story), is to remove my story from the site and just focus on where it's received well. It's just like 'choosing your battles'; it might seem to be shying away from the challenge, but it's really not. For me, it's only choosing those who are really interested in my work, so in case they found some glaring errors in my story, they'd take time to give me sound advice, rather than an entire article of saltiness (and pointless name-calling).

For example, here in ScribbleHub, a lot of users hated the harem genre. I write harem, so when I removed my work (due to an entirely different reason), I resolved not to upload it here anymore. But I did upload another story (non-harem), and it's received well.

 

[YuukeiRorogan]

Delete the bad reviews.

 

[Iamnotabot]

Usually i just cry until i can't care about it anymore and move on.

 

[gaylolis]

Honestly when I received my last bad review I already wasn't active on the site for long. So when I somehow got back, I just kind ignored it, neither giving it upvotes or downvotes.

Maybe I was a bit upset, but well, I agree that my story wasn't that good.

I'm not planning on making it good either, just writing what I like, even if it's bad to others.

If many end up hating my particular work, especially with no valid reason, I just delete it from that site and move on.

 

[Nyctoria]

Carefully.

 

[TotallyHuman]

I track them down through IP adresses and then exact my righteous vengeance in real life. How dare they! These illiterate apes do not understand my, Herbert West's, genius! My writing will propel mankind on their way to conquering death!

 

[RaizarP]

You guys got review?

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Calm yourself. Even if everything looks bad, calm yourself.

Take any important point of which parts they don't like from their word, and ignore those useless rambling words.

It's like a doctor analyzing the source of the disease on your pet's poop. Just focus on which part of bad words cone from, like if this word came from a development or if this bad sentence came from the whole genre.

And also, take a look at their account Check what kind of story they gave good review and which story get bad review.

You can also what story they read, there's a reading list section for you to see. Complete with how much they have read into the story.

You can get some kind of image what kind of reader they're.

Not to mention if they're also author on some shit story, or even good story. You can use it to attack back at their story. It's a petty measure, but if they put bad review they also can be attacked with one.

And also, try to search their name on Google. It's not unusual for users to not post their story here, scribble hub is quite new, unlike royal road.

****​

TLDR ; How to deal with bad reviews ?
Just check on them one by one, and after analyzing their words, decide whether to respond or just ignore and continue with your life.

Don't be panic over things beyond your control.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

You know the feelings when you got like, a chapter that you spend so much effort, editing it so much time, reading it again and again to make sure it is perfect, and when you post it, it gets like a bad review that has many likes, and you just don't know how to get this chapter better? Like, you don't know where and what you did wrong?

Yeah i know that peoples has different tastes, but when a bad review gets much likes, you can't handle yourself into thinking that you did something wrong

if a review isnt telling you what you did wrong and how to improve, you can safely assume they're just petty little bitches who are just nitpicking without any actual idea what the fuck they are talking about. Probably jealous that their wives think of you during sex

 

[K5Rakitan]

I have a thing I copy and paste, but I'm on my husband's computer and don't have it on me.

 

[AiLovesToGrow]

How To Get Bad Reviews:

Step 1: write a futa harem story.

All things being equal, bad reviews happen. Legitimate critique is something else entirely: if someone sees something wrong and wants you to improve, you should take that to heart and not be offended. Bad reviews are when the reader is offended by you and launches a personal attack. As I said, they happen. So what is the best way to handle it?

Thank them for the review, hope they continue reading and wish them a good day. Then you write the next chapter.

 

[Paul_Tromba]

Any review I can get, good or bad, is fine by me. The non constructive ones are easy to spot and ignore while the rest usually have something that can be used to help in the next draft. Sure, some may be opinionated but if it becomes a repeated opinion from multiple people then it may be time to consider that their opinion may be valid. All in all, one person's opinion doesn't matter much but constructive criticism and honest feedback are one of the best things a writer can have during their writing process and moving forward. Just don't take it to heart and base yourself in your work too much or else it will lead to burnout and depression.

 

[Lloyd]

I don't trust any reviews on this site. No offense, but all of you are practically retarded.

 

[SailusGebel]

I don't trust any reviews on this site. No offense, but all of you are practically retarded.

Based.