Scared of Reading Comments

[queenofthefuzzybugs]

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Scribblehub isn't too bad. Usually people are commenting on the story itself or thanking for an update. But I post in Royalroad too and there the comment section can be genuinely terrifying. I mean, I'm not saying my readers are horrible people on RR, generally they're pretty cool. It's more like... the users on RR have two settings: LOVE YOU (but you misspelled xyz) or CRAP IT'S CRAAAAAAAAAAP. I also post on Webnovel (they're good as long as you don't sign contracts or mind your story getting bot-reposted to 3rd party sites). I've gotten some comments that just... leave me breathless because of how genuinely stupid they are. I swear there are people in that website that have no reading comprehension whatsoever.

I end up fearing being ripped apart or being frustrated to death by the comments. Intellectually I expect it. I'm not naive. You post stuff online and of course you're going to get comments like that, duh. It's part and parcel of making your work public.

But emotionally I'm thin skinned. I just wanna find a corner and cover myself with a blanket and pretend I'm blind. And deaf. And stupid.

Well, I might be stupid so I don't need to pretend that.

How about ya'll? Anyone else scared of comments? If so, please share in the misery with me.

 

[Orademo]

I am in the same situation, but it was worse on webnovel, there are only 2 kinds, love it or hate it, that was with my first novel but my second was received well, you will find people that just can't say something good about anything as if they are royalty. Just ignore those, there are many that give genuine criticism and support, listen to those.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Bah, the haters should be happy that I can't write back. I am a hardened by civilised discussions against Commies, Nazis, far right assholes and Ruskies. I have already seen enough stupidity.

 

[RedPanda]

It was hard for me because English is not my native language. I feared that my story would be rated bad and receive negative comments because my grammar isn’t perfect.
I’m more than happy now, because a lot of people reading my story and they can’t wait for more.

I can only thank them for all their support.

Here a cute RedPanda to heal every heavy wounds, and light up our hearts.

 

[LWFlouisa]

I wouldn't know, I don't get comments. Though by and large people have been nicer and easier to relate to here.

But yea I fear comments sometimes as well, I wont lie.

In general I would prefer to be critiqued on something other than my cover art, since I thought the fact I can't financially afford cover art was common knowledge at this point.

No really, I have 0 dollars. I can't in good conscience request a cover.

It's not like Wattpad where you can request free covers, and I don't want that tit for tit culture creeping its way over to here.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

Scribblehub isn't too bad. Usually people are commenting on the story itself or thanking for an update. But I post in Royalroad too and there the comment section can be genuinely terrifying. I mean, I'm not saying my readers are horrible people on RR, generally they're pretty cool. It's more like... the users on RR have two settings: LOVE YOU (but you misspelled xyz) or CRAP IT'S CRAAAAAAAAAAP. I also post on Webnovel (they're good as long as you don't sign contracts or mind your story getting bot-reposted to 3rd party sites). I've gotten some comments that just... leave me breathless because of how genuinely stupid they are. I swear there are people in that website that have no reading comprehension whatsoever.

I end up fearing being ripped apart or being frustrated to death by the comments. Intellectually I expect it. I'm not naive. You post stuff online and of course you're going to get comments like that, duh. It's part and parcel of making your work public.

But emotionally I'm thin skinned. I just wanna find a corner and cover myself with a blanket and pretend I'm blind. And deaf. And stupid.

Well, I might be stupid so I don't need to pretend that.

How about ya'll? Anyone else scared of comments? If so, please share in the misery with me.

I love comments. My reader base is full of chill dudes. But i dont give a rats ass about bad reviews or comments. Me, I'm the chillest of dude....i say, sometimes getting annoyed at people and reply by writing them being raped by giant thorned orc cocks.

 

[mrsimple]

@queenofthefuzzybugs I wanna let ya know, @QuietValerie , @Trashlyn , and others who had their works on RR had left there too for the same reasons. You're not alone. Those who abandoned the road are now boasting how wonderful it is here and giving the upstanding @Tony kudos for keeping the site clean of compulsive haters. And that is a lot of investigating to confirm the need to act. There is a huge possibility of mistaking the difference between a legit dislike of a novel from the increasing smear campaign on a specifically disagreeable subject the reader found in the tagline.

Just remember, if it is your novel, ya can always delete the reader's comments if they disturb or upset ya.

 

[LWFlouisa]

@queenofthefuzzybugs I wanna let ya know, @QuietValerie , @Trashlyn , and others who had their works on RR had left there too for the same reasons. You're not alone. Those who abandoned the road are now boasting how wonderful it is here and giving the upstanding @Tony kudos for keeping the site clean of compulsive haters. And that is a lot of investigating to confirm the need to act. There is a huge possibility of mistaking the difference between a legit dislike of a novel from the increasing smear campaign on a specifically disagreeable subject the reader found in the tagline.

Just remember, if it is your novel, ya can always delete the reader's comments if they disturb or upset ya.

So what's the situation in mass dislikes? I usually get mass dislike on stuff if I have a clickbait title they disagree with:

Insectionality Is Transphobic. I haven't used it, but that might give an idea. Next day, I have 5 dislikes.

 

[mrsimple]

So what's the situation in mass dislikes? I usually get mass dislike on stuff if I have a clickbait title they disagree with:

Insectionality Is Transphobic. I haven't used it, but that might give an idea. Next day, I have 5 dislikes.

There was someone who had published their novel here and almost immediately had seven or nine single stars rated on their novel. The next day, those stars were removed and the novel's reputation was much improved for it. In fact, I'd say those poor ratings had attracted attention towards the novel by having readers figure out what the deal was with the series of dislikes. Very unexpected and somewhat karmic conclusion.

Anyways, I've seen Tony take care of situations like that. They can be corrected, but prevention is an entirely different story. I don't think there is or could be a preventative plan. Just report your suspicion and the matter will be investigated.

 

[NiQuinn]

I do understand the apprehension. It's bound to happen anywhere in the net. After all, the internet is chock full of entitled people. It's easy to say such venomous vitriol when nobody's gonna know it was you anyway. There really isn't any consequence if you say bad stuff about people in the net. In fact, some are eagerly waiting for random comments to go against them just so that they could add more of their brand of negativity. Easiest solution is to ignore them. It's your story. If things don't go the way readers want them to that's not on you.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

I'm nearly not scared lol. I have faith that I can answer many comments if it has something to do with my story. I have to admit that I've made mistakes and want to fix them but when it comes to hatred comments I have to remind myself that it's to be expected. Not everyone will like my story, then there's people that are just arseholes and then there's people that don't read and people who can't. Lol
Anyway, as long as one person likes my works, I still feel good. It helps I like my work too!
On top of that I don't write my books for everyone anyway, so hateful marks can sort of be expected. For instance, most of my books are for mature audiences. If a kid said something hateful...all I'd want to say is 'grow up' lol.
Don't let the hateful comments make you scared! If your too scared to write then what are you going to do!?

 

[BenJepheneT]

sometimes getting annoyed at people and reply by writing them being raped by giant thorned orc cocks.

i dont know you but i will spread my legs for you

 

[PrincessFelicie]

Oh RR is absolute garbage. The website is filled with people that get offended when the villains of your story are nazis or if your writing is LGBT+, they will review bomb you, and if you report it to the admins they'll let it slide for the sake of freedom of expression. Any website that is that idiotic about nazis is not a good one to be on.

 

[ConTroll]

I would be scared too, if I had an actual reader base or people willing to comment on my story.

 

[GDLiZy]

I envy you that you even had comments to worry about.

 

[Yorth]

My advice to you is to look at it from the perspective "In 5 years, whatever this comment had said won't matter". It helps me alleviate the pressure off my shoulder. Whether it be an important email that I'm waiting for, an exam, parents expectations or anything that makes me stressed or anxious. Once I put it in a long term perspective, it loses its meaning and I don't feel as pressured.

Either way, I hope that you push on and not be shackled by stress and anxiety. If you ever feel like you wanna rant, come to discord and rant your heart out, I'll be there to listen if you want.

 

[AliceShiki]

So far the few comments I got were mostly positive in the story I'm currently writing, but I did get some bad comments in the past back when I first started trying to write...

Mmmmm, I don't think scared is the right word for me... I just don't deal well with them I guess? Like... If someone complains about my plot, I think I start getting defensive somewhat easily... Especially when they're complaining about something I already planned to explain later... I was like... "We're 3 chapters in, can you please wait until the 4th before complaining!? >.<"

Which is actually a bad way of dealing with those comments though, especially because I was actually replying to a pretty harsh, but constructive criticism I had received. (And it's rare to receive that! You should cherish the people that are harsh, but still constructive in their comments! Don't fight against them, embrace their concerns and see if you can do something about it! (Though it's fine to not do anything, it's your story after all... Sometimes they do have some good points though))

Overall, I think you should just chill and not worry too much about it, comments will come, some might be good, some might be bad, but keep writing and you'll eventually improve, and as you improve, the good comments will outweight the bad ones~

 

[ironictw1st]

I've just recently started writing and I received a comment the other day about making stupid choices in it. I responded calmly and gave him the reasons why I did it the way I did.

Normally when people start off rude on the internet they don't expect the person they're talking bad about to say anything. Once you respond they either apologize or just double down. Nothing much you can do about it. I'm not nearly as experienced as everybody else here, but I hope I can get there.

 

[LWFlouisa]

I'm not even afraid of a three star rating, if my work is genuinely a three star novel honestly. My problem is when you have a bunch of authors, usually the "rivals" of that LitRPG writer, who curb stomps rival LitRPG writers by artificially lowering the rating by spamming a bunch of one-star ratings, even if they have't read the book.

I absolutely abhor the LitRPG community for anti-competitive practices like that.

Curiously, outside of Royal Road and LitRPG forums, I don't usually find that.

 

[LWFlouisa]

Oh RR is absolute garbage. The website is filled with people that get offended when the villains of your story are nazis or if your writing is LGBT+, they will review bomb you, and if you report it to the admins they'll let it slide for the sake of freedom of expression. Any website that is that idiotic about nazis is not a good one to be on.

Yea those people are the worst. That or they don't even read your work. Just had a guy that signed up for the sole purpose of giving the book a one-star. It's perfectly fine to block such people.

And they might think they're anonymous, but they're not. You know by the fact they had just signed up today.

WebNovel already has ways of mitigating such issues.

The other give away is they haven't written anything. Because they literally haven't been on the site long enough to write anything.

It isn't just a writing site problem either: https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/fake-google-reviews I think it has to do with the way websites spam filters are designed.