The Agony of the 1-Star Review - Should We Rethink Harsh Critique?

[Deleted member 113259]

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

What the hell is this? You writing a LitRPG in thread?

 

[LunaSoltaer]

did you seriously just table the page?

 

[Deleted member 113259]

did you seriously just table the page?

 

[HaremSucks]

We've all been there as creators - the crushing blow of seeing a 1-star review appear for something we poured our hearts into. It stings deeply, even if other reviews are positive. So I strive not to dole out such harsh critiques lightly. Don't get me wrong - I'll still offer thoughtful critical feedback to help writers improve. But in ratings/reviews, I'm mindful that even a "bad" book represents someone's creative efforts.

Rather than a blunt 1-star, I try leaving 3 stars minimum, coupled with constructive comments on issues I had. I focus on advising how the author could enhance future works. My goal is to inspire, not discourage. And if a book is truly not for me, I just don't leave a rating at all. Why tank someone's average over subjective taste differences? I'd rather boost authors I love.

I know reviewers must be honest. Yet often critique seems to tear down rather than build up. Do we sometimes forget the vulnerable creator behind each work?

What do you think? Should we reconsider when to dole out the crushing 1-star? Does creative effort itself deserve some baseline acknowledgment? Or is that sugar-coating valid criticism authors need to improve? Where should reviewers draw the line between constructive feedback and needless discouragement?

No. The one-star review is a very good thing. Especially for works that are just straight-up terrible. The main characters getting girls left and right, pushing an agenda against the LGBTQ+ community, pedophilic nonsense, and all that.

 

[LunaSoltaer]

No. The one-star review is a very good thing. Especially for works that are just straight-up terrible. The main characters getting girls left and right, pushing an agenda against the LGBTQ+ community, pedophilic nonsense, and all that.

One of these things is not like the others.

A different one implies a monolith which I assure you is not absolute.

Have fun with that ^w^

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

One of these things is not like the others.

A different one implies a monolith which I assure you is not absolute.

Have fun with that ^w^

 

[doravg]

I give everyone a 5 star because they sat down and wrote, which is more than what the most people do. But I have received a 1-star rating myself. It came Months after the story was completed, which is good. If it had come when I was still writing it, or when I was still updating it, I would have been crushed. As things stand now, I do care, not gonna lie, but the feeling is muted.

 

[KrakenRiderEmma]

Not all one-star reviews are created equal. There’s the angry rant about everything that’s wrong with the story, sometimes in great detail. Whether or not the reviewer is venting their own opinion, totally wrong about some things, or offering insightful critique… I think this sort of review is still valuable. They put time into reading it, and if they want to put more time into expressing disapproval, that’s fair.

Then there’s the “warning, unreadable story” one-star review, to try and indicate stories where the language is incomprehensible or it’s unreadable for some other reason. I guess this works as long as there aren’t a bunch of other people who 5-star it up.

Finally there’s what I think of as the “controversy indicator,” the one-star reviews with no written review where the review is used as the equivalent of a “dislike” button. For a lot of stories it’s not too hard to tell what might be “disliked,” and it’s a “controversy indicator” if you have polarized opinions — as many if not more people giving five stars, some giving one star. Often has to do with the content, and sometimes with a choice the author made that changed the story partway through, or something like that. This is where the “average rating” ends up being a funny measure of quality because you can’t just average “some people love this stuff and some people really hate it.” If you wanted to really capture the “true rating” of a story like this, you’d remove an equal number of 1s and 5s and average the rest, maybe.

 

[owotrucked]

SH if you could only rate/review between 9/10 and 10/10 like at asura scans

 

[BearlyAlive]

If you only get "I do'nt lkie yuo" or "this story has too much stuff I don't like because I was too stupid to look at the tags" chances are your story is actually good and you might just be terrible at interacting with your readers. If raters don't like how you tackle a certain thematic or plot element, then a bit of reflection (or a big fat disclaimer) might be a good idea.

The moment people are calling your story unreadable or too hard to follow is when a writer should really start to reflect...


I'd love to just sit down and give everyone a piece of my mind, but I'd rather spend my time trolling people and because my inner rating scale is pretty rigged...
-0.5 for Fanfics because the writer either didn't want to create their own setting and characters or is just too lazy/insecure/stupid to write their own
-0.5 for harems since I dislike the genre, but can endure if the writing is good.
-1 for excessive harems (the previous 0.5 is included) same reason as above, but now with even more badly written characters.
-1 to -2 for really badly written grammar and sentence structures. Nuff said
-0.5 for "Only I have a system/deity/some other deus ex bullshit" because that's just bad writing
-0-5 to -1 for excessive smut, I know we're at smuthub, but please don't ignore your plot for PLOT

So if you want to create my personal nightmare just write a harem system fanfic with way too much smut, and do it in the most grammatically incorect way possible. (Please don't!!!)

 

[owotrucked]

I'd love to just sit down and give everyone a piece of my mind, but I'd rather spend my time trolling people and because my inner rating scale is pretty rigged...
-0.5 for Fanfics because the writer either didn't want to create their own setting and characters or is just too lazy/insecure/stupid to write their own
-0.5 for harems since I dislike the genre, but can endure if the writing is good.
-1 for excessive harems (the previous 0.5 is included) same reason as above, but now with even more badly written characters.
-1 to -2 for really badly written grammar and sentence structures. Nuff said
-0.5 for "Only I have a system/deity/some other deus ex bullshit" because that's just bad writing
-0-5 to -1 for excessive smut, I know we're at smuthub, but please don't ignore your plot for PLOT

So if you want to create my personal nightmare just write a harem system fanfic with way too much smut, and do it in the most grammatically incorect way possible. (Please don't!!!)

me writing Bearly's nightmare:

 

[Lodur]

Is it a positive view of genocide? Genuinely promoting it for sapient creatures that aren’t attempting to genocide the others? Then definitely. I haven’t come across ones like that yet, so I didn’t mention them.

Let me think a little... Yes! Holy Bible, Genesis, chapters 6-7. Also, chapter 19.
On a more serious note. Did you never stumble on a story, where Hero (Anti-Hero, would-be Demon Lord, etc.) is summoned only to put an end to the world? And the society there is really so messed up and irredimable, that all his attemts to change anything completely go in vein? I saw a couple of those.

 

[SailusGebel]

Let me think a little... Yes! Holy Bible, Genesis, chapters 6-7. Also, chapter 19.
On a more serious note. Did you never stumble on a story, where Hero (Anti-Hero, would-be Demon Lord, etc.) is summoned only to put an end to the world? And the society there is really so messed up and irredimable, that all his attemts to change anything completely go in vein? I saw a couple of those.

Don't open the door!

 

[owotrucked]

Don't open the door!

SUMMON THE MESSIAH!!!!!

 

[SailusGebel]

SUMMON THE MESSIAH!!!!!

NOOO!!!

 

[TheMonotonePuppet]

Let me think a little... Yes! Holy Bible, Genesis, chapters 6-7. Also, chapter 19.
On a more serious note. Did you never stumble on a story, where Hero (Anti-Hero, would-be Demon Lord, etc.) is summoned only to put an end to the world? And the society there is really so messed up and irredimable, that all his attemts to change anything completely go in vein? I saw a couple of those.

LOL!!!
Nope! I’ve read stores where someone is summoned to stop that from happening though!

 

[K5Rakitan]

I feel agony when someone give me 5 stars!

 

[melchi]

I feel agony when someone give me 5 stars!

I was waiting for a reply like this.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

I feel agony when someone give me 5 stars!

You are a masochist for 1 stars!

I was waiting for a reply like this.

Me too!