Hey! This is my first forum OP, so I hope I don't do too terribly poorly.
So I recently posted a story and got a 1 rating. I can understand 1 ratings, there are some stories that really deserve it. But I feel like if you give a story anything shy of a 4, you should explain what made it of such low quality and what changes could be made to improve. I was wondering if any other Lush authors felt the same way?
you have the option of turning on forced comments if you wish - doesn't mean you'll get constructive criticism, tho. honestly? yeah, it would be nice - i have a couple of readers here, Rumpleforekin and Willful who aren't shy about telling me what i did wrong, and i actually appreciate it when they do - not everyone's brave enough to do that, tho - i think they're scared of me, not sure why...
anyways, it comes with the territory - if you're really serious about improving a story, see if you can find an impartial editor/reader to give you advice about what works and what doesn't.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
make sure you have your settings so that only members can vote on your story as well.
hugs
I don't think anything deserves a 1.
I have read a lot of poetry on here..I have NEVER read a story that was a one..as milik said the moderators are too good
Some clown just was in a pissy mood and did that
Don't even give it another thought ok
And my sweet friend bdsmbarbiedoll is so right!
I might go a bit against the flow here, but I guess it makes sense that stories be rated by lush standards. Moderation here is amazing, as I've been able to see writing just two stories, so every single text that is going to make it is already good. That leaves readers with the option of just rating 4 or 5, as seems to be the case around.
In that case, I guess we could suppose that 1 is "good" grading to 5 "editor's pick worthy". I know this is not how it works, but it doesn't shock me that someone would rate "low" as long as it's carefully explained in the comments. Leaving a commentless 1 would be especially rude though...
General consensus here is that a one should not be given... Unless it is a plagiarized. In that case a zero is appropriate.
I've given a few low scores as well as received some. However I will take the time to write a note explaining why. When asked to edit a story, I do the same. i am very appreciative of others comments.
All the best authors get a one once in a blue moon. People like to remind us that we're not perfect. I had one not long ago from some guy because I accidentally used the wrong name at the end of the story. I had one name picked out, changed it and missed it in my edits. So he thought my whole story merited a one because of it. People give ones for the silliest of reasons. Try not to take it to heart too much. It stings, but it will go away. Promise.
I'd more often than not, take votes like that with a pinch of salt.
Someone might have pressed the wrong button. Someone may have been on the wrong end of an experience your wrote about, and voted accordingly. You might have made a comment to someone in the forums, messages or on a story, which rubbed someone up the wrong way. Someone might have had a bad day, and voted a 1 on the first story they read, as a petty act of vengeance. Someone might not like chimp avatars.
Not much you can do. There's a dude on here that gives me a 3 on every story he's "read". Just have to accept it. Won't stop me from posting future stories.
Melvin, I'm with Simplysweet. Don't let a low vote discourage you. It happens to all of us, believe me. I find that if you get enough higher scores it will knock out that low score. Haters, for whatever reason, are just the nature of the beast. Trolls. They bore or get boring easily and fall to the wayside. Concentrate on your writing and how you feel about what you write. ?
Okay here is my take on story ratings...
For me personally, the scores are of little consequence as I write my stories for me. I write them because if I don't keep emptying my overactive twisted little mind, I will go crazy! I am always coming up with story ideas and fantasies and if I don't get them on "paper", they just back up in my head!
What I am primarily concerned with is views and comments. The views tell me I am being read, and the comments tell me how my readers liked my story. Scores are far too subjective to be of any real use. Sometimes I will get constructive criticism, which I take to heart and try to improve with. Nobody will give you a 1 and leave a comment (at least I have never had that happen). Those that leave a 1 score don't want to be identified because odds are, they are being spiteful. So if I get a low score like that, I just chalk it up to someone being mean and I forget about it.
You can, as it has been said, put your settings to where people have to comment to score your stories. But in doing so you will get fewer scores, because a lot of people don't like being forced to comment to score.
IMHO JollyBloke, you should just write your stories the way you want to tell them and don't worry about the scores. We are all amateur writers here (okay some of us have ebooks out) just writing our stories because we enjoy it. We don't have any Shakespeares, Mark Twains, or Jules Vernes on the site. So have fun and forget about the haters - it's usually just jealousy anyway!
Though very close in genetic relationship and virtually next-door neighbors, chimpanzees and a less-well-known species called bonobos in Zaire are socially poles apart. Only identified as a species separate from chimps in 1929, bonobos intrigue biologists with their easygoing ways, sexual equality, female bonding, and zeal for recreational sex.
How did bonobos, which live in humid forests south of the Zaire River, evolve such a different social structure from chimpanzees since the two species split about 2 million years ago? Male dominance plays a big role in chimp society. Disputes are often resolved by threatening displays or by fighting. Female chimps lead a life much more solitary than that their bonobo cousins, and are sometimes harassed by the much larger males. Sex is strictly about reproduction, and reproductive tactics can include infanticide -- the killing of offspring unrelated to a male chimp. Infanticidal individuals remove potential competitors to their own offspring, and the mother, without an infant to care for, will become available for mating again much sooner.
In contrast, bonobo society is marked by the strong bonds that develop between unrelated females and by almost constant sexual activity amongst all members of a group. Bonobos apparently use sex to reinforce bonds within the group and to resolve conflict. What evolutionary advantages do these behaviors offer?
Seeking the answer to that question, researchers noted that infanticide is almost unknown among bonobos. Their constant sexual activity obscures paternity, removing the incentive for infanticide, and the pervasive bonding of female bonobos, who form coalitions for mutual support and protection, removes the opportunity. Preventing infanticide is a huge evolutionary advantage for bonobo females, because more of their offspring will survive.
Why, then, have chimps not evolved this social structure? The answer may lie in the history of the habitats they occupy. Both species of primates live in tropical forests along the Zaire River -- chimps north of the river, bonobos to the south. Their environments seem to be quite similar today. But about 2.5 million years ago, there seems to have been a lengthy drought in southern Zaire that wiped out the preferred food plants of gorillas and sent the primates packing. After the drought ended, the forests returned, but the gorillas did not.
Chimpanzees in this environment south of the river had the forest to themselves, and could exploit the fiber foods that had previously been eaten by gorillas -- foods that are still eaten by gorillas to the north. With this additional food to tide them over between fruit trees, they could travel in larger, more stable parties, and form strong social bonds. They became bonobos.
On the north side of the river, the chimps had to share their niche with gorillas, which eat the fiber foods. The chimps have to compete for fruit, and occasionally meat, food resources that tend to be widely scattered. Female chimps disperse into the forest with their infants to find enough to eat, and cannot spend time together to forge strong bonds. The changes in social behavior that occurred in response to this environmental factor may be what led chimps down a different evolutionary path, toward a society more prone to violence.
A subtle difference in environment, it appears, had profound implications for their evolution.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
