Giving And Taking Lit Feedback

In all likelihood most authors posting stories to Literotica are seeking connection and approval from readers here—and there's nothing wrong about that. And a good many are also interested in receiving help in developing their writing style and the popularity of their stories. There's nothing about that either. There also are readers willing to help authors develop their story skills and even some able to do so.

That established, Literotica makes feedback giving and taking possible, but Literotica is not a critique site; it's basically a reading site. Literotica makes it possible for authors not to entertain unsolicited feedback. Readers aren't leaned on to provide feedback and authors have no responsibility to accept or respond to feedback. Many writers are posting stories here for the sheer fun of sharing erotic writings with others and have no interest in developing skills. That said, feedback can be very useful in helping a writer to develop her/his skills. The kickers are to discern what feedback is useful and accurate and not to lose one's voice or ownership of the story in the process of adjusting to feedback.

Feedback does aid the author. It helps the author read her/his own work more effectively. It looks at the work from a fresh angle without the preconceived notions behind what the author actually wrote, which may be quite different from what he/she thought was being written and conveyed.

The problem with treating Literotica as a critique site, however, is the anonymous nature—even when account names are used—of gauging what feedback is constructive and useful and what is personal and/or informed opinion of a limited number of writers. Advice is only as valuable as the experience and ability of the one giving advice to be giving advice on that topic. Thus, a reader giving advice needs to be careful to make clear that they are only giving a personal opinion—based on just one perspective out of a huge number or readers on Literotica—or they need to substantiate somehow their ability to give writing advice. This can be established by citing authoritative sources and/or establishing a track record of giving useful advice on the forum or directly as a comment on specific stories.

Giving Feedback on Literotica

Perhaps the first consideration one preparing to give feedback on a Literotica story should cover is what the motivation is for giving the feedback. Are you truly interested in helping the author and are clear that you have the grounding to help the author, or are you giving feedback to show what you know—or think you know—about the issues covered, or worse, to feel superior or to belittle the author?

Remember that it's a reading site, not an announced critique site. You can't assume that the author is seeking help with story writing unless help has been requested (in notes attached to the story or in the forum Story Feedback area). Authors who have contributed stories on Literotica for a free read have a right not to be hassled by vigilante critique, whether or not they have used the "feedback not wanted" mechanisms Literotica offers. Even if you see something in a story that you know is inaccurate or a technical mistake, you should weigh how important this is in the context of the overall story. If you don't receive thanks or you get your hand bitten in either of these instances, you shouldn't be surprised; being willing to be thus accosted was in no way a condition of posting stories on Literotica.

Supposing we've established that you are giving feedback with all good intentions of helping the author develop writing and storytelling skills, above all, remember that the story isn't

your baby

. Your feedback should be based on what the author is trying to do in her/his voice and writing style. Feedback should be careful to preserve the voice and intent of the author. The product of the author's intuition can be queried in terms of what he/she intended, but when suggestions start on how the commenter would do it, the feedback has gone beyond respecting the author's product. Your feedback should be about the author's work, not you. The feedback should truly be interested in the aims of the author in the work or you should be questioning your intent in commenting.

The best feedback highlights issues that pop out as questionable or disturbing the reading or the flow during the reader's experience of the work. Be specific with the points of your critique. Show specifically what you think the technical mistakes are and, if the context breaks down for you, where it breaks down. Don't make detailed suggestions on how to fix contextual breaks, though. Don't advise "Your character should do/say this rather than that." Note what you don't understand and why. Don't take the author out of the judgment seat on what, if anything, to do to adjust the work. Literotica doesn't take the author out of the judgment seat. The author is the last one holding the story file before it is submitted (even if it's edited), and the author is the only one who can make corrections to the story.

Don't go beyond your knowledge base on technical issues. If you question spelling, use a dictionary. If you question grammar and punctuation, use authorities on these. If you aren't sure but you see something questionable, marking a "is this right?" is constructive for the author and not raising the danger that the author was right and you are wrong.

Don't give advice on what is commercial fiction on the basis of having taken high school or college English. These courses teach a different brand of writing. Be aware of how commercial fiction is written before giving advice on it. You can gain experience in this by reading a lot of it with an observant eye and/or experiencing writing it yourself. As an untrained reader, you can still give useful feedback, though, just by noting where the story broke down for you and leaving it to the author to decide what to do with it/whether to do anything (e.g., "In this scene, at this point, when the character does or says this, I stop believing in him. It readers to me as out of character or out of context of the story").

Yes, point out any inconsistencies, discrepancies of fact, or anachronism you find (or think you've found). The most creative way of giving this feedback is not to say, "This is wrong; it should be X." It is to question whether what's written is correct, citing what you think is correct. This is fiction, however, so be prepared to find that the author is using literary license. We all known there are no Burger Kings on Mars (at least yet), but if the author wants to place one there for the story context, that's the author's literary license to take.

Don't expect the author to justify what she/he has written to you. It's not your story, and you should expect no more than a thank you for your help—and not even that if you are giving unsolicited advice (and, no, failure to turn comments and voting off does not constitute soliciting critique). Exit any blow-back argument as quickly and totally as you can. If they don't take your advice, they are the ones who will suffer any negative consequences. If you want to argue a point in feedback, this may say more about your needs than those of the author.

Be sensitive to the system the author writes in. Literotica publishes stories from all major English-language systems (and some stories in other languages as well). There are variations between UK and U.S. styles in spelling, word usage, and punctuation. And Canadian, Australian, and Indian writers use a variant of both styles.

Taking Feedback on Literotica

Where do you draw the line on other people having input on your art? For starters in the Literotica system, if you truly want feedback critique, directly ask for it—in a note on the story itself, by posting to the Story Feedback forum, or by directly messaging another author whose work you admire. As Literotica is set up, it is not an assumption for either you or readers to make that feedback is being solicited just by posting a story. If you expect it, ask for it. If you haven't asked for it and a reader doesn't like the response or lack of response to feedback they have given, that is their problem, not yours.

Appoint yourself master of your story's vision. Look for feedback that supports your vision for the story. Nobody but you is going to be held responsible for it. Don't change anything solely to curry favor of a few vocal readers or out of lack of belief in your own instincts. Doing this for any length of time will completely strip you of your writing "personality" and your stories will sink into a glop of same-same stories.

Take charge of discerning what input actually advances your work. And

you

have to discern this, because if you change to satisfy everyone's opinion on what you should have written, you will wind up with weak pabulum. Remain aware that the one giving you feedback may not be any more knowledgeable about writing erotica or the base of "facts" you've used in your story than you are. Be aware further that just because one or a couple of readers have commented on a point and others haven't doesn't mean that they are any more right or representative of the mythical "Literotica reader" than anyone else.

Beware of feedback that tells you how the commenter would write it—the reader who wants your work to read like his/hers or to cater to his/her specific tastes. Don't lose your voice, your own vocabulary, or how your stories revolve. Readers who become invested in your characters or stories often will ask you for more or something different or a more romantic ending. This is a compliment, but it's not necessarily an indication that more or different would be better than where and how you ended it. The end of every story is death of all the characters. Good stories don't have to travel to that point, and few of them do.

Don't argue with the one providing feedback. Thank them for their effort and then decide for yourself where or if their advice fits.

The challenge after good feedback is given (assuming you've become adept at identifying "good" feedback) is figuring out how (or even if) to solve the problems you accept as having been raised by the critique. And that challenge is the author's responsibility to meet, not the one who gave the feedback. I raise the question of whether to mess with the story at all after posted to Literotica, because conceiving and writing stories is a renewable resource, this isn't the

New Yorker

, and you aren't being graded or considered for employment on the basis of the entire body of your work. Sometimes feedback tells you that it's just best to take the advice as it would affect future stories you write and then move on to writing the next one. Writing is an activity that can be enhanced by doing more of it.

Assess to the extent you can the ability of the feedback giver to provide feedback. That's hard to do on a story site of unidentifiable posters like Literotica is. But you can check whether the feedback they are giving others makes good sense to you, and you can check to see if they have written and published themselves in the genre you are writing—or at all. Unfortunately feedback on Literotica is a prime example of those who "haven't done" getting their jollies by telling others what they should (or must or must only) "do."

Be aware that different English-language styles are being used in the story file. Literotica itself uses U.S. style, but it accepts UK style and systems that are a variation of the two (i.e., Canadian, Australian, and Indian). If you write in UK style and feedback points to spelling "colour" as "color" and "favour" as "favor," be aware that last least some of the disconnect is the different styles being used.

Bottom Line

Like all advice on Literotica, what you have just read should have your own sense of common sense applied to it. Take what you find useful and leave the rest until and unless you decide it is useful too. The bottom line is that it's your story; any credit or complaint on it is yours to shoulder. At the same time, it's your creation. Don't lose ownership; don't let someone else make it theirs. And don't trust your creation to just anyone who comments on it just because they tacitly suggest they know more about writing and/or are more talented at it.