Stories: What goes up, must come down... · 1:22pm Sep 20th, 2021
I recently published a funny/silly short story with a friendship moral.
The moral was shown (not told) that you can be friends and friendly to other ponies, even if it’s someone different and inferior to yourself. The story used Celestia and Twilight (and with slight contrast from Luna) as good examples of being nice, while having an OC as inferior.
Needless to say it got downvoted into oblivion with 100% pure downvotes! (Not a single upvote.)
I did have two downvotes and one initial comment a couple of minutes after publishing (from moron87) who didn’t read the story but claimed an alicorn OC made it insufferable. (Uh? Yeah, I’m stumped on that one since my story didn't have one.)
However, there’s an important lesson here to learn: Don’t use empathy! 
Let me explain: When I read a story, I will not downvote because I have a different taste. That would be like going to a restaurant, order something you hate, and then go out and tell everyone the food is bad.
* * *
An example: This is a story I didn't like ("The Rook Triumphant" by Halira).
The cover image says it all but it boils down to Cozy Glow finding eternal torture in a barren world after (obviously incompetent) princesses have released her from stone (and imprisoned her again?) at least a dozen times.
Now this is a horrible story, according to my TASTE, but it’s well written, decently executed and clearly above the average when it comes to prose and grammar, so I’m NOT going to downvote it! (Since it's properly tagged and I should have seen it coming.)
It’s not a bad story; it’s just not my taste. But I also will not upvote, because it needs to be within my taste for that. Not perfect, but close enough. (I could skip voting and leave a comment but the writer surely has better things to do than read my opinions regarding my taste.)
And here's the problem with empathy: Using empathy I imagine people acting the same way I do.
Because our own behavior, is the template we use when we start imagine why someone would do something. Empathy is the key to Imagination, while Logic plus Experience is used to rein it in.
Empathy can be a problem when you get 100% downvotes. I may think the story that I like, has some horrible flaw that I’ve missed instead of realizing that several downvotes probably comes from people who never read it and in part from people with different taste.
Perhaps downvotes should require choice? Click between Taste, Grammar, Expectations or Bandwagon.
Or perhaps you should be required to add 50 characters of text, visible to the publisher only?
The writer/publisher would get a hint when the text is 50 characters of "srkjhgfsilfgligyfglsadfl" or some copypaste string plastered to every story.
In conclusion: Even if I decided to take my story down, because of the downvotes, I will not let the downvotes break my spirit. I actually still like the story and think it has a cute ending. But then again... it had me as an self-insert for inferiority, so I guess the hate was to be expected? 
Addendum:
* I never take down any story or image if it has a single upvote or more, because that would be very rude to the upvoter, in case they enjoyed it.
* The story managed to end up on 14 bookshelves during its short lifetime of impopularity. I finally figured it out!
Many readers do a quick sort of all the new fics since last login, and fill various library shelves with thousands of books. When they get time they take a peek at whatever genre appeals for the moment, and move it to "read later" or "read-done/discarded". Quite organized, if I may say so myself.
* I never got confirmed if anyone actually read it, or if they voted on the description. Probably the latter. (And it was 4 downvotes to be exact.)
(Typical downvoter)
