Hello, Writer's Group! Quit... quit moving around. Yes, I've been drinking, what kind of a question is that? No, pfffft, no, not that stuff. This new stuff by Flim and Flam, the Flim Flam Bros.' Forum Formula, guaranteed to give your ideas the opportunity they deserve.... where am I again?

Woah, woah woah, let's stop for a minute. Okay, is drinking some random, magical concoction you got from two singing unicarnies really the best way to deal with negativity?
Survey says.... BRZZZT! No, no amount of drinking Flim Flam Products is going to change the number of red thumb downs on your story. People are entitled to their opinions, no matter how judgmental, prejudice, unjust, uninformed or just plain undignified they are. Crying about it isn't going to change or feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to change anything. You know what will?

Well, what is that, Barro?
Please, slow down, my head hurts. Here's a couple things to consider. You know how many people are out there that hate bronies? That hate MLP? I find a lot. Anti-bronies, those adorable little buggers that fly around... and call you names. Lots of names. In different languages. That I don't understand. I think I might've seen brail, binary and Romulan in there somewhere. I deal with that every day.

Gotdamn Romulan anti-bronies... in space.

Fact: if it's on this website, it SHOULD have something to do with colorful, adorable ponies. Fact: some people will hate us just and our stories just for that fact alone. Fact...ish: there are probably NOT a lot of them on this website. Why would there be anyway?

What am I suggesting? Write for yourself. Yeah, we say that a lot but you should actually DO that. Also, maybe don't downvote as much yourself. Here's what I try to practice:

Every dark cloud has a silver lining. This applies to everything including our own stories. I have a story that I didn't like when I first published it. I thought it was cliche, overdone. It didn't get an upvote from me until I added George Lucas and Stephen Speilberg in it as ponies. But a few other people liked it and told me why they liked it. I couldn't believe they liked it at first but then... I took a second look at it. And I found something to like about it.

You can do this with any story, you can FIND something to like about it. I'm not going to say you have to upvote everything but I don't downvote anything. Those are just where my standards are at right now. Will they always be that way? Who knows? But right now, for me, if a story has My Little Pony in it, it's got at least one thing in it that I like. And that story gets an upvote, which pretty much means every story on this site.

I'm not telling you to do the same. But if you look really hard, you can find something to like about just about anything. For me, that's My Little Pony. I like My Little Pony and if your story has that in it, it's good enough for me to take a look at. Believe me, I've seen a lot.

So what does it take for a story to gain a like and/or a fav from you? What does it take for you to follow an author? How do you deal with downvotes and general negativity? Do you like your own stories?

When it comes right down to it, that's the most important attention you'll get: the attention you give yourself.

1210165
...I came in here expecting to help console some poor, sad soul on a bad hit on what may or may not have been a bad story, and give him tips on how to make it better. Instead, I think I just got consoled on a problem I don't have...

Right, I'll be... around. Confused...

1210165 People work hard on the stories and I almost never dislike. If I don't like it, I won't favorite it. I will still like it so the writer will be given hope and will try to improve better. If someone doesn't like my methods then all I have to say is this.

Haters gonna' hate.

1210199 why not? It actually wasn't a bunch of whining.

1210165

So what does it take for a story to gain a like and/or a fav from you?

Simple. Has grammar that is adequate and is good enough that I can understand the story, has as close as you can get to original plotline, and to get a fav, must be incomplete.

What does it take for you to follow an author?

Either, they are a friend, or they are fucking awesome. The only non-friend I've followed is Imploding Colon.

How do you deal with downvotes and general negativity?

If there are enough downvotes, I like to put an author's note in the first chapter asking what you think and why you dislike it. If nopony responds, then it's just haters trying to make nopony read your story because of the downvotes. At least, that's what I think.

Do you like your own stories?

Hell yeah, because I wrote them. I wouldn't have written them if I didn't like them!

1210165
Upvotes: Basically, if the thing has an interesting idea, or too many downvotes, I try to give it a like.

Fav: Only the best stories around. The ones I would desperately love to know about updates from.

Follow: I loved their story/stories so much that I think anything they put out is worth a read. That, or I know them IRL/ have spoken extensively with them, and found that author to be someone who is just generally chill.

My stuff: hate it. Absolutely hate it. I think it's all shit.

Downvotes/Negativity: See above. I believe it's a given, so can look past the pure negativity and see what I can use. Also, when I recieve praise, that just makes it that much more special.

1210206 Oh, I'm sure it was very informative. (No sarcasm included.)
It's just I have the attention span of a hyperactive 3-year-old with ADD. Can't be helped.

1210199 Ditto.

1210165

I usually follow if I read a good story by an author, and see one or two more I'm interested in -- or the second time I read a good story by an author.

I upvote if I had a good read, and didn't find it distractingly full of errors.

I don't downvote.

1210217 1210202 1210165

Upvoting stories, you say?

1210279

Yes, I say!

1210279 Now, since you are begging for a like I'm going to read your story, and if I don't like it, I will not like I will not favorite. I still won't dislike it.

1210165

I just take what criticism I can from it and move on. People're gonna hate my work eventually, and that's just the way of things.

Can't impress everyone, right?

But yeah, self-confidence truly is the greatest asset you can have. If you trust in your writing, then you know you can entertain others. It's what I always strive to do.

My first story, though? The only thing I really like about it is the fighting. I figure that's some of my most descriptive fight writing I've ever done, though I should probably try again and see if I can top it. Duet of Sorrow is a crappy story, but by God, it's my crappy story.

1210288

I did the same thing in response (mostly because I want more feedback on my story and just to spite him)

1210165

I just noticed you spelled it "Duscussion."

1210288
Ah, it was a joke anyway. I've seen shameless self promotion before, saw my first opportunity, and took it!

1210287
You sly bastard, you!

1210165

I'm with you on the whole no-downvotes thing. *nods matter-of-factly*

1210224

I pretty much always get a handful of downvotes. (One of my stories got 11 downvotes and was holding at 4 upvotes for a long time!) I think it comes with the subject matter, although even One Lie got two downvotes, I guess because it was marked 'gore'.

Some people just downvote based on morality, but apparently people like my stories anyway, and I like some of 'em too.

1210358

It's sad, yeah. But that makes sense, it's about losing your parents and guilt, and doing something good with guilt you feel.

Sort of.

If you'd like something shorter and feely . . . uh, er? Feelyer, I guess? Try Mayflies. It's been better received than One Lie, and I actually like Mayflies when I read it, instead of just seeing all the things I could have done better with it.

1210165 Criticism and hate are two different things. If someone doesn't like my story but they tell me why and what is wrong with it and leave advice for how to fix it, and if they are experienced enough to know what they are talking about, then I welcome their criticism and their opinions and even the thumbs down that comes with it.
HOWEVER, if someone is just randomly bashing a story of mine for no reason, screaming it sucks without giving an explicit reason why or simply disliking it because of the genre or some other biased opinion then my reaction typically goes something like this:

1210199 Well at least you told me in dancing pony form. Thanks!

1210206 1210224 Oh no, don't think I randomly just go around upvoting things for no reason, that doesn't help anything. I hardly ever read... you'll notice I only have a couple favorites and one follower. I just do more writing than reading is all but I do read now and then.

What I'm saying is, you can find something to like about a story if you look hard enough and because that's the case, you always have a reason to give a story an upvote. The same is exactly true in the opposite direction: you can always find something to downvote a story for, too.

Having this attitude helps me understand though that no story will ever be perfect but will always have good and bad things about them. If I see a story that has a lot of negative attention, I dig deep and try to find the things that are right about the writing and I upvote and comment on that one thing, that one silver lining. Every story has one.

I think I have only ever once downvoted a story, and that was because I found it offensive... (I don't recall the name of the story, blotted it from memory) and I honestly struggled with it before deciding to give it a downvote.

My process is:
- If it is well written, it gets and upvote and a fave, and usually a comment
- If it has some grammatical errors, but the concept is good and enjoyable despite flaws: upvote, comment with positives and critiques, and potentially a fave.
- If it is not well written, but interesting concept: upvote and comment.
- If it does not come under the above criteria, I usually just close the story.
- If I find it morally or ethically offensive, i.e. containing homophobic content, racism, etc, it potentially gets a down vote, depending on how upsetting the content I find. All bar one time, I went with the above "close it" method.

Following authors tends to happen if one or more stories fell into the top category above.

As for my own stories: I hate them while I am writing them, but once they are completed, I can look back on them with a little pride, if nothing more than I have completed them... something I have not been able to do with my own non-fanfic stories for the past fifteen years.

If I read the story to the end and don't regret it, and if the grammar was even halfway decent, I'll upvote.

If I want to know as soon as the next chapter is our, or if it is a story I'll go back and re-read, I'll fave.

If the story appears to be either a trollfic and it wasn't obvious from the description, or if it is so offensive I really hope it's a trollfic, I'll downvote. That's happened twice, I think.

I very rarely follow. The author has to have created more than one story I really love.

I was disheartened by my first story here (my first fanfic published anywhere) got more downvotes than upvotes, and the story has been on hiatus ever since. But it's honestly not my best work, and I can't say they're wrong. Since then I've gotten a few downvotes on almost every story I've published. If no reason is given, then I don't care, really. I mean, it conveys almost no useful information. I've had one comment with real criticism, and was happy to get it because I want to do better as a writer; admittedly it was mostly positive.

1210165

Skimmed most of that. Next time you might want to not open you long ass post with drunken ramblings. It tends to harm credibility.

So what does it take for a story to gain a like and/or a fav from you?

If I like your story, I upvote it. This ain't rocket surgery, kids. It doesn't have to be awesome. I just have to make it to the end without getting bored and feel it was actually worth reading it.

I will downvote your story if it annoys me. Note that for me, this isn't about quality - bad writers can always improve, so if your story is just poorly written but you still show some promise, I'm more likely to ignore it. Dislikes is for when I personally disapprove of the writer's way of doing things and I feel the need to express that in some way.

If I like the story enough, and may want to read it again or keep an eye out for updates, I favourite it.

What does it take for you to follow an author?

I have no idea. I actually haven't found it necessary to follow anyone so far. Not entirely sure what the point is.

How do you deal with downvotes and general negativity?

Eh. To date, one of my stories has two downvotes (no idea why, don't really care), the other zero. So it's hardly anything I lose sleep over.

I realize there will always be someone who downvotes because we all have varying taste in stuff and different ideas of how to do things. But I figure as long as I do my job as a writer, I will always have more upvotes than downvotes, and that's what matters in the end.

As for negative comments, well, I'll take any critique under consideration but you better make a very good argument because in my personal experience, most people have no idea what they're talking about. It's not like I'm going to take writing advice from anyone who is obviously dumber and less talented than me.

Do you like your own stories?

What kind of question is that? Of course I like my own stories. That's why I wrote them.

Okay, I'm going to re-read that when I don't feel drunk for no reason at all.
Wow, flash-backs to post boot-camp graduation evening.. Imma have to hurt you, now...

1211063 I usually like to start off a thread with a joke or some sort of attempt at humor. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And what do you mean what kind of a question is the last one? Just because you wrote something or are involved in something doesn't mean you have to like it. One of my stories was an idea that I couldn't get out of my head but when I finally got it down, it just seemed so cliché I didn't care for it.
But I gave it another chance and found a few things to like about it. I still don't like all the clichés or the heavy emphasis on cheese but if I go back and change them... it just won't feel right.

So, with respect, maybe if you read the whole thing you might find it funny or enlightening? Maybe?

1211135

And what do you mean what kind of a question is the last one? Just because you wrote something or are involved in something doesn't mean you have to like it. One of my stories was an idea that I couldn't get out of my head but when I finally got it down, it just seemed so cliché I didn't care for it.

But I gave it another chance and found a few things to like about it. I still don't like all the clichés or the heavy emphasis on cheese but if I go back and change them... it just won't feel right.

Sorry, perhaps I was a bit hasty there. It's just been a very long time since I experienced something like that. I'd nearly forgotten what it's like to write something you don't love.

Suffice to say, if I'm dissatisfied with anything I've written, it's absolutely not going on the internet for other people to read. But again, that doesn't really happen these days. I simply don't write down anything I don't have a good deal of faith in.

Heck, I'll go back and reread my own stories on occasion, just for fun. My whole motivation for writing these stories is that they are stories I really want to read, only nobody is writing them so I have to do it myself.

1211194 I know how that is. And no, I wasn't drunk when I wrote this; I don't drink.

1210165

I don't dislike something soley because I didn't like it or it fails at being something it wasn't trying to be. I dislike because a story has failed to do what it wanted to do, or has been riddled with spelling errors and gramatical errors to the point it's unreadable. If it's something I didn't care for, I pass it up to someone else

1211495 That's another way to look at the up/down voting system. I assume you also comment on the story and tell the author what you thought was wrong?

"Working as intended"... yeah, I know about stories that don't really do what they set out to do. I've written a couple like that but not so much because of errors but because the plot just didn't develop the way I wanted it to. That being said, if it develops another way, I pay close attention to it so I can see if I can use it for something else. It might not be working as intended but I try to keep my options open in case it can work another way.

1211535

Naturally I do my best to convey where the shortcomings are to the author. I don't like to downvote without leaving a comment, though I'm sure I'm guilty of it as most others

1210165 I actually got downvotes on my mainstorrie but noone really explains why they disliked the storry.

Then I wrote a oneshot. OKay I just got 5 likes but still no downvotes and i am wondering where the feedback is. The only thing I want is feedback so i can improve as an author. But some people don´t wanna give you that so you just have to work with the positive comments and i can´t do that...

1212340 Maybe put something in Author's notes saying feedback appreciated.

already did that :/

I really like getting upvotes, but I don't mind downvotes and negative comments at all. I write stories that people aren't technically supposed to like, so it's usually a pleasure for me to see people not get (or pretend not to get) the joke. I never dislike other people's stories for sport or leave hate comments though, that's just mean. If anything, it's way more fun for me to like people's stories and leave positive comments.