Jason Toddman wrote:One reason my own output has been dropping sharply lately is because rather than get long comments (which personally I have never objected to), many of my stories get no comments at all. Not even a simple "This is great" or "This is garbage". This has the effect of making me feel that my creative output and time are better spent elsewhere, and I'm sure I am far from being the only one who feels this way.
Comments are like commercials, but if you don't like them you can easily skip over them, and comments are what keeps writers like me going. When readers show no interest in what i write, then I lose interest in writing anything. I'm not interested anymore in writing for readers who can't even be bothered to acknowledge my efforts once in a while.
Well, I recall getting pretty well lit one night, and went off an a rant about feedback, in which, I called just about everybody a bunch of ungrateful idiots, and a few other things. I'm amazed I didn't get bounced, but then, perhaps the mods look out for screwballs and nutburgers. And drunks.
Like Jason, I rarely post stories, simply because, without sufficient feedback, I have no idea whether members like it, or if they think it's total crap.
Perhaps an icon could be included in the story section, where members could vote up or down; like or dislike, with one mouse click. It might encourage more stories, unless there are a bunch of people out there that don't like anything, and respond by voting down anything and everything that is posted, regardless of who posts it, and/or the storyline therein.
Drawscore