The Critics

[SFCumdog]

This is not a story, but a comment that I'd like to make, that I am sure I'll get guff over. Seriously, will you guys stop being such critics of the stories that get posted here. There have been so many AMAZING stories that got started on this site which then died a withering death because the other BZ members feel that they've got to critique and nit-pick over the most ridiculous of things within these stories? If there's something you don't like within a story, just stop reading it. It's that simple. Someone gets hypnotized against their will and gets fucked, so what? Someone wore socks while getting fucked, so what? Someone's nasty old neighbor lures them in and then seduces them, so what? Someone get's off on Cheating, so what? Guess what, if you don't like any of it, so what! Let the rest of enjoy what we like. I feel like there has been a marked downturn in the amount of stuff being shared here, and this is a good part of why. I enjoy this site and want it to keep going.

It takes a lot of energy to write these stories, and a lot of creativity to retell your escapades. Not everyone is going to be F. Scott Fitzgerald, but if the story is readable and gets me off, that's all I care about. And I wanna read that author's entire output instead of having some pissy critic kill it upon birth. 

Please, I can't be the only one who is feeling this. Here is your chance to speak up.

[fargo_bare]

I agree 100%.  There are some stories on here that I stopped reading  because I didnt like them   I didnt say anything.   Just stopped reading.   I would love to write, but I dont have  the talent.   These guys are giving us free porn.   If we keep harassing them they will stop.  

[viking8x6]

I'm going to give a slightly modified form of that advice - just my 2 cents, as someone who has dabbled in the creative endeavor occasionally myself.

If the story, characters, plot elements, narrative style, or other such things aren't your cup of tea - the above advice is exactly correct. Such things are inevitably a matter of taste, and different people will have different ideas of what makes a great story or a crummy one. Why does one person adore Steinbeck and another Dickens? Taste! Their styles are vastly different, and yet both are revered as great authors of "classic" literature. The same principle applies to porn.

If there are serious problems with the writing or editing that impede your appreciation of the story the author has presented - I'm talking about formatting that makes it literally unreadable on your screen, grammar, spelling, or typographical problems so severe that it's difficult to read and/or understand, and the like, I think it actually might be a good thing to private message the author and say "hey, I'm having trouble enjoying your story because of <X> - could you fix it?" or "... can I offer you some help with that?". I try to do this as a moderator when there's something that obviously is a mistake.

Authors - if you see things in your own story, or if people bring things to your attention, that need fixing: Use the report feature to report your own story and explain in the report text what needs fixing, and a moderator will be happy to make the edit. Other people, please let the author do this, as if others report it we'll just ask the author about it anyway.

[austin_submale]

I pretty much agree with Viking on this.  I try to be as supportive of other authors as possible because I know what it is like to have people $#!+ all over something you've worked on.  Even if someone's story isn't my cup of tea, I try to find something worth having a positive comment about or at very least I just don't say anything at all.  If I have suggestions on how to make something better, I think Viking is correct that taking a kind and helpful approach is best.  And doing it in private, probably not a bad idea either.

Likewise, I know I'm not a very good writer, in fact my English skills despite ostensibly being a native speaker are pretty crappy.  So I welcome a certain amount of constructive criticism...  as long as the 'constructive' part is there.

 

[Scanbu]

I have been writing here for about 3 weeks now and it's been a mostly positive experience. Viking has found and helped me correct a couple small mistakes I made in proof reading . he's a great help Something to keep in mind is that the post you read in minutes probably took hours to write. If you can't respect the content respect the effort. Please don't discourage people who are using the as a creative outlet and choosing to share it with you. If you see something you don't like it's real easy to hit the "back" arrow and find a topic more suited to your tastes 

[pupHawaii]

not to steal the thread - but what you describe - negative comments, "i don't like xxxxx" comments, etc - is happening ALL over .. i get them on my posts on twitter/X all the time .. people sitting anonymously behind a computer not caring what they're saying - they just feel they can say whatever they want.   Sometimes i want to say to them - weren't you taught that if you don't have something nice to say - SHUT THE FUCK UP!  😉 

and now we return to our regularly scheduled program ..

keep up the writing everyone - think about all the loads that the readers are jacking out!   i know i've shot my share!   😆 

[plisken]

Well, some stories in here - as some novels out there - just don't catch me, my imagination. Sometimes it's because I'm not in the mood, and later rereads lets the story work. If I like a story I'll often leave a comment. If - for some reason - a story don't turn me on, thats it, perhaps it will at another time

[negchaserlooking]

I am not a writer/story teller and never will be so I come on here to get my daily fix like everybody else. I know it takes a lot of effort and imagination to write these stories and for those authors who write multiple chapters, you have my admiration because the pressure to continually create and add to your "baby" must be immense until you reach "the end".  I chat to one such author who has had to take a break because of writers block. But the follow up comments continue relentlessly. There is a saying -"patience is a virtue" - so have some patience and lay off, He will return when good and ready.   

As others have already said, it gets down to personal taste. I see lots of stories which do not appeal so I just move on. Why bother putting negative comments on someone's creation just because you do not like the subject matter? Some comments can be downright nasty. 

So you armchair critics and keyboard warriors, get off your high horse and how about offering the authors some encouragement and praise instead of vile comments. If you can't do that, move the fuck on. This site seems to have lost a lot of great writers, some because of "rules" but I imagine a lot due to the fuckwit negativity as well.

There that is my 2 cents worth as well, probably gone off on my usual tangent as I can do. Be kind people.  

[PozTalkAuthor]

Unfortunately there are people whose purpose in life is criticizing and humiliating others. Be it free writing, or free software, a blog or any volunteer activity. They feel that it's free and it must have a higher .quality than bigtech/big-authors.

There are many people who aren't native English speakers, I'm among them; but if years ago they were completely excluded from participating, now machines help non-native to better interact with the world around them! But machines make evident mistakes so, if you know the language you can correct it by hand before posting (like I always do) while if you don't know, you just let it go.

I am for complete inclusion in this world so if someone wants to share their sexual stories despite little English knowledge, we have no right to exclude them, but let's rather HELP them.

I remember once a guy who wanted to write text by hand, not knowing English so well; in a rimming shene he wrote "language" instead of "tongue" because the word in neo-latin languages is the same -Italian-French-Spanish, lingua-langue-lengua).

In this case services can help too, it's called REVERSO CONTEXT so, why not sharing knowledge? "Sharing is caring" doesn't involve the virus only! LOL

 

In my opinion, learning thanks to erotic fiction or generally topics of interest, is a funny way to improve our skills. This world is already full of people building walls, barriers and fighting wars. 

 

As for criticism to plots, erotic fiction is like other kinds of fiction. Everyone has their tastes.

I personally have learnt to read them all, it's a chance to explore new fantasies and know each other's boundaries if you have a partner or fuckbuddies you can trust in.

How could I say "I'm not into watersports" if I didn't try them? But I would behave as judgmental if I didn't read stories about it trying to understand which kind of pleasure it gives.

Have I found something disturbing, here? Of course, an author describing a scene where the top/dominant broke fingers to the bottom. In another story, the bottom drank and the top enjoyed him vomit. 

Those particular things disturbed me a lot, and so? What's next? 

I simply closed the browser and went to read something else.

Have I received critics? Yes, a couple guys expressed their opinion quite brutally about a story of mine and I simply sent them to fuck off and find something better in life. I don't care about them and keep on writing in free time and easy mood.

Haters won't win. Not from my part. We, authors, should form a network against them, supporting each other in case of heavy hate speech. Community makes it better! 

[cumslutfuckpig]

Cumdogs commentary is on point.  That said, I’m opinionated and critical and have been on this site a long time…  surely at some point I’ve had something to say.  I’ll put the dumb stuff up top if it’s irritating, skip down. 

In thinking about it, I think my comments were limited a few problematic issues.  Trans dignity feels non-negotiable in this day and age - and I think the offending comments were just that - comment not story.  There a problematic portrayal of race in porn, generally.  I’m pretty pale, but I understand the history of hypersexualizing African Americans - and now, layering Black men with the freight of presumed socioeconomics, sophistication, danger, masculinity, physicality, and position preference.  And that’s before we get to how, in my lifetime “thug” went from a quaint leftover from British Colonial India that had been stripped of race, meaning “criminally violent”, generally, to a commonly-used, hyper-specific term, synonymous with Black-men-seen-through-white-eyes.  It can not only fetishize skin color, but a perceived sociopolitical station with its implied hierarchy. Arguably, social shorthand serves to rob effeminate Black men of dignity, Black bottoms of legitimacy, small Black cocks of existence, leaving Black mens’ value, sans BBC, open to debate.   This particular form of caricature has a real and bloody history, so, arguably, these stories have ramifications outside this community and warrants reflection.  Asian men suffer the same distortion, but in the opposite direction, and Latinos are left with the indignity of not being recognized to the same extent of either for that kind of fevered fantasizing…  I suspect Native Americans and Australians are wondering wtf they have to do to remain historically relevant on the fetish wagon.   

BUT.  It’s not lost on me that the function of this site is to fantasize about (and by extension fetishize) a number of disadvantaged communities.   That’s part of the draw.  It’s certainly not lost on me that everything I just described makes my dick hard, especially if you toss in a biohazard tat, so I’d be a liar and hypocrite if I professed to not reading many stories with race play with my dick in hand, and worried about ethics during cleanup.  

Another area of squeamishness has been “bug collecting” or what I’ve perceived as a minority fetish in AIDS mortality (I didn’t fetishize HIV until it became survivable - there are interesting differences between the two flavors that seem superficially similar).   There have been some rules put in place, just as with issues concerning the underaged and non-consenting, intended to reduce harm to the greater community ..  but also to safeguard this site, its members, and its admins.    
And again, I’m aware that some of this turns me on and that a lot of this amounts to yucking someone else’s yum, or to closing the barn door after the horses are out.  
 

All of that said…. 

The Black community doesn’t need a white savior, HIV+ guys aren’t victims, and it’s tough trying to argue that this point of view is more virtuous, or more equitable, or more morally righteous.  And this is a very strange place for righteousness.  

SO… for the most part I *dont* comment on the writing - or read the comments.  

When I was 25 I won a (very small) erotic fiction contest (of dubious competition).  I was writing about things I’d never experienced - I was barely a sexual being.  The judges said they “worried for my mental well-being” but I got my free subscription…  

Others have focused on the time and energy put out.   I think I can say with some very small knowledge that I see all the glorious risks they take. .  

They’re sharing deep, minority-view, “transgressive”  sexual fantasies in front of total strangers - and that’s the friendly audience  the general public would vilify much of this.

And they’re writing stories for others to read and critique.  

Individually either of these would be a big ask: these guys are walking a tightrope with terror on one side and scorn on the other   

And they’re doing it for free - most are not even asking for your applause.  

So yes - if you have written a story here, I have probably read it   You don’t need my approval but you have my admiration.  I’d love to tell you that a thread like this will moderate or eliminate pot shots from the cheap seats, but that’s not true   Don’t read the critiques, or have a friend cherry pick the comments to weed out the ones with lots of opinions but nothing to say   Keep writing   Please!

if you’re a critic, take a seat   Better yet, make a contribution to the erotica here so you have some skin in the game and understand what goes into each of these submissions   And without sounding like Pollyanna, just be nicer and more supportive    
way more than my two cents but…

 

[PozTalkAuthor]

I mostly agree with you, we don't need saviors. The white saving the black, the neg saving the poz, and so on.

On the other side, it's very very important to maintain respect for each other. Insults related to race, status, gender or whatever goes beyond "transgression". 

And this is a reason why I'm thinking longer before publishing next part of my own "our status, our state" story: the state's president was insulting poz folks and the virus was instigating them to destroy the stage where president was talking, until he was surrounded and guess the end.

But, being angry with politics myself, is not a valid reason to publish something similar. Transgression is a thing, disrespect is another. 

 

[FHL]

I agree with this 100%. If it's a topic that I don't like, I just won't read it, or I will stop reading a few chapters in.

One thing that grinds my gear though is people trying to mess with the format. I've seen posts with a hard to read color against the background, posts that have the font weirdly big, or even ones using ridiculous fonts like Comic Sans. Maybe someone can explain to me why some posts are like this, maybe a copy-and-paste issue that carried the format of the original document over? I am not blaming the author but it is a little distracting from the otherwise good content that the author worked hard on. That being said, I still kept my mouth shut about those, didn't bother to leave a comment or send the author a private message.