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I gave a one star rating to a story on SIYE because I though it was rubbish and it was more polite to give it a start rating than actually say what i thought and got this response:
Author's Response: Thanks! I was hoping to find out there were some who really read the stories - It's great to REALLY know you can't make everyone happy!
The story is HP& the Affairs of State and won an award in a recent challenge. Why I have no idea, but then I've never won anything, even losing a H&G fic vote to a R/H slash story.
Comments
Winning...
I once won a headache. Thankfully, the trophy wasn't permanent.
On the subject of SIYE Challenges ...
I don't think I got over the last one I entered ... and I thought this Challenge was awful, awful, awful. I think I tried reading that story ... I think I even hated every single entry in that challenge ...
You are brave putting that rating out there, I rarely get up the guts to rate them when they are that woeful now that it has my name attached - the author can respond to it and be sarcastic like in this case. I mean I know why it was set up this way but ... yeah a lot of stories have a very high rating because who wants to be the person who scored it so low?
Well ... aren't I little miss sunshine today? :P
Kezzabear wrote: You are
You are brave putting that rating out there, I rarely get up the guts to rate them when they are that woeful now that it has my name attached - the author can respond to it and be sarcastic like in this case. I mean I know why it was set up this way but ... yeah a lot of stories have a very high rating because who wants to be the person who scored it so low?
I have a lot of trouble leaving a negative review. And by negative, I mean something simple such as "I don't like this" or "This is horrible." or "Please hang yourself with your keyboard as you obviously have no literate use for it."
I am a firm believer in constructive criticism, and I will always leave a review that points out the mistakes I saw and how the author can fix them. I will also, soften the blow with pointing out what they are doing well.
If a story is so riddled with errors that the author would be better to burn it to the ground and move four miles to the west before writing again, I don't even comment on it. If the author can post such utter idiocy and still be proud of it, then anything I say will be as effective as howling at a banshee.
Not to say that I am never tempted. Luckily, I just never ran across one while I was already bitter and disillusioned.
-Jonathan
- A good novel is an indivisible sum; every scene, sequence and passage of a good novel has to involve, contribute to and advance all three of its major attributes: theme, plot, characterization.
Ayn Rand - The Romantic Manifesto p. 74 (pb 93)