All Comments on 'Creating Constructive Feedback'

A friend just recently sent me feedback on one of my stories. He told me just exactly what he thought was wrong with specific parts of the story and why. He followed up with an almost apology and I wrote him back telling him PLEASE don't stop. You can't make your writing better if you don't know just what you're doing wrong or doing right. Thanks for an excellent discussion of constructive criticism and praise.

I very much appreciate any feedback on my stories. I encourage readers to be specific and give objective points of view whether a reader likes or dislikes the story. Generalities, while being a nice stroke for the ego, cannot go very far in helping an author improve. Thank you for making excellent points with the great examples you gave.

I loved the way you pointed out about constructive critisism. I'm tired of receiving feedback that does not help me much. I need to know what I did wrong and what I did right. That's the only way one gets better at writing. Thanks for this article.

Jessica

I loved it, it was great.

commentors should really justify their opinions a bit more, no matter if the feedback is positive or negative. It's the most effective way for the writer to build on his strenghts or improve on his weaknesses. A simple remark regarding the surface of a story does not examine the underlying aspects of it.

In a subject like erotica/pornography, I've come to learn that there is a wide variation of tastes to cater to, as well as many things to avoid, which is why feedback is particularly essential here.

At the very least, the reader should mark what set off his Bull Shit Detector, or in fancier verbiage, ruined his Suspension of Disbelief. Sometimes it is a simple thing, such as when a writer has a Marriot's room layout to be akin to a Motel 6. Other times, it is when a man is able to access his wife's medical records. (Two examples which spring to mind)

Of course, this is a much more difficult sort of editing then finding spelling mistakes because it goes to the core ideas and plot points of the author.

I've always tried to leave positive feedback, and not comment on the actual sexual content in a story (it seemed obvious that it is not my place to tell an author what kink should be in their story).

I didn't give as specific and descriptive feedback as I should've until I read this, however. (Preparing to write erotica for the first time, I tried to devour any "How To" that might be remotely helpful, or simply looked interesting).

I used to be supportive, I think I can be now be helpful as well. Thanks.

I think it should be required that commenters read this before commenting on a story. I have seen some really ignorant attacks on the author of a story, that had absolutely nothing to do with constructive criticism. I'm sure that kind of vile crap has convinced people to decide not to post something they've written.

can really help turn a good writer into an excellent one, and an average writer into a better one. This was a good story on doing just that, because it went into some specific examples of ways to make your comments worthwhile. Sure we like the "Great Story" comments because who doesn't like positive feedback, but finding out why a reader felt that way can make a huge difference to a writer. (Same for negative feedback... we can't fix anything or grow as a writer if we don't know there's a problem.

I think another way of doing this........ Up Until Last Year I myself was Guilty of Doing this is that although still Acceptable, is Not Just List Out What You Liked and What You didn't Liked about the Story or The Movie or whatever the case may be Preferably in Separate Paragraphs. But what I Realized Last Year is that it is Better to Not List Off what You Liked and what You didn't Liked again In Separate Paragraphs but to also Explain Why You Liked This Certain Point of it or Why You Didn't Like This Certain Point of the Story Movie or whatever. And that Brings me to my Second Point with the Only Story that was Actually Successfully Posted on to this Site of Mines by some kind of Godzilla Size Mistake. Every Comment on it is the same "Boring" just Plain "Boring" With Out Explaining Why. It's Even Got to the Point where I Felt like I was Forced to Disabled the Comment Section to that Story.

Thank you for your advise regarding feedback on the stories I read. I don't often comment, and when I do, I like to either be constructive, or sometimes just to let the author know I enjoyed their work. Telling a writer that they need to work on sentence structure, grammar, or spelling can be dicey, especially if they have already received 50 such comments. Because of your article, when I comment in the future, I will try to be more specific.