Kurahieiritr

I actually adore my current editor. She ignores my whining and is merciless about what needs to be done, but she's also encouraging at the same time. It's a fine line, and I honestly have to credit her with making my story stronger and better in so many ways.
I'm trying to incorporate what she's teaching me into my current WIPs. Let's see if I can do it, and then we can move to the next level of editorial interventions.

I would suggest, if you want a good beta, to find someone whose writing you do like, someone whose work you enjoy. Try and establish a connection, either via reviews and replies, or even a forum PM or email. Get to know them a bit. There's a lot more to a good beta than just skill. Personalities have to match to a degree as well.
You also need to decide what it is you want from a beta. Is it someone who will give you solely grammar and technical assistance, or do you want someone who will be honest and tell you when something isn't working for them? If you write original work, you don't need to worry so much about whether or not they know your fandom, but do they grasp your world? Does your setting make sense for them? If you write fantasy and your beta is not a fan of fantasy settings, you already have an issue since they can't get immersed in your world.
Then there's the dreaded real life issues. If your beta has a family or is in school and is subject to papers and finals, real life is going to intervene from time to time. Nothing is more irritating than waiting for your work to return, but on the other hand, it's equally annoying to feel like your real life is supposed to take second place to the free services you offer as a beta. This is also where having a good rapport comes into play.
It's not so terribly dire. You can find decent beta readers, but it does take more than leaving a post on a thread. Like anything else worth having, you need to work at it a bit. Just don't give up.

So, eight months since I last posted and I'm finding that writing has been to some degree therapeutic. There is the issue of working through triggers (thank goodness for my hubby's love and patience), but I'm finding it's helped me work through being stalked/assaulted some years ago. Granted, a lot of it (especially the really horrid stuff) will never see the light of day, but I've been finding myself incorporating some of it into my main writing project. I think perhaps part of the reason for this is that I'm simply tired of seeing horrible shit be glamorized in fiction, literary or otherwise. There are some times where I want to write purely for the purpose of showing the reader that no, rape is not romantic, and no, emotional abuse is not sexy.

Its fine i got at least 1 vote and my story hasnt been up for 24 hours

Ah, yes. Like the disclaimer FFN adds on that website's guidelines that MA is mentioned although not permitted simply to illustrate what is not allowed in M rated fiction. I can bet almost no one actually read that part. By then, you just want to click that you agree and post your story already. There are things there rated M that are well beyond that rating, and contain enough graphic sex, unusual; fetishes, and gratuitous violence to require nearly every tag we have. They're not in prominent fandoms, however, which means they may never get caught and purged. The hypocrisy astounds me.

And in regards to making a statement about wanting honest reviews, this is from an author's profile:

(edited to remove specific detail)

And beneath that:

Contradictory much?

Honestly, as a reader, seeing that makes me click the back button very quickly. I'm not going to bother. Why? Because you're going to get offended if I do anything but fanpoodle.


With respect to the ratings system: I think, Bronx, you and Dean_Wax may be talking about two different things.

I'm fairly certain D_W is referring to the K, K+, T, M - no MA materials allowed (but they're posted anyway).

I know Bronx is referring to Average / Total Vote +++++ / 1 on our stories here.
I don't think I need to weigh in on the kiddies on site bit; fairly certain any one who's been about for at least two months in forums knows where I stand on that one.

I guess I am part of the minority here that as a writer I do appreciate any reviews that I get. Whether they be negative or positive, I do not delete them from my posts since they are very much like trophies to me. I'll give you an example, a story that I have posted elsewhere received quite a vicious review--the individual did not like my main character stating that she was too powerful, snotty, and even went as far to criticize the name. I took this all in stride--I didn't get angry in fact it helped me to sit down and re-evaluate the character that I created. *shrugs. It's a shame that some authors are insensitive to honest reviews and have spoiled it for others who appreciate them.

The ratings system here is dubious. Any system that can be skewed by anonymous votes up and down is inherently flawed.
As far as minors reading things they shouldn't. as we've all said countless times, parental supervision is a large part of that. My kids' computers are in the living room so I know where they go. I've always monitored them. That's part of being a parent. If you want to be your kid's friend, you need to first be their parent and teach them what they'll need to know in life, like obeying rules and not indulging in inappropriate behavior.

I have some variation of this in my stories:

Do you think it's okay for the author to request concrit specifically? Or do you think encouraging readers to explain that that is what the want and what they are looking for might not make much of a difference? If the author says it's okay and explains that is what they are looking for, would it give them the permission they needed to take that step or is it something else?

I'd say a fair number of us have been insulted in that manner. Yes, it is an insult. If a reader goes out of his or her way to give you what you ask for, and because you dislike hearing truth you delete the review, that makes reviewers who used to be willing to give that kind of review reluctant to do so.

I guess that I can say as a newbie to writing that since I am not receiving many reviews and lots of hits must indicate that my story is perfect and needs no improvement. *snickers...Oh well...as the old saying says, 'beggars can't be choosers' and I should be thankful that at least people are reading my work...Although it would really be nice to receive a praise here and there that they like my plot and where it is heading. Does that make me selfish to say that? I don't mind criticism in fact I am use to receiving negative comments since I have developed a thick skin over the years. I have come to accept the fact that some people will like your work and others will not.

I've always liked being able to have everything on one site. That was as much a draw for me as the fact that this site was actually moderated, with staff that hung out in the shoutbox and talked to members.
Of course, that sort of led to me joining the staff, but it's all good!

Another factor might be that people don't come to a site called "Adultfanfiction" looking for something other than fan fiction. I imagine that some people take one glance at the Originals category and think, "That makes no sense."

And another part of this seems to be that people don't want to be the first one to say anything.
That same review board I linked above, if you go to the next page, the first reviewer states that they had issues with the story as well, but also indicates because all the other reviews were positive, they didn't want to say anything. That tells me that a great many more people would review if there was some type of "this is good, but it could be better" tips were left (but not with that wording - that's presumptuous, and shouldn't be used).
And of course the review right behind it is fanpoodling and doesn't actually have anything to say about the story itself, just complaining that the author is getting the concrit that was requested.

Forgive my unsophisticated use of quotes, etc in this post. I haven't gotten the hang of this board's tools yet.

Aaawww, disappointing! I grew up around kilted men, so for me it's neither feminine or particularly unusual.
As far as cross-dressing males, I can appreciate a really good cross-dresser as a performer, but in what I write? My slash pairings are generally two men that are equals, not a man and his partner who is trying to be a woman with a cock. I don't understand that particular fetish (cross-dressing) well enough to write it, and I'm not one to misrepresent other people's pleasures.

Not really, no. I think part of it, and I'm going to use this as an example (you don't have to read the story that goes with it if you don't want to) is the way that concrit is received.
http://hp.adult-fanfiction.org/review.php?set=read&no=600094447&limit=&page=9
So, first thing is how I even had to preface my review with a disclaimer - not the part about only being a reader and not reviewing it as a staff issue - but the whole bit about "I'm not attacking you."
I personally feel I shouldn't have to say that. But I do. Because writers (younger ones especially) tend to take any statement that their writing didn't fall from heaven as a personal insult, when, as a reader, all I'm trying to do is give you feedback. So when the response to "hey, here's some things to think about" is "oh my god, how dare you?!" (not that this author did, but understand the general reaction), I can see why people don't want to review.
Now, what this author did do that I think was unnecessary was post an AN chapter response (again, my staff hat is off, so let's not address the issues which will be handled on sweep). You don't even have to read that to get the idea behind it - just read the reviews after mine - all three are about the AN chappy.
I have four profiles listed where I can be contacted on my archive profile here. I have my MSN on there. Any responses to reviews I leave should be handled through any one of those venues - that's why that contact information is there.
Hells, my bio is all about the types of reviews I tend to leave. Because people get pissy about them. I don't think you should be flamed, that any actual writer should (I'm leaving thieves out of that equation), but I can appreciate that at least it's feedback. You know somebody read it, and they had a reaction - even if it was completely negative.
Basically, a lot of the issue has to do with author reactions for the last several years while reviews were left. Reviews tapered off because when experienced writers were trying to help less experienced or younger writers, they either came across as abrasive or the author had a "my shit is gold" complex. So now, the entire community has to suffer for it.
I have to wonder, honestly and truly, if a lot of those wondering what happened to the reviews now are the same ones who had the inappropriate reactions previously. (And I'm suddenly wondering if that's a worthy research project....)

My wife's been trying to get me into a kilt for years. Hasn't happened yet, though, because it's still above freezing in Hell.

I admit I have deleted troll reviews from FFN left by "guest". I even know who left them, but because they weren't logged in, I can't prove it.
And I hate to think that it's a dead practice - I always try to review as well. However, there are a great many things that I view for staff purposes, or for purposes of proving plagiarism on the part of one party. Those items will not usually receive a review.

I consider myself to be this type of writer. I write for me, but I post my stories to share with communities such as this one. One of the main reasons I post is to get feedback on my stories. I do enjoy hearing what I can improve upon because it makes me a better writer. It also helps to hear what you're doing well so you can continue doing that, if not improve upon it. But in the last five years or so, maybe even longer, reviews have become a thing of the past. I feel incredibly lucky and excited when I open that email labeled: "You have a new review for..." At this point, I'll take just about anything; however, I will not delete any reviews. It's a practice I have never understood if one is sharing their stories. I will never beg for reviews either, although they really do lend a hand in helping to motivate me. Then again, they are not the reason I would hold a story hostage, and they never will be. It defeats the purpose of sharing and hoping to garner concrit. In turn, I've always made an effort to review everything I read, even if it's to mention that a comma has been used improperly, but the dialogue is really fun and true-to-life (or something of the sort). I guess reviewing is just a dead practice now-a-days.

And therein it is no different than the rating system. It would still be abused - referring more on friends' stories thereby causing other stories to get ignored. We've even had cases of authors on site creating separate profiles in order to rec their own works, boosting their review counts leaving accolades, bumping rates, etc.
You are correct that there is no perfect system. I do like the idea of knowing how many times a story has been recommended. I also like knowing the identity of those who recommended it - not because it outs their interests (because if I'm looking, I'm interested too, right?), but because I know I share interests in writing style and composition with some users that I don't share with others, even if we read in the same sections.
I also know that if something's tagged BDSM and it's recommended by pittwitch, then it's got material in it that's reliable - because I know she knows her BDSM. Same with Bronx. But if it's recommended by someone whose BDSM stories have made me cringe and run for the hills due to their inaccuracies, then I know I'm probably not going to like it.

Thanks for the insight! That's about how I expected things to be based on the article, but I so like my manly designs XD. But his attitude is indeed going to try and compensate; he'll get teased for it true, but I don't feel like constantly referring to it either. I want it to be something that motivates him, but overall I want thisbwhole story to be positive for him. That's the sort of image I like giving my gay characters, that no matter your sexual orientation, you're still a human being and function the same way as any other person. It by no means affects his abilities.
I might have diverged from my original point somewhere in there XD. But it's something that I like to discuss about.

Chibi, in regards to your "bottom" character... as far as I can remember, homosexual relationships weren't unheard of amongst the vikings, (I mean, they could be stuck on a boat for months at a time, with no women ) but they weren't something that was done out in the open, and it wasn't really talked about. But it was considered less "manly" to be the bottom, and men could get teased about it.
It was considered a great insult to be called a bottom (or the receiver). It had nothing to do with how manly you looked or acted, it was just the fact that you let another man mount you. Vikings killed each other for far less up here.
So, it would not be wholly unrealistic for the bottom to turn the tables on his top and try to top, or as you said, act overly aggressive for no apparent reason, to try and compensate.
Just wanted to share that with you, and hope I can help a bit in the future.

Urgh. Please tell me you're going to subvert the hell out of that stupid stereotype about how being a bottom makes you unmanly. I swear, I have never written a single bottom who wasn't loaded with manliness and testosterone precisely because of that ridiculous stereotype. Urgh. Can't stand it.