What attracts you to a story? - Heartbreak High Forum

Usually, it's the title of a story, and then if i'm interested, I read the summary. I read any story that I'm interested in, it doesn't matter the number of reviews.

#2 Mar 11th 2007, 7:31am

Ghost Love Score

I agree, the summary and the title are quite important to me as it gives you an idea what the story's about.

#3 Mar 11th 2007, 3:11pm

Yes, but sometimes, they can be deceiving, and the story isn't as interesting as you thought it might be. Most of the time, though, i find very interesting reads.

#4 Mar 11th 2007, 4:08pm

NationChild

I don't usually look at the title, because the story can be awesome, but the title can be the cheesiest possible. The number of reviews sometimes impacts my decision whether to read or not, but again, I look at the summary. Especially if the summary has a little snippet of the story in it.

#5 Mar 12th 2007, 2:26pm

LeilaX

I think the number of reviews does impact a story more than we think.

If you see a story with a number of chapters yet little to no reviews, you almost instinctively dismiss it with the assumption that if no one has reviewed it, it must not be any good, when a lot of the time that isn't even the case. That's the reason why a lot of well written stories go unnoticed.

#6 Mar 14th 2007, 11:27am

ham337dd

Good question, LeilaX!

I look for stories in the fantasy, supernatural, romance, and mythology categories every day. Sometimes also the general, humor, historical, and mystery categories.

I don't care how many reviews a story has. Some of my favorite stories have just one review (from me!), and some have thousands of reviews. I think people should quit judging stories by their number of reviews!

Sometimes I go looking for stories that have few/no reviews to help them out.

I care about the summary. The summary has to interest me before I check out the story.

#7 Mar 20th 2007, 8:12pm

darkangelsonic

Well, as for me... The content of the summary. But the title helps.

But what I look for in a story is having the unexpected.

With a sort of twist that will excite the readers.

It's cool having something unique in a story, that will stay in the story 'till the end of the story.

Weell, that's my opinion

#8 Mar 24th 2007, 2:17am

s-pecial-lee me

i look in the summary. it is the thing that makes me decide whether or not to read it. i only read stories that say what it's about in the summary. it has to be interesting too.

#9 Apr 12th 2007, 7:54am

LaraineGlass

I don't really care about the number of reviews, but the first chapter clinches it for me. If I like the first chapter, then I keep reading. When I want to find something to read, I usually check out the Favorites of other members on FictionPress. I've found a lot of interesting reads that way.

#10 May 14th 2007, 6:52am

fredtheflyingfish

All I care about is if the story sounds interesting and unique, so I guess the summary is what attracts me to a story. Also, if I know an author and know that they writing very well then I will read a story, even if it is a little cliched.

#11 May 26th 2007, 12:48pm

Pinkamoo

I look at the summary, if it interests me; I read it. I don't even look at the number of reviews, but if the first chapter doesn't intrigue me then I'll most likely stop reading it. Also if I like an authors writing I will read the story anyway. I find alot of my stories in C2's. But I also search for them.

#12 Jun 15th 2007, 9:00pm

ahhzombies

I will read stories with a good, well-written summary that doesn't have a lot of grammatical mistakes. If a summary has grammatical errors, it makes me think the story might too, so I won't read it.

You know, I really don't pay attention to reviews. Some people these days are just selfish and don't bother reviewing because it doesn't do anything for themselves. Or maybe the story is new and doesn't have any reviews. So yes, I probably would read a story without any reviews.

Also, I'm turned off of a story by fancy titles that make it sound like it takes place in the 1800's.

#13 Jun 19th 2007, 9:12am

Gogoh

I'm a bit too picky and I usually read M-rateds and I almost read every fic of my favorite writers. But, yes, I look into the title first and then the summary before I start reading something new. I will also say that I read dark and angst type of stuffs more. Is anyone interested in dark tales?

#14 Jun 29th 2007, 8:56am

Well, that really depends on what you mean by dark stories. But, we're getting off topic. I'll read basically anything, whether or not it has a lot of reviews or not. ANd I always read stories by my favorited authors.

#15 Jun 29th 2007, 10:19am

Gogoh

Dark tale means stories relating to the dark side of the world- the vampire romance, psycho romance, agressive and gory stuffs of the underworld. I like to read them a lot. There ain't much writers like that here in FP , is it?

#16 Jun 29th 2007, 8:48pm

Ohhhhh. I'm not really into that stuff. SOme, but not too much. There might be a section of those stories somewhere here.

#17 Jun 30th 2007, 3:27pm

Depends on the title. Depends on I don't know. I attempt to read it until i give up on it - which might be the first line. So it depends if it's good or not. I can't judge until I've actually seen it.

#18 Jul 17th 2007, 1:16am

This is how it goes for me:

*clicks genre, ie General*

*looks through titles and briefly skims summaries*

*if a title sounds promising - reads summary*

*if summary is bad, skips, and continues with procedure*

Title and summaries are important.

I *hate* when people tell me how bad their summaries are... IN THEIR SUMMARY. Discouraging.

Reviews matters too. Not so much for one-shots, but if I see a multichap with hardly any reviews I think a bit like this "Is this even any good then?". I don't know why I think this way, but meh. Unconscious thoughts can't be helped. At least lets say they can't.

#19 Jul 19th 2007, 4:55am

Yes, I used to think that way too about reviews. You forgot about me again. *Hides* Note I type really fast that's all - that's how I can actually write so much. And of course I've got myself a way-cool keyboard for this reason.

But not anymore. A story is good or bad does not depend on reviews. It depends on the story. It's like saying I lived in a cave. I made the best invention. No one knows about it. It is still the best though. It explains that advertising is important I guess. There's no point, especially doing a story that is not known. Like these days producers go on tv and stuff like that. Before people just shove out what they have and sit there. Not any more.

#20 Jul 19th 2007, 4:59am

SecretFeelings

Well, what I think is important about a story is the summay. I never read the title. At least, only sometimes. the thing i care most about is the summary, and grammer. I was once trying to read this story that had cinderella in the title, i loved the summary and the gammer and plot but the cinderella thing sorta made me start to hate it and i stopped reading. I'm weird liek that. I dont think the first chapter is that important. Mostly I think the second chapter is important because everyone knows the hardest part of a story is starting it. So if the second chapter suckss as well as the first then the story is no good adn i skip it. If the first chapter sucks and teh second one is good then I was right.

The reviews sorta factor into my choice. I sometimes read storries without reviews. But not always. If there was one story with a hundred reviews and one story with none, both have the same amount of chapters, i would choose the one with a hundred. I have read stories with no reviews and many times i understand why no one reviewed. the story was boring, too common, you cant understand what's happening, etc.

#21 Oct 27th 2007, 2:31pm

xlightningboltsandstars

I usually find it by searching key words in the summary, and then reading the summary. Otherwise it's all just a maze of stories for me. Narrowing it down is easy, I don't like overly mushy 'everything is perfect' predictable stories, and I'm not into too much graphic or slash, or anything else.

I would definitely read a story without reviews, I would hope others would too. If you ignore a story with no reviews, how would it ever get reviews?

#22 Jan 04th, 1:04am

RawLove

Lots of people have said things I agree with, but I also look at how often the author updates. If it says January16-January 30 and there are 5 chapters I will think he/she is a good updater.

#23 Jan 28th, 4:57pm

Hm, well personally I want to update as fast as I can, and most of the time I can write that fast. It's just that I get turned down when no one's really reading. You know, you get the impression - hm posting - no reads - hm. Then you stop and that keeps happening until you give in a lot later.

#24 Jan 28th, 9:59pm

Kiyane

Title, genre and summary. Those are the ones I look for the most. Sometimes I do look at the reviews, but I love stories that have solid content, not focusing entirely on dialog. Description is a plus :)

#25 Apr 04th, 11:29pm

Pinky Green

Summary really gets me into stories. That's what I look at first when I see a story. It's a put off when a summary is like 'read and rate' without an actual summary.

#26 May 26th, 4:17am

Yeah, I agree. If the author is begging for reviews in their summary, you have to wonder if they're only writing to get attention and not for the love of actually writing. There's no point in reading a story someone just slapped together to try and get reviews. You want to read a story someone thought through to be enjoyed by the reader, not for selfish reasons.

Titles don't really matter to me about whether I read a story, and neither do reviews. I actually prefer to read stories with fewer reviews, and that way I can review and have an actual conversation with a writer about their writing from time to time instead of just being one of a thousand or so. But summaries are so important, and so many people say "I suck at summaries, read and review," and I think "why should I? I don't even know what it's about." And then there are the ones that are just left blank, and I usually skip over those completely. If they don't think their story is worth the time for a decent summary, why should it be worth my time to read? I know that's a little mean, but that's what I think.

#27 Jun 01st, 6:58am

#28 Jun 01st, 7:01am

@Saved

Haha I prefer stories with fewer reviews because then I know my concrit will be valuable. If the author has a lot of reviews, it might have already been brought up and it's annoying to the author to have the same mistakes repeated in their reviews.

#29 Jun 01st, 7:13am

@Fractured

That's a good point. I don't see why people would read something only because it has a ton of reviews. If I do read one with a lot of reviews, I usually end up not reviewing at all. I want my review to mean something, you know? I'm not spending time to write it for it not even to be read.

#30 Jun 01st, 7:17am

Exactly! Same here! I guess it just has to do with my ego haha. It needs attention, it seems.

I am also put off by larger stories that has many chapters. It feels like if I want to read, I have A LOT to catch up to. But this is just me being generally lazy :p

It's annoying, though, when you give good concrit and the author dismisses it. Makes me feel like "Well why are you even posting here, then?". Ack, I am getting off topic! Sorry.

Edit: Haha I just realized my first post here was more prone to care about reviews. I guess I've changed a bit since then.

#31 Jun 01st, 7:29am . Edited Jun 01st, 7:30am

I agree with you about the chapters, Fractured. It takes me several days or more than a week to read a story with a lot of chapters, and then I can't even enjoy the new posts that come up. I usually end up just sticking it on alerts and waiting till it's finished before I start. That way I can read it at my own pace, especially if it has thirty or more chapters. And yeah, it's a little off topic, but it's true just the same.

I do use reviews to pick a story, though. If I check a story's reviews and they're all talking about grammar problems or severe plot issues, I start thinking it's probably not ready enough to read. But that's different than the number of reviews, I think. If a story only has three or four reviews for ten chapters, but the reviews are all singing the praises, I at least give it a try. I've found some great stories that way.

There are also days when I don't have any luck finding anything decent at all to read, though, and that's a little discouraging. Then the next day I go and find some incredible story that's been there all along. It's kind of funny when it works like that. =)

#32 Jun 01st, 7:40am

I also can feel attracted or...em...repulsed(?) by a story judging by the content of the reviews (not the number :o). Also, if I think the reviews are really shallow, and the story seems interesting, I feel like I must review that person to make up for the crappy reviews haha. of course, this is granted I have the energy to read and review (it takes energy, you know? Otherwise I will just leave bad reviews and I don't like that).

I have a story I liked but it updates SO FAST I feel like I can't keep up D: In reality I am just the slow one. I have different moods for stories you see, which I guess is bad for the multi-chaps I am following because I can be not-in-the-mood for their story for a super long time. O_o

When I can't find a story I like, I look through people's favorite lists, haha. But usually I find at least one story with an interesting summary along the different genres FP offers.

#33 Jun 01st, 7:49am

Lol, I do the same thing. I click on random authors or authors I like and read what they have on their favorites. I think I always like a story better if I stumble on it by accident and don't set out to find something to read because I have time to kill. Usually I end up reading a story when I should be getting ready for work or practice. For some reason, that never happens with books I can take around with me.

I also get what you mean about stories updating too fast to keep up with. I don't get online much, so my email is always overflowing and stories can have a ton of new chapters added that I didn't even know about. Usually then is when I'm not in the mood to read them because I don't have the time to read them all at once. I don't know when I got so busy! A couple years ago I could spend all day on this site, and now I barely have an hour or so every couple days.

#34 Jun 01st, 8:09am

I usually start a multi-chap, and like it, but even so I have a hard time coming back to it because I want to read other stories too :p I am unreliable with multi-chaps, haha, just because I require a certain mood to want to read them again.

And can I nickname you Saya? It just seems so fitting, considering your username. :p

#35 Jun 07th, 11:19am

Lol, fitting how? But sure, you can call me whatever you want. Actually I haven't read much on this site lately. The computer was moved to a different spot, and now it's so uncomfortable. But I used to love it and I would read multi-chaps in one sitting, unless I didn't like them or got bored. Right now I'm just posting my own. I've started a ton of stories I'm having a hard time going back to, but I'll do it eventually when I have enough time. I just don't spend as much time online as I used to :) I think it has to do with my attention span. It's really quite short lol.

#36 Jun 19th, 6:26pm

#37 Jun 19th, 6:43pm

PandaPanda

of course, both the story title and summary must be compelling.

but in order for me to stick to the story, the characters must be likable and the words must be PERFECT. yes, I am picky when it comes to vocab. if the story chooses to use a very simplistic vocabulary throughout the story, I may drop it.

metaphors. gosh. they are needed.

and I only pretty much read romance =)

#38 Jun 20th, 8:30am

NightsDawn

I've read plenty of stories that had little or no reviews, because sometimes the number of reviews is misleading. There are stories I've liked which had very few reviews, as well as stories that I didn't care for that had a ton. Summaries can be a little misleading too. The majority of the time, I pick out random stories, or stories that have interesting titles. I've even read stories because I thought the author's pen name was interesting =].

#39 Jun 26th, 12:07pm

Alesana

I tend to read stories with little to none reviews, so I can make my special mark. :)

And if someone reviews me, I'll review back (unless their story was really, really bad). Summaries are a definite for me- if the summary's terrible the story probably will be too. I don't care for titles, because I have a pretty hard time coming up with good titles myself... ha.

to NightsDawn, that's a very good point with the reviews! I've found a million and one stories where the reviews were infinite and singing eight thousand praises, but the story was way beyond terrible.

I read everything, so there's no pickiness (I think I spelled that wrong.) on genre. Butttt, that's just me. :)

#40 Jun 27th, 2:24pm