Comentarista82

Fluent Spanish and Portuguese speaker (FSI 5+), Finnish and Indonesian FSI 1+ certified.

I comment on stories that interest me, and I always leave constructive criticism, that's balanced and always civil. I suspend disbelief so long as a story doesn't ignore things like real-life science, accepted principles nor ignores verisimilitude.

(I've written over 500 pages in real life elsewhere [from 1987-1996, TWO YEARS before the site owners created Lit] and professionally edited and translated in multiple languages--plus my livelihood depends on evaluations, so I deal with some of the toughest around--and with some authors here trying to sell their works, conscientious feedback should be appreciated, because it helps an author improve for free.)

Thankfully, there's now a Comments Guideline policy you can find right under a comment box: it allows you to comment on the STORY, but NOT vilify commenters. Read it!

Authors:

1-- biggest gripe I read are stories rarely get comments; others lament not getting actionable ones. The site owners tell commenters to not only comment on each story they would like to, but also to leave constructive criticism. Why gripe about commenters following policy?
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2) This is a vanity publishing site, where the owners earn money off the author's stories and other things.. If you think you're doing great by getting 5s and having commenters/fellow authors only saying "great job"...if they haven't talked about the grammar, spot-checked facts, noticed transitions, addressed character development analytically.. then when you try to sell your work on some other platform... don't be surprised when it tanks because you didn't want honest and valid feedback. Talk about needing to reread "The Emperor's New Clothes!"
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3) I've noticed some state/insinuate they should get a 5 just because they submitted something. Really? Standard evals via rubrics account for at least 5 things: grammar--this is at least 20 points/1 star here if it's really bad; your premise; do you have the required length; do you possess sufficient details and development for your story and/or characters; transitions, and sometimes including your conclusion. Don't gripe when readers do notice, because you wrote it and unless someone stole your computer and rewrote part of your tale poorly, take responsibility.
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It's so odd how too many state grammar and punctuation are NOT important; MLA, APA, and Chicago style guides disagree! Grammar and spelling are sometimes far more important than the story. A story that reads and flows well always helps you, so it's in everyone's best interest to eliminate poor grammar and punctuation as something that creates hard stops. Even the site owners allow users to report stories for bad grammar and punctuation...as if no one knew that.