Message Board Topic For 6/2

[Comsie]

When any author (Or...should I say 'most'?) begins writing a story, they usually have a pretty set idea on how they want things to go, and what directions they want their story to take. While a lot of these decisions may change and morph into something else over the course of time, a basic blueprint is often kept in mind After all, it's their story, they tell it how they see it.

 

However, there are many times when readers may get a completely different view of what the writer is trying to accomplish. There might be elements of the story they really don't like, find boring or annoying, or want to change altogether. Feedback might reflect a desire for a completely different direction for the author's story to take. Something the author didn't plan for and doesn't realy want to change.

 

In this case...should an author stick to their guns, and continue writing the story they want to write, even when their audience is constantly looking forward to something else? At what point does a writer take his readers' hints and emails as a need for change in the original plan?

 

Do you ignore the help from the peanut gallery, and push on with what you want to do, as the sole creator of the story? Or do revise the blueprint for something more entertaining? Let us know what you think!

[Graeme]

An author should never be pressured into changing something, just to keep some readers happy. There's nothing wrong with an author incorporating ideas from readers because they appeal, but it is their story, not the readers. If they let the readers tell them what is going to happen, then it's not their story any more.

[Phantom]

When I write, I tend to listen to people who tell me to make minor changes to my stories (like switching from Cosmo to a YeagerBomb because it would fit the situation more)

 

BUT

 

I tend to not listen to those who tell me to make major changes to the story (Like writing about a plane ride and the mile high club to a boat ride and the at sea club). I loath those

 

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Sidebar

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Thanks Comsie for GFD! It's ranking as one of my fav stories!

[JamesSavik]

I write what I write and reader reaction is completely incidental. Usually my work is already written and changes due to reader feedback would cause a rewrite so no- it isn't going to happen.

[Comsie]

I have had times where there were a lot of good suggestions from different sources, that really REALLY wanted to see the stories I was writing go a certain way. To the point where I'm sure that they were disappointed or even upset that I went a different way with it entirely. And yeah, sometimes it sucks. And I go through the whole, 'am I doing this right?' conversation in my head to make sure that I'm not messing things up by doing it my way. But...in the end, I almost always go with the original plan, despite the outcry for something else. Mostly because I start off with a pretty complete idea of what I want to happen and how I want it to end. So when I'm writing, everything is falling into place to support that ending, or that particular theme.

 

Sometimes, I think it's harder for people to see the whole picture until I finish writing it all out. So I stick to the outline and just hope I make the right choices along the way. I listen, but changing what I'm doing...hehehe almost never happens.

[PlugInMatty]

in relation to major plot lines, I don't think I'd ever change a story to suit a section of the audience. that said, I have had instances where I've liked somebody else's idea more than I liked my own idea, and I've changed it

 

in relation to some of your stories, Commie (congratulations on your new nickname btw, I'm sure Reagan is turning in his grave right now), I'd never change a plot so that person A breaks up with person B to be with person C.

 

that's going too far IMO.

[Gabriel Morgan]

I've never changed major plot elements based on reader feedback, but I have beefed up aspects of a story that became more popular than I had originally anticipated. Chewy in Panhead, for example. I had always planned to have a dog in PH, but a few people were really taken with him, so I consciously wrote more of him into the story.

 

For me, as a relatively new writer, reader feedback helps me improve. When enough people comment favorably on a particular thing, I can see that perhaps I should use that device or technique more often, that it's a successful one in my style of writing.

 

Plus - and this is purely ego stroking - it makes me feel really good to know that what I wrote, something out of my own head, resonates with people, makes them laugh and cry, makes them want more. The satisfaction I derive from that is unlike anything else I've ever experienced.