writing craft | author promises and addressing reader expectations
There is an mistake of writing craft that I am seeing A LOT lately. I'm talking probably 1/3 to 1/2 of all stories I've read in the past year or more. It is driving me crazy, but rather than rant about it, I thought I'd write an essay so that people can discuss and maybe learn.
When an author sets up a plot arc, an emotional arc, or a significant element, if they don't address that arc or element, the reader is going to be unsatisfied.
What does that mean? Let me give you a quickly crafted example. Plot arcs and emotional arcs tend to be set up over the course of a whole story, but an significant element can be set up very quickly, so I'll use that as my example:
Bob browsed the pictures set up on Mandy's mantlepiece as he waited for her to get ready for their date. It was easy to see the family resemblance in most of the photos, but there was one, tucked off to the side, of her with a man that definitely wasn't her brother. Bob leaned in to take a closer look.
"I'm ready!" Mandy's voice was a bit loud, but she was smiling when Bob to turned to look at her.
"You look great," he said.
"Thanks." Mandy glanced over Bob's shoulder quickly and tugged him away from the mantlepiece. "Come on, lets head out."
Bob gave into her tug easily; he'd been looking forward to this date.
Now, what's the first question you want to ask me?
I bet it's, "Who's the guy in the picture?"
There are three cues in this scene that the photo is significant: I spent time describing it in particular, Bob was interested, and Mandy seemed not want him to be interested.
It's possible that the photo has to relevance to the plot. Maybe the story is about robbers interrupting the date and Mandy being revealed as a superhero. But it doesn't matter what the story is about. Even if the primary plot of the story is totally resolved, you're going to feel frustrated because that photo felt important, damn it, and you never found out why!
It would take too long to write out an example that applies to plot arcs and emotional arcs, but I can describe it:
A story starts with two characters in an apparently solid relationship. Through the course of the story, cracks where the relationship seems to be coming apart appear. Because the relationship has changed through the course of the story, it is established as an arc. Because it has been established as an arc, you expect to see it resolved one way or another: Either they break up, or they address the problems and decide they want to be together still.
If the relationship started out bad and continued to be bad with no change, then there's no arc. It's just a character element and there are no reader expectations attached to it. Same if it starts out good and continues to be good with no change. You don't have to do anything about it.
But when there's change and an arc established, the reader expects you to address it somehow. And if you don't, it's frustrating for the reader. It can spoil their enjoyment of the story as a whole.
Please note that I didn't say that you have to fulfill reader expectations, or that you have to meet reader expectations. Surprises (the guy is the villain and Mandy didn't want her boyfriend to know she's evil!) are fine. Disappointment (it's no big deal, the guy is her uncle) is fine. But you have to address the fact that you set the reader up to expecting something.
I suspect people don't realize they're setting things up, sometimes.
I read a story a few years ago that drove me crazy with an unresolved issue. The story was being posted as a WIP, and I'd followed it for weeks. Early in the plot, Character A asks Character B, "Hey, which person in that book reminds you of me?" Character B waffles. Okay, not really a set up so far. Just conversation filler, right? Except them reading the book gets mentioned again. And then, later on, Character A asks again, "Hey, did you decide which person reminds you of me?" Character B says they haven't decided yet. The story mentions them finishing reading the book. The plot of the story resolved and...the end.
I thought about it for days. Why was it important which person reminded Character B of Character A? The book was mentioned four times, and Character A asked the question twice, and Character B resisted answering, and yet it was never answered for the reader! What did it mean? Finally, I broke and messaged the author because I had to know.
The author wrote back: They didn't know the answer, either. It wasn't important, just conversation filler.
I was so pissed. The repeated mentions, Character A's interest, and Character B's reluctance to answer had set this up in my mind to mean something. But the author didn't even realize they were doing it.
A few rules of thumb. The reader will probably assume something is important if...
...you spend time describing something in more detail than other things in the story.
...a character has an emotional reaction to something.
...an element is mentioned repeatedly.
...it changes over time. (This applies particularly to plot and emotional arcs.)
(Cross-posed to my livejournal, if you prefer to discuss there: http://infiniteeight.livejournal.com/4644.html)
I'm not the final word on writing. I'm not even a professional! But I read a lot, and I hope people found this to be a worthwhile post.