writing craft | author promises and addressing reader expectations

[infiniteeight]

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

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[visiblemarket]

Heh, there have been a few otherwise very well written fics I've read recently that have left me feeling a little frustrated at the end, and I think this is mostly why. But as a writer, I know it's sometimes hard to gauge: what you think might have been just background fluff someone else might have found really significant and expected payoff for, what you thought was really solid resolution to carefully built up emotional tension comes across as too easy (or too subtle, and missed all together).

I think it's just one of those risks you run from a) reading a lot and b) reading a lot of fiction that's "published" without extensive editing. In a way you pick up what's better and more effective writing, but that just means you get better at spotting what doesn't work, and that hampers your enjoyment of works that aren't as polished. At least it tends to make you a better writer, though?

(morethanonepage on tumblr, btw)

[infiniteeight]

*nodding* I do understand that it's hard to gauge, because the author is close to the story and knows what it all means inside their own head. But that's part of the purpose of beta readers. And it's also part of the purpose of this post -- to make people more aware of a craft issue that maybe they've been overlooking! :)

Sometimes I feel like, paradoxically, the more I read, the less I enjoy reading. And in a lot of ways, I'm a really forgiving reader. But when the author hooks my emotions and then just...fizzles out it makes me want to scream. *sigh* Sometimes I wish I could go back to not seeing any of this stuff, you know?

[visiblemarket]

Even with betas, I think it really depends on what you ask them to do: if you're not really on the look out for things like...emotional resolution, I guess...and you've only asked them to make sure you didn't spell things wrong or missed words, it might not be something that gets addressed. But I do think this is a good starting guide, to give people something to think about. I mean I always try to have payoff to things, even (especially) porn, because otherwise I'm doing so little else.

the more I read, the less I enjoy reading.

This is absolutely true, though. And not just of reading! The more movies and television shows I watch, the more music I listen to. The more people you know. Just one of those life things, I guess.

But when the author hooks my emotions and then just...fizzles out it makes me want to scream.It's because they're so close otherwise: when it's just OOC, kind of fun crack that hasn't really hooked you, you don't care how it goes, but if an author's good enough to get you on the line, and then they don't

[meinterrupted]

I relogged this with commentary on Tumblr, but this is a HUGE pet peeve for me. It's one of the reasons (along with the ever-present fear the author won't finish) I don't generally read WsIP until they're done. I just think it's easy to overlook something that seems significant when you're posting as you go, and leave the reader hanging, even if you don't intend to do so. And as a writer, rereading your completed fic gives you a big-picture view so you can ADD little things like this, to keep the reader interested.

Basically, yes to all of this!