Did someone say your short story is confusing? If so, watch this!

[Story_Marc]

Alright, reached the halfway point in this series of diagnostic videos! I've 4 more to go, will release all of those next week before moving onto the next project.

 

[N0xiety]

Hmm, tell me what you think of this short film then. Sometimes i feel like the reason the audience gets lost is simply because they are lacking when it comes to skills of deduction, interpretation and attention to detail.

When i showed it to some others, they had a really hard time understanding much of anything that was going on. They were just confused, and i had to basically hold their hand through it to keep their attention, explaining the many obvious details they were missing, how it connects to what's been said and shown before, even having to interpret the slang used for them etc. I don't know all of the slang from get go either, but it ain't that hard to interpret, yet they seem unable to. Ultimately it all leads to them not being able to understand anything, it's as if they aren't thinking at all while watching the story unfold, everything has to be spoon fed. What looks to be obvious to me seem utterly confusing to them instead.

Ofc, the plot is rather open to interpretation and it is hard to reach a solid conclusion, but that doesn't mean it is that hard to reach a few possible theories as to what's going on in the end. But some people can't even reach a single theory. So, do you think this is a problem of the author, or the audience?

 

[Story_Marc]

From what I can tell, the issue is with orientation. Since I'm 5 minutes into it ahd while I understood the basics of the setting, that was about it. More here's the problem with that issue there: deduction, interpretation, and attention to detail have to be earned. People aren't going to just do it because you handed them something. They need to be invested in caring first, which is why orientation is so important. This falls into what I was talking about and... well, using my video and answering those questions, can you see how that might be an issue early on?

So yeah, right now it feels like scenario #2, with the scenario too vague for far too long, and nothing firm to hold onto early on as being brought into the world.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I may be able to skip this one - about the only things my short stories (unlike my long fiction, which can be confusing ... sometimes even for me... oops... :D) have NOT been accused of is being confusing. Too long? Yep. Too short? Yep. (Sometimes the same one...). Too vague of an ending? Yep. But not confusing....

 

[Story_Marc]

I may be able to skip this one - about the only things my short stories (unlike my long fiction, which can be confusing ... sometimes even for me... oops... :D) have NOT been accused of is being confusing. Too long? Yep. Too short? Yep. (Sometimes the same one...). Too vague of an ending? Yep. But not confusing....

Definitely a plus there! XD And I decided to do the one on short stories feeling incomplete one next for you, since I promised it. It's exporting just this second, so I'll upload it and schedule it for tomorrow.