Readers want you to "change" your story.

[ARedFox]

Keep in mind I am a reader, not author.

I think Sailus’ has the right idea. If they still complain then they just look dumb and feel free to call them out on it.

And as an author posting publicly, allowing criticism is all you have to do. You don’t have to follow it or even read it. And readers can criticize but thinking they are the always right protagonist who everyone listens to is beyond moronic. Some people don’t understand that unfortunately. That’s on them.

Webnovel has issues with the former and Royal Road the latter.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

So eventually I'll post what I've been posting on another site here on SH, and when I post it I'll likely be uploaded as quickly as I can so there are no gaps... but...

I was wondering if anyone else has had readers try to influence your story?
Before I transferred the story over there, I had several readers persistently trying to get me to "speed up" or write the story the way they want... now it's just one.

-_-

I'm like... I don't have a Patreon here. I'm not collecting any money either. I want to finish the project and move on, because sometimes you realize a story doesn't have much potential only after you start writing it.

If it's spelling mistakes or something small its okay

 

[AnonUnlimited]

After all the mental breaks Royal Road gave me for my previous attempts, I am now trying to not give a damn. They aren't paying me so their thoughts and complaints will be pointless.

The only reason I didn't post on RR is because I wanted to get SMUT out of my system and RR doesn't allow 90% of the stuff I'm putting in it. There is some real F***ed up sh** I'm writing that I've already got complaints from on SH readers.

Anyway, RR is a good platform if you write what they like because you can make a little money. Honestly as a reader, most of their novels to me are dull and boring. I don't think one of their highest rated novels "Mother of Learning" was even that good. Prose had very little unique voice and the scenes dragged too long at the beginning. I think only certain

The problem though is if your income is based on it like the guy who writes "he who hunts monsters" the novel starts turning to crap and he has to keep it going to keep the money coming in every month. When he ends the story, it'll be hard to get all the other patrons and supporters to continue paying for it at the same level. I mean, he'll retain readers who are his fans but it'll dip into his income for a bit until his next work proves it... hence a lot of these stories on RR won't end for a long long time.

Keep in mind I am a reader, not author.

I think Sailus’ has the right idea. If they still complain then they just look dumb and feel free to call them out on it.

And as an author posting publicly, allowing criticism is all you have to do. You don’t have to follow it or even read it. And readers can criticize but thinking they are the always right protagonist who everyone listens to is beyond moronic. Some people don’t understand that unfortunately. That’s on them.

Webnovel has issues with the former and Royal Road the latter.

I guess lol.

I just find the behavior similar to r/choosingbeggers on reddit. To me that behavior at first bothered me but now it's just amusing. To be honest, if I didn't want to just complete the novel I would probably have already dropped it or written a hasty conclusion.

 

[Unregistered]

I personally enjoy reading certain people's comments. Whether they're asking for a change or leave some type of misunderstood remark, I just take it into consideration.

I say this because I received my first comment today. I didn't feel indifferent about it. Simply took note and am likely to revise or emphasize what why things are the way they are. All in all, I'm just happy to see people would ask me to change my story. That just shows me they've at least been reading. Lol

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

It's annoying if they don't put in the work and just say it needs to be changed without showing why it needs to be changed or how to implement those changes by pointing out what needs fixing. Double brownie points if it's stuff I haven't even considered or stuff that has somehow slipped through the cracks of my own bias towards my story. But if I detect any BS about just wanting the story to go a certain way because it's the reader's preference, then I chuck it the devil dogs.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

It's annoying if they don't put in the work and just say it needs to be changed without showing why it needs to be changed or how to implement those changes by pointing out what needs fixing. Double brownie points if it's stuff I haven't even considered or stuff that has somehow slipped through the cracks of my own bias towards my story. But if I detect any BS about just wanting the story to go a certain way because it's the reader's preference, then I chuck it the devil dogs.

 

[Gryphon]

I've never gotten people asking for me to change my story, but if that were to happen I would politely tell them they don't control the story. The only comments I've gotten on my story is people discussing theories. Otherwise its just standard comment cancer.

 

[Ai-chan]

If the readers say shit, just accept that they're entitled to their shitty personal opinions. They are not entitled to make changes to your shit. So if their shit makes sense to Ai-chan's shit, Ai-chan will put their shit into consideration. If not, Ai-chan ignores them.

 

[Twin]

I might think if it is something related to future events. But if its something that I have already written a chapter for, I won't bother. Can't do so much hard work.

 

[lnv]

So eventually I'll post what I've been posting on another site here on SH, and when I post it I'll likely be uploaded as quickly as I can so there are no gaps... but...

I was wondering if anyone else has had readers try to influence your story?
Before I transferred the story over there, I had several readers persistently trying to get me to "speed up" or write the story the way they want... now it's just one.

-_-

I'm like... I don't have a Patreon here. I'm not collecting any money either. I want to finish the project and move on, because sometimes you realize a story doesn't have much potential only after you start writing it.

I don't think there is a problem with people giving their ideas or opinions to better the story, but as an Author it is also important to think for yourself and say "yes this idea is cool, let me see if it fits into my story and if it does lets do that" or "No, this isn't what I have in mind or yes this may be cool but doesn't fit my story".. Author's stories to begin with are a collection of influences. But it is the job of the Author to pick and choose what story they wish to tell and what they don't. That also includes pacing.

 

[Fox-Trot-9]

Don't worry, you're fine. I'm just talking in general.

 

[EliseValkyria]

It depends a lot , but I usually ignore comments that are asking me to change my story.

Don't get me wrong, I love it when my readers comment on any of my chapters, every time I upload a new one I look forward to their comments.

But sometimes there are people who have no idea about anything or who are so arrogant that they think they are gods from another astral plane.

Once someone told me that I should upload chapters every day because he wanted to be entertained. One, the novel is free, two, I write in my free time and when I want to, and three, it takes me about 5 hours per chapter because I have to plan it, write it, translate it and revise it. If he is able to pay me a competitive salary to quit my job, then yes, I will make you a chapter every three days at best.

Another one that happened was on another site where I upload my novel. Someone wanted a couple of characters to have sex when my story is about family and solidarity and sweet moments that would give diabetes.

The context is that one character is a succubus, a yandere who loves the main character, but constantly tries to be a good person, she is one of the main characters of the series. The important point of this character is that she keeps pestering the protagonist about wanting to have sex with him, obviously, she is a succubus, but the kicker is that when they are about to do it, it is revealed that her yandere personality comes from the fact that she has been abused since childhood, raped, and is afraid of men because of what they did to her. Although she loves the protagonist, she herself realizes that at the moment of truth she can't have sex with him, is simply too much for her.

But somewhere on the internet, there is some degenerate who thinks it's okay and that they should continue having sex even if she is crying with fear. I think it's clear that doing something like that would go completely against what I want my story to be and the important point of her story arc.

 

[Mandark]

Just as a reader, even if I was paying, I wouldn’t think to ‘demand’ any creator to radically alter the vision they had for their story. So for the people who do that, you just got to chalk it up to the few bad eggs.

With that said though, if I take the time to read/comment I would like the think the author isn’t some narcissistic but-hole that thinks they’re above reproach.

To be very specific, I’ve seen cases where authors blame readers for pointing out logical fallacies or just ending (what I saw as) valid criticisms by saying ‘well stop reading’.

So... again as a reader, I’d like an author who stays true to their story but also is capable of listening to suggestion given specific areas of a work.

 

[Vnator]

Depends on the request. If it's good writing advice, then I try to keep it in mind. If it's about the direction they want the story taken in, then I usually ignore.

 

[J_Chemist]

So eventually I'll post what I've been posting on another site here on SH, and when I post it I'll likely be uploaded as quickly as I can so there are no gaps... but...

I was wondering if anyone else has had readers try to influence your story?
Before I transferred the story over there, I had several readers persistently trying to get me to "speed up" or write the story the way they want... now it's just one.

-_-

I'm like... I don't have a Patreon here. I'm not collecting any money either. I want to finish the project and move on, because sometimes you realize a story doesn't have much potential only after you start writing it.

Yes.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

Lol.
This isn't about a shitty comment. This is basically some reader wanting me to skip over a bunch of stuff just to get to the end.

 

[LostLibrarian]

In general, I write the story I want to write and I won't change stuff for the readers.

But I still look at every comment and thin about/ask for the reason. If a lot of readers want a specific change, it points towards a disconnect to the current story. Either because I couldn't something across or because the readers had different expectations. Those are things I'll fix to create a more consistent story and a better flow.

I had that a lot with my first draft where readers wanted the MC to become OP fast and just nuke everything. Based on that, I changed the beginning of my story to make clear that this wouldn't be a story about an OP MC but rather character drama. Same for other stuff in my current rewrite.


So yeah, I'll ignore the change request in general, but they can sometimes be a good indicator of what my story does wrong at a completely different point...

 

[WinterTimeCrime]

I've never experienced anyone saying such things as 'Change your story' and been on the receiving end of detailed questioning and speculation. But perhaps it was because my first book was published on WebNovel and not only on sites like SH, RR, or Wattpad; WN readers are super shy

However, if someone didn't like a specific character or scene and asked me to change (I truly crave the day that someone does) I have three simple solutions.

One of my patron tiers allows readers to ask for a scenario from any of my books which I'll write without hesitation. Buy it.

Fanfictions exist, if you really wanted something different to happen write a fanfic or something then send it to me (now it won't do much for how the story goes, but it is a good way for agitated readers to blow off their reading frustrations and if like it, I'll a give it a ).

Appreciate my story's flow, if you don't like it you can easily stop reading. If it's too good and you can't stop reading... I'm sorry, I'm just... I'm just too good baby.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I enjoy seeing suggestions, but I don't easily bow to pressure, so I only take the suggestions I really like.

 

[J_Chemist]

Lol.
This isn't about a shitty comment. This is basically some reader wanting me to skip over a bunch of stuff just to get to the end.

Note made: don't give actual advice on SH Forums

Thanks.