Fic Talk > General Discussion
Question of the day part 10
emilo:
To answer Julie's original question, I don't think I've ever had any readers (at least the ones who actually give feedback) not like one of my female characters. Quite the opposite, actually. I had a lot of people reading FILA tell me how much they really liked Annie. I actually worry that any new readers for Run are having a hard time liking Annie because they just don't "know" her the way the FILA readers do, because the previous story is the one that really developed this character. In Forever, I can see that some readers simply don't care for the more minor female characters, because they know the narrator female character so well. If anyone doesn't like that character, they've not told me about it. I've already discussed the fact that I do like to write more "female-centered" stories, so I think it's important that the female character IS someone who is likeable. In my own reading, I have a hard time liking female characters who are really needy, too forgiving (or too unforgiving) of the Boys. I hate those characters who become sort -of a victim to one of them-- who will give up her own morals or beliefs to satisfy the needs/wants of her guy.
As far as writing or reading the Boys out of character, I think I am still trying to figure how to write them, myself. I feel like I keep them in character most of the time, but I'm still working on that. I've said before that I tend to lean towards female characters because I think I can do a better job of characterizing a fictional female than I can characterizing one of the guys. That being said, I can only think of one time that a reader commented on a particular scene and insinuated that I was writing my Backstreet Boy out of character. That was Mare during the reading challenge, and she said something like "I have a hard time believing that he is more worried about X than he is about Y (the more pressing issue at the time)." I was actually really taken aback by it at the time, because that wasn't my intent at all in the particular scene she was reading. Though, looking back and re-reading, I could definitely see how she interpreted it that way.
Which brings me to another question: Have you ever been surprised by a reader's interpretation of something in your story? Maybe they read into something way more than you intended, or they just got a different vibe from the story than you were intending to give off? Did you modify your story after that feedback (if you were still in the process of writing) to better explain said situation, or try to explain in your response to the review, or neither and just let them interpret it as they interpreted it? I think one cool thing about writing /reading in general is that there can be so many different viewpoints on a single piece.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: mare on August 25, 2013, 04:40:07 AM ---I think it's so interesting that depending on our perceptions of the guys, something that might seem so normal for one person may seem so WTF? to another. LOL I LOVE that!
--- End quote ---
That's so true! That's why I said the whole portrayal question is so subjective, because the guys have so many layers that we all tend to focus on different sides of them. You tend to portray Nick as the little brother, whereas Steph tends to focus on him as a romantic partner. That's definitely going to result in two different portrayals that are both still believable.
I think we've had a question similar to this, but this seems like a logical follow-up:
How do you usually portray the guys you write about most? Have you ever intentionally taken them "out of character" over the course of a story, and if so, what caused them to change?
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: emilo on August 25, 2013, 07:54:09 AM ---Which brings me to another question: Have you ever been surprised by a reader's interpretation of something in your story? Maybe they read into something way more than you intended, or they just got a different vibe from the story than you were intending to give off? Did you modify your story after that feedback (if you were still in the process of writing) to better explain said situation, or try to explain in your response to the review, or neither and just let them interpret it as they interpreted it? I think one cool thing about writing /reading in general is that there can be so many different viewpoints on a single piece.
--- End quote ---
Absolutely. Usually when this happens, I do try to explain my intentions in my response to their feedback, but I don't mind readers interpreting something differently. If I'm still writing the story, I will try to clear up any misunderstandi ngs that I want to be cleared up in future chapters, but if it was just that my readers had a different take on something than I did, that's fine. Fiction, like any art form, is open to interpretation, and that's cool. And sometimes, when I step back and look at a story as a whole after I've finished writing it, my own interpretation changes.
Like with the Claire thing... When I was writing BMS, I worked so hard to justify the decisions my characters made, to slowly build the tension until they hit their breaking points, but looking back, I can see now that despite all my effort, I had to take them out of character to make what I wanted to happen happen. In Broken, I had established Nick and Claire as two characters who would do anything for each other and be there for each other through anything, but in BMS, I made them abandon each other so that I could break them up... just so that I could eventually get them back together in the end. I can see why that made some of my readers mad. It should have been a character-driven story, but I let my intended plot drive the characters' actions instead of their own feelings. I learned from that, though, and I think that's partly why I tend to struggle with plot-driven stories (like Guilty Roads) nowadays.
mare:
Have you ever been surprised by a reader's interpretation of something in your story? Maybe they read into something way more than you intended, or they just got a different vibe from the story than you were intending to give off? Did you modify your story after that feedback (if you were still in the process of writing) to better explain said situation, or try to explain in your response to the review, or neither and just let them interpret it as they interpreted it? I think one cool thing about writing /reading in general is that there can be so many different viewpoints on a single piece.
Wow. I'm really having trouble wording what I want to say for this answer. It keeps coming out sounding wrong-ish! Don't you hate when that happens?
Yes, I am sometimes surprised by how people interpret certain things that take place in a story. I think the read way more into things thing happens to me the most. When I see that happening, it does make me consider the possibility of exploring that avenue (only if I was still updating the story though)
I know for me, because of the nature of how I write, I always encourage my readers to ask me questions if they get confused because I want to make sure what I'm saying is making sense to more than just me. If I see a lot of people asking the same thing or interpreting it differently than I had intended, it makes me realize I wasn't clear with my descriptions and for that I'm thankful for the feedback and I will make changes. Although it sucks when the story is already complete.
Other times what I find intriguing is how, after laying all of these complex plot points out, in feedback it's something so small and insignificant that the reader will bring up that makes me sometimes :shrug: It's like I just admitted that AJ was a psycho killer clown who ate babies but uh yes...Brian did wear purple shoes with orange pants. LOL
mare:
How do you usually portray the guys you write about most? Have you ever intentionally taken them "out of character" over the course of a story, and if so, what caused them to change?
When I write the guys, I tend to write them in relation to each other so how they are portrayed relies heavily on the time period I'm writing about. Howie and Kevin never really seem to change for me, personality wise no matter what year we are talking about. Except my current Kevin is a lot more mellow than younger Kevin. Howie in my world is always, loving, caring and sympathetic and Kevin is always in control, the problem solver and looks out for everyone.
The other three however, tend to change based on when we're talking. Brian's changes are slightest. If we're talking younger Brian, he's more playful and goofy versus the married with kid version who I make more serious and business minded. Then there's AJ pre rehab and post rehab, but probably the one that changes the most depending on the year is Nick. Young Nick is a whiny baby, teenager to early 20's Nick is an angry mess late 20's Nick is very Emo and self destructive and then current Nick has his crap together.
I very rarely take them out of character, at least for what I consider to be out of character. I just can't channel them when they aren't them. LOL
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