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[RokofAges75]

Let's take Julie's question and expand it to the actual male characters as well, in particular BSB or 1D or NKOTB or whoever else you guys write about.

Have you ever been surprised by people's reactions to the way you are writing the guys? Has anyone ever told you, your portrayal of them is inaccurate or too disturbing or any other thing that made you say "Woah!" lol   

Have you ever read a story where you find you aren't enjoying the portrayal  of one or all of the boys so much that you have stopped reading? What was it exactly that made you stop? The subject matter, the boy being too out of character, too boring etc?

No one's ever told me my portrayal of the guys was inaccurate, but sometimes when I think about or even go back to read my old stories, I think it myself LOL. It's such a subjective thing because they are all real people with many layers beyond their stage personas, and they have also grown and changed a lot over the past twenty years, so depending on what era you're writing about and the situation you put them in, there are many different ways to write the guys that are all believable.  That said, I think I used to draw on my own feelings too much and make them more feminine in the way I portrayed them - too romantic, too angsty and emotional, and so on.  I think I do a better job at writing them as grown men now, maybe because I'm also an adult and know grown men, whereas when I started writing I was a melodramatic teenage girl who only interacted with hormonal high school boys outside of the men in my family LOL.  I think character development, like any other writing skill, gets easier with experience.

I have definitely read stories where I haven't enjoyed the way the guys were portrayed.  I try not to let it bother me if the rest of the story is well-written and entertaining, but it is a turn-off.  I remember reading a story for an award or something way back in the day in which Nick was a rapist, and I hated that.  Like Steph said, if there is a valid reason in the story for them to go out of character, that's fine, but I don't like when they're completely different for no reason.

[RokofAges75]

As far as female characters go, I haven't written any that were universally hated, but I think the most polarizing one I've written is Claire in the Broken series.  Claire was well liked or at least accepted in Broken, when she was just a supporting character who was introduced slowly, but after I upped her to main character status in By My Side, some of my readers turned on her.  I would get emails ending in "Kill Claire!" - and they weren't from Mare! LOL  I don't think it happened until after she left Nick, and I'm not sure if it was because she hurt him or because she went out of character to do it.  I'd prefer to think it was the latter, but like Steph insinuated with her Brittany/Niall example, I do think there is sort of a double standard when it comes to female characters vs. our boys.  Nick hurt Claire (and went out of character) first, and no one turned against him.  As long as they're not out raping women, I think the guys can pretty much get away with anything (including serial killings) and still be liked, whereas female characters walk a fine line.

For me, I think it's less about whether or not the female character is supporting her man and more about whether or not she's doing dumb things.  To reference Breaking Bad, I am one of those viewers who roots for Walt and does not like Skyler, but I did not turn on her until she started doing dumb things.  I really liked her in the first couple of seasons, until the Ted Beneke storyline happened, and that's when she lost me.  When she jumped in the pool, I wanted her to drown.  I don't like women (especially strong women) who suddenly get weak and start doing dumb things.  For that reason, I can understand why some of my readers turned on Claire.

I will only read romance in which I like the female lead, so annoying female characters acting dumb is a deal-breaker for me.  I have definitely stopped reading stories because I could not stand the female lead.

[mare]

I stopped reading most 1D fic except for a few authors who I know will write quality stuff because of this issue - I can't stand it when the guys are out of character and super one dimensional. There are a few BSB stories that I have read where the guys don't act like themselves - I find this with Nick in particular, but that could also just be because I mostly read Nick-centered fic. But for Nick to stop being womanizing and settle down, I find that I need there to be a reason for that. I can't picture him as anything but the nerdy, vulgar popstar I see him as in real life. For me to enjoy a story and see Nick differently, I need a transformation from that to happen within the story, not just be there right at the beginning. I need to watch him change from his recognizable self and grow from that as a result of what happens to him in the story.

I wasn't thinking of any story in particular in that wall of text lol, just the endless Nick stories I have clicked on in my life, because I shamelessly love Nick romance lol.

I love that you said this, I think it's so interesting because as a reader, I would find all those qualities out of his character because when I read, it's never from the romance angle, it's from the interaction he has with the other guys so when I'm writing/reading there's never really a reason to portray him as any of those things you mentioned.

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!

[mare]

As far as female characters go, I haven't written any that were universally hated, but I think the most polarizing one I've written is Claire in the Broken series.  Claire was well liked or at least accepted in Broken, when she was just a supporting character who was introduced slowly, but after I upped her to main character status in By My Side, some of my readers turned on her.  I would get emails ending in "Kill Claire!" - and they weren't from Mare! LOL  I don't think it happened until after she left Nick, and I'm not sure if it was because she hurt him or because she went out of character to do it.  I'd prefer to think it was the latter, but like Steph insinuated with her Brittany/Niall example, I do think there is sort of a double standard when it comes to female characters vs. our boys.  Nick hurt Claire (and went out of character) first, and no one turned against him.  As long as they're not out raping women, I think the guys can pretty much get away with anything (including serial killings) and still be liked, whereas female characters walk a fine line.

For me, I think it's less about whether or not the female character is supporting her man and more about whether or not she's doing dumb things.  To reference Breaking Bad, I am one of those viewers who roots for Walt and does not like Skyler, but I did not turn on her until she started doing dumb things.  I really liked her in the first couple of seasons, until the Ted Beneke storyline happened, and that's when she lost me.  When she jumped in the pool, I wanted her to drown.  I don't like women (especially strong women) who suddenly get weak and start doing dumb things.  For that reason, I can understand why some of my readers turned on Claire.

I will only read romance in which I like the female lead, so annoying female characters acting dumb is a deal-breaker for me.  I have definitely stopped reading stories because I could not stand the female lead.

I felt the same way about Skylar although I never really was a full fledged fan of hers, she really didn't start bothering me until she decided to stick with Walt and send the kids away. That pool scene annoyed the crap out of me as did the way she acted in the last episode they showed last Sunday. I agree with the strong turned weak female character. I hate when I feel like I'm really enjoying someone and they suddenly get all dumb! It annoys me and yay to ME not being the one who wanted Claire dead!! I have always liked her but then again I didn't read By My Side. LOL

[usako]

Let's take Julie's question and expand it to the actual male characters as well, in particular BSB or 1D or NKOTB or whoever else you guys write about.

Have you ever been surprised by people's reactions to the way you are writing the guys? Has anyone ever told you, your portrayal of them is inaccurate or too disturbing or any other thing that made you say "Woah!" lol   

Have you ever read a story where you find you aren't enjoying the portrayal  of one or all of the boys so much that you have stopped reading? What was it exactly that made you stop? The subject matter, the boy being too out of character, too boring etc?

Aside from the rude comment that I should write things more appropriate, the only time that a comment had made me say "woah" was about this little short inspired by a Nick's videochat where a fan asked him if he missed Brian. Of course my story was slash and this girl (the same of the first comment) told me that I misunderstood Nick's reply. I was like "so? What the hell do you want from me?" LOL
But, in reality, no one has ever said me that my Nick and Brian were out of characters or such. Actually, most of the time, they asked me if I know Brian because of the way I describe him. lol

As for the second question, I usually hate stories that made the guys look bad only for the sake of the story and not because of certain reasons. Usually, this happens in romance and romantic triangle, where one of them has to be the bad guy so the other would look like the hero. LOL And, usually, I always end up loving the bad guy.
It might appear strange, since I'm not a Nick's girl, but I absolutely hate stories where the author make him look like an idiot, stupid or really really childish. I love making fun of him, especially his love for Google (lol) but some sotries I was like: "He is 18 year old, why are you making him look like a ten year old?" O.o As for Brian, I usually stop reading a story where he's the jerk of the situation without giving him a reason for his behaviour.

[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]

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!

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]

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.

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   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

[mare]

One more question then it's back to school work for me.   lol

This is from what Julie said in her last post.

When you write, do you tend to write more plot driven stories or character driven stories? Which do you prefer as a reader?

[RokofAges75]

When you write, do you tend to write more plot driven stories or character driven stories? Which do you prefer as a reader?

I think I used to write more plot-driven stories and am moving towards being a more character-driven writer, but both as a reader and a writer, I think my favorite type of story is a plot-driven story guided by strong characters.  Mare's new story Hope Is The Last Thing Ever Lost is a good example of one.  It's plot-driven in that a van accident is the catalyst for the whole plot to unfold, and there are a lot of outside forces (a crazy hermit, hungry wolves) affecting the characters, but there is a lot of emphasis on those characters' feelings and relationships with each other as well.  The way the characters react to the situation they're thrown into is believable based on the type of people they are and their relationships with each other, and their decisions seem to be based on what would make sense for those characters in that situation, not necessarily just what Mare, the goddess of her story world, wanted to happen. 

I like plot-driven stories because I like action, and I like to make bad things happen to my characters that are beyond their control, but I want them to react in believable ways and change as a result of their circumstances, and that is where the character-driven element comes in for me.

[usako]

I like plot-driven stories because I like action, and I like to make bad things happen to my characters that are beyond their control, but I want them to react in believable ways and change as a result of their circumstances, and that is where the character-driven element comes in for me.

This.
I usually have a basic plot, I know where the story starts and how it should end. During the story, there are some elements and things that have to happen but, aside those, it's how the characters react and deal with what happens to them that lead towards the end of the story. So I guess it's both.

[mare]

I like that! Mare, the goddess of her own story world! LOL  I would like to be the goddess of my own world world as well!

Thanks, for using Hope as an example.

I do like to write plot driven stories but my character development is also a huge part of the storytelling for me. I feel like you can't really have one without the other when you come from the plot driven side, whereas maybe the other way around it might be easier to live without a plot and just depend on characters.

When I read, it's all about the plot for me, but again the characters need substance or even if it's the best idea ever, it won't work for me.

[mare]

Again I am having wording issues. WTF? LOL Nothing is coming out right today.