Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls How do reader suggestions affect an author's WIP?

This question is for the story writers out there.

Very often, a writer will post a story that has not yet been completed to the message boards. If a reader makes suggestions on what he/she thinks may happen later in a story, or thinks ought to happen in a story, what do you do?

I vote for the last option:

I think I'm in the minority of writers here, because I actually don't post anything until it is completely finished. I tend not to write in order and I tend to write in spurts, so posting a WIP wouldn't really work for me. So, when people post suggestions in my feedback, I'm unlikely to make major changes to the plot because the story has already been written. However, if I didn't want honest feedback, I'd post straight to the archives. While I rarely change major plot elements, I often change small things - scene orders, dialogue, word choices, etc. Every suggestion is considered.

Annie

Interesting poll, Roger!

I voted for 'all of the above'. While I have scenes written out before I start posting (writing linearly is not one of my strong points, although I'm getting better at it) I try not to stray from the overall vision that I started out with. On the otherhand, I value the readers comments and will often change and incorporate ideas that I think will make the story better while not compromising the overall premise.

I believe my stories turn out better when I take each comment and suggestion carefully and try see how they weigh in scheme of things.

Sometimes, someone will comment on a particular point and it's like a lightbulb that goes off in my head. Now why didn't I think of that!! Duh!

Missy

I'm not even going to vote since I don't post stories on MBs, but basically I'm with Annie here. I don't let people read my stories until they're finished. So mostly, I just end up changing some dialogue here and there if a few people think that something doesn't quite mesh.

Jen

I voted for the last "all of the above" option also.

I'm not sure if my opinion really counts, since I'm not even done with my first story, but I've found that posting it in parts really helps me to keep writing. As for suggestions, they are always helpful, in my opinion, but I haven't really strayed from my original idea. I have the rest of the plot for After Midnight outlined, so that part won't change. But if a reader makes a comment about some dialogue or suggests something really brilliant, I may use it.

Also, I've got a decent sized buffer as of now, so anything a reader says won't effect the next part to be posted. With that in mind, many of the things suggested in the comments folder will/may appear in the next part, but only because I originially wrote it there.

Comments are *always* good and always impact me as a writer, whether or not suggestions are made. LOL Am I making any sense? Okay, I'm going to shut up now.

Caroline

It's only been fairly recently that I've posted a story that was incomplete. But I can say that a LOT of what came up in comments for previous segments went into subsequent segments of Masques as I wrote on the hoof. Even to the point of tossing something in at the last minute (literally at times) just before posting the new segment.

That was one of the great joys of posting, I have to say. Listening to the speculations from readers on what might happen next often gave me ideas I had never thought of and definitely they shaped the story as I went along. To a degree that I've not experienced before.

I don't think I went back and changed anything due to a reader comment - perhaps the odd mistake - but if something had struck a chord with me I certainly would have.

I think reader input is one of the great benefits to posting in segments - all that free beta-reading. <g> Keeps you on your toes, provides inspiration you would never have come up with on your own, and is just way too much fun.

Definitely something I'd want to repeat again.

LabRat

Though my "extensive" experience in posting WIPs involves 1/6 of an ongoing round robin story, I thought I'd vote just so I can see the results of my own poll.

I voted for option 2, that comments would often be incorporated into future parts, even though I have no experience with that. I figured that these stories are as much for the readers as they are for the enjoyment of the writers who express themselves. As a once and future author, I'd like to think that the collective opinions of others can only improve a story if some of their suggestions are used. Obviously a writer can't use all suggestions and still stay true to an overall arc since readers usually aren't privy to the arc details.

I voted for the first option. As this is the first story I'm posting in installments at the same time as I'm writing it, I don't have enough experience with this yet.

I've used suggestions of my BR's and readers in 'There's Always Something' but they've never changed the future installments; I've always known exactly where I wanted to go with this story and I see no reason to drastically alter the plot. Nobody's ever suggested any plot changes, anyway.

Alicia helped me with medical information and that was so cool! That made me realize that - especially for longer stories - it's very useful to post them on the mbs.

Feedback is so essential! Needless to say, one or two BR's won't hurt either!

Ursie

I'll take help wherever I can get it! <g>

Generally, I won't change major plot points. I might tweak here or add a little something there, but it's gotta be a really *really* good suggestion before I'll change my plot. That said, there have been instances when I've posted, gotten comments, and ended up doing some extensive rewriting. I remember one scene (years ago) that got posted three times before I got the one we all liked <g> I might add a scene if readers feel something is missing. I did a major rewrite to the end of Hearts Divided, after the whole thing had been posted -- several readers had mentioned some things, and after looking it over, I had to concede they had a point I didn't fix it the way they'd suggested, but hey, that's an author's perogative <g>

And as Missy said, it's not uncommon for readers to point out things you hadn't even known were in there

PJ

I don't write stories so I can't vote and then I can't see the results. Someone let us know

Trenna, so far there's been one vote for "rarely change," three votes for "suggestions often incorporated" and seven votes for the "case-by-case" option

Maybe when we're doing polls, we should add an option for "not voting, just want to see results"?

PJ

...Why did I think that option was available...? I could have sworn there was a box to check or uncheck about viewing results when I made my poll a while back. But maybe I'm thinking of another MB.

Jen

I should have been smarter when I made the poll. I knew I wasn't really qualified to vote due to far too limited experience posting stories, but I figured the board would allow the creator to see the results. I was wrong. I should have had a fifth radio button that said:

I'm not a writer so I can't vote, but I'd like to see the results.

Okay, I did a bit of investigating and started (but didn't finish) filling out a poll. If you check the Advanced Options button before you hit Continue, somewhere down the line, there's a checkbox that says something like "Force Users to Vote Before Viewing Results" and it starts off by being unchecked... /me raises an eyebrow and squints The only thing I can think of is that if you don't check the Advanced Options tab, it automatically makes viewers vote before seeing results...? But anywho, thus ends to 007 adventure (or as I call myself sometimes 00jen).

Jen

I went with the first option -- the one that suggests that I won't take readers' comments on board. That's true as far as it goes...

When I start a story, I always have an end in mind. Like Annie, I don't write in a linear fashion; that makes it very difficult to post stories before I have a complete, or very nearly complete, draft available. That in turn means that I am unlikely to take on board any suggestions that conflict with my vision for where the story is going.

(Of course, I did write one story where I had a beginning and an end, and my muse decided to take a diversion on the route between the two so the story that turned out in the end was longer and more involved than I'd expected at the outset.)

Does that mean that I never take account of readers comments?

No. It does not.

I have received feedback for my current story that will get incorporated in the final archive version. However, these suggestions are in the detail of the story. So far, nobody has said that they have huge quibbles with the plot, so I haven't been tempted to change that! I'm not sure what I'd do if someone did point out a huge gaping plot hole. (I'd probably try to plug it if I agreed with the comments. If I didn't, I'd let it be.)

When I wrote EMI, Mere emailed me privately to point out an error. I changed the final version of the story accordingly (changing the location of a key discussion between two of the characters. The discussion remained the same, though.)

I guess the point here is that I will make changes retrospectively but, because feedback is reactive, and because I'll have so much of the story set out before a part gets posted, it doesn't dictate the path that the story takes.
I don't let suggestions that people make influence the plot in the biggest scheme of things. That will have been determined by the original spark of an idea that prompted me to write in the first place.

Where feedback does help, though, is to show what I am doing well / badly / right / wrong etc etc. Maybe it won't influence the current story, but it may well help me to improve on what I write next.

Moreover, it may be that a throwaway comment in an email might spark off the idea for another story... as was the case with A Most Irregular Joe.

Chris

Oh boy! Does that ring a bell!!

Ursie

As Pam mentioned, many of us take help where ever we can get it.

When I started MB writing I generally posted as I wrote, and didn't use a beta reader. I sort of depended on the commentors to be my stable of beta readers. And as such there comments could easily affect how the story was going to go from that point on.

But what I found often was, that it affected the story that had come before. I've related this story before, but during the posting of one particular story, I got an unexpected reaction. Several posters came down quite vehemently against some characterization that I had utilized. Upon reflection, I saw their point, and agreed with it. That necessitated rewriting a significant portion of what had come before and what I had written that hadn't been posted yet. But it did make the story better.

Now I find that I need to have a reasonable buffer before I start posting a story. This is because I don't want to get caught in a RL situation that forces me to have a long lag between parts. I know how frustrating that can be for the gentle readers so I try to avoid it. Toward that end I began to incorporate a super secret mystery beta reader to help me with, not only the grammar (which I stink at), but any major flubs and goofs that I may have used. In recent times, more than once has 'stuff' been pointed out that doesn't quite make sense, and I've been able to 'fix' it before it's posted to the boards.

Still the boards serve a good purpose. The comments not only tell you if you succeeded or failed in what you were trying to convey, but they can still help you hone the work that much more before allowing it to see its final resting place.

Tank (who finds that the one thing that the boards seem to promote is... sequels)

Do you want to know what I do with "Lois, Clark & Sharlynn"?

(or, what I did, before I started having trouble finding a BR and couldn't just stay idle?)

I wrote one part.
Posted it.
Read the feedback.
And then got on writing the next part.

Still, the feedback isn't really affecting me.
Once I have something to start with, I can just keep it going on, until... forever, and don't really need ideas on how to continue.
(have you watched "Finding Forrester"?)

For the stories I'm writing now I prefer to have a general plot in my head, so that I don't reach a dead-end when writing - just precaution, although thinking about a fic knowing that it will be a long time until you get to writing it or thinking about what is going to happen next knowing that you have to write much more until you get to that point can be very annoying sometimes.

Anyway, I think that, as others said before me, that feedback is more like a help. I mean, when someone starts posting a story, usually KNOWS what's going to come next, or at least has a general idea. Occasions like my LC&S situation are rare, I believe.
However, when you think you are stuck, you can use the feedback to help you continue.

"The one thing"?
I'm not so sure about it, but as if the boards promote sequels...
...They do, absolutely!!
And this really IS a case when feedback affects the future of a story.

Nice question, Roger.
See you soon,
AnnaBtG. (in her babbling mode, today)

P.S.: Since the not-voting-but-wanting-to-see-the-results issue came up, I suggest that we all use 00jen's discovery and uncheck "Force Users to Vote Before Viewing Results", or whatever it is, from now on.

Yes, very good question.

As a reader as well as a writer, one of the things I enjoy most about comment folders is the dialogue it is possible to have between readers and writers. Suggestions are made, hypotheses are proposed, and a discussion ensues. It's far, far more enjoyable still when the author responds and engages with the discussion, whether or not the author wishes to take any of the suggestions on board.

For myself, although I usually have a buffer (currently 6 pages, so don't expect a new post any time soon ) and at least one beta-reader, I never consider a story 'finished' until it's all posted on the boards and all feedback threads are pretty much finished. There've been so many times I've received excellent suggestions, corrections, helpful critiques and even brilliant ideas in comment folders and in private email about WIPs that not to take readers' suggestions on boards would seem crazy, to me. I know that many of my stories have been improved thanks to ideas people have given me and inaccuracies which have been pointed out.

So, while I chose the final option, readers' suggestions are immensely important to me. I won't accept all of them, for various reasons - I may not see the story going in that direction, it might not fit in with the plot, it may feel too similar to something someone else has written, I may not feel confident about writing the idea in question - but I value all of them, and when I think I won't utilise a suggestion, I try to explain why in my response.

Thanks for the poll, Roger; any more responses?


Wendy