As a reader do you like to have the choice to impact a story's plot or it does it turn you off?

[Dajoe1234]

As I'm writing mainly for my public, I'd like to increase their engagement with the story and I wonder if that'd be a way to do it. Some key plot points are non negocible from me while others are open to be modified.

Or is letting the reader choose(listening to him) going to backfire on me and you'd prefer the author to write the story completely without your feedback.

 

[Friendly_Kitty_Cat]

I feel that if you choose to become an Author you should also be confident enough in your own skills to push through with the story you want. No two readers can completely agree what a perfect story is, so if you go with reader group A/B's opinion, you'll lose group B/A.

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

I think it would be fun to create a novel idea of a character send by the gods to create entertainment for them as the readers can actually affect the narrative of the story.

Something like a villain that had to complete task given by the gods while the sponsors(I.E. readers) would drop events which would be voted off to affect the story.

Like, the villain only has to survive in the novel and a sponsor would drop an event which all characters are regressors or every heroines suddenly turned yanderes, something like that.

 

[Dajoe1234]

I feel that if you choose to become an Author you should also be confident enough in your own skills to push through with the story you want. No two readers can completely agree what a perfect story is, so if you go with reader group A/B's opinion, you'll lose group B/A.

You're right but most marketing courses tell you to focus on the customer and that customer retention is the best. I'm not trying to please other authors' readers but rather mine. I'm writing a story purely for me on another website with more traffic (Classic Fantasy) and it gets15x less traction than this one is getting. And while I'm passionate about this story, I've written it with concepts that some people can relate more to. If I wanted to sell myself the most, I'd write purely female-oriented erotica with cuckold/bdsm fantasies or pure litrpg but I have no interest to do that for the moment.

But I'm noticing that while this story gets 15x more traffic, I have low reader engagement and I'd like a way to remedy to that. And yeah, I've gotten a lot of hate for not writing 100% female-oriented erotica and while I can get beta readers and feedback for the fantasy story, I can't get any for my most popular story. I'd at least want to know what my reader base wants even if it's diverging things so I can at least know how to please some people some of the time.

I think it would be fun to create a novel idea of a character send by the gods to create entertainment for them as the readers can actually affect the narrative of the story.

Something like a villain that had to complete task given by the gods while the sponsors(I.E. readers) would drop events which would be voted off to affect the story.

Like, the villain only has to survive in the novel and a sponsor would drop an event which all characters are regressors or every heroines suddenly turned yanderes, something like that.

Yeah it sounds like a great idea for fantasy story. Mine could be a schizophrenic villain that believes could hear voices from God (My story isn't fantasy).

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

As I'm writing mainly for my public, I'd like to increase their engagement with the story and I wonder if that'd be a way to do it. Some key plot points are non negocible from me while others are open to be modified.

Or is letting the reader choose(listening to him) going to backfire on me and you'd prefer the author to write the story completely without your feedback.

just have it in moderation.

 

[HappyVainGlory]

As I'm writing mainly for my public, I'd like to increase their engagement with the story and I wonder if that'd be a way to do it. Some key plot points are non negocible from me while others are open to be modified.

Or is letting the reader choose(listening to him) going to backfire on me and you'd prefer the author to write the story completely without your feedback.

Depends on the type of story and your creative process. If you're the sort who can write to expectations and the story lends itself to interaction, it's great. If you can't, or if it's a completed story in your mind that just needs to be written, better to not let outside influences affect you.

 

[Dajoe1234]

Depends on the type of story and your creative process. If you're the sort who can write to expectations and the story lends itself to interIaction, it's great. If you can't, or if it's a completed story in your mind that just needs to be written, better to not let outside influences affect you.

It's not completed in my mind, It's a slice of life story and lend itself to various possibles scenarios that can happen at different point of the characters' life.

 

[Macha]

I tends to leave the author with a free reign of their own story. Unless it's a quest or a choose your adventure story, I finds it abhorrent to manipulate authors to bend to your whims. Plenty of promising stories turns disappointing because the author thinks their readers as gods.

 

[Arkus86]

I would say in general, it's nice when the author considers reader's ideas and maybe implements parts of them that fit in some form or another, but going too far to please some readers can easily backfire by turning away other readers, as you're now writing something they did not want, something that differs from the original style...

 

[Kitsura]

While I can’t say I haven’t ever drawn inspiration from my readers. I can say that I chose to remain fiercely independent in my plotting. Only the author knows the whole story and readers only know partial context which make their suggestions flawed.

 

[BigBadBoi]

Yes only if you go full retard and try to crash your novel with no survivors suddenly one day for no reason. Otherwise I don't care and try to have faith in your writing skills.

 

[TroubleFait]

I'm reading a story on SpaceBattles where the author regularly picks through the forum for good ideas and inspiration. He's the captain if the ship and decides where it goes, but he still makes his story better by implementing good suggestions.

 

[Jailbreak571]

I just write purely because I want to get the idea off of my head for a long time. Doesn't really matter to me if my story doesn't get any views because I just write as some sort of a hobby. Tho I would listen to my readers in some grammatical errors, side character development, world-building and some stuff like that but I would never listen to them if they want to change a major plot point of my story.

 

[Sabruness]

authors very occasionally using things that readers have come up with in chapter comments as part of future plot? no problem.

authors constantly using polls to allow readers to decide the plot? no thanks

Tho I would listen to my readers in some grammatical errors, side character development, world-building and some stuff like that but I would never listen to them if they want to change a major plot point of my story.

this basically.

I would say in general, it's nice when the author considers reader's ideas and maybe implements parts of them that fit in some form or another, but going too far to please some readers can easily backfire by turning away other readers, as you're now writing something they did not want, something that differs from the original style...

this too.

 

[Viator]

You are writing a story purely for reader's online engagement? It's not my style, but since you have clearly defined your goal, the only advice I can give is to remember that the masses are generally lazy. Give them minor input and they (may) be alright. But if you overload them with direct choices the majority will flee. Leaving you with a minority of individual readers who are just as likely to be winnowed further every choice you have them make, as inevitably some will be unhappy. After that, you might have a stable few who stick around, until your enthusiasm ultimately dies.

You might be better served with an initial poll asking your readers the type of story they want to read before you begin. Write a story with those guidelines yourself, then pay attention to the comments and use what serves you and your inspiration.

I am of the opinion that appealing to the masses might make you successful, but it will almost never produce quality, if such appeal is the main drive. Whatever happens, have fun exploring creativity in the chaos of that, learn from it, but don't expect a masterpiece. I wish you well.

 

[Dajoe1234]

You are writing a story purely for reader's online engagement? It's not my style, but since you have clearly defined your goal, the only advice I can give is to remember that the masses are generally lazy. Give them minor input and they (may) be alright. But if you overload them with direct choices the majority will flee. Leaving you with a minority of individual readers who are just as likely to be winnowed further every choice you have them make, as inevitably some will be unhappy. After that, you might have a stable few who stick around, until your enthusiasm ultimately dies.

You might be better served with an initial poll asking your readers the type of story they want to read before you begin. Write a story with those guidelines yourself, then pay attention to the comments and use what serves you and your inspiration.

I am of the opinion that appealing to the masses might make you successful, but it will almost never produce quality, if such appeal is the main drive. Whatever happens, have fun exploring creativity in the chaos of that, learn from it, but don't expect a masterpiece. I wish you well.

Yeah I guess it seems counterintuitive to everything we learn as part of marketing classes. I'll write what I want I guess.

 

[Viator]

Yeah I guess it seems counterintuitive to everything we learn as part of marketing classes. I'll write what I want I guess.

Well, in marketing class you're generally talking about a product you can mass produce. Writing is (generally) an art form, where the goal is usually to produce something with a unique brand of spirit. You CAN apply the principals of marketing to writing. That's how you get mass series written under the same formulaic patterns and tropes. That is applied marketing at work. People complain the stories are the same, but still read them. Established patterns that are easy to reproduce and sold. Examples are everywhere.

The trade off is, none of the written works come off as truly remarkable except perhaps the first to establish the pattern. They are palatable, they make money, but somewhere in the process the uniqueness that underlines artistic value is removed. It's like the difference between a one of a kind world-altering individual public speech, vs a mass of printed propaganda. The propaganda has it's place in history, but the speech lives on in the hearts and minds of millions to inspire great things. (Don't know if that is the greatest example, but you get the point.)

 

[Dajoe1234]

Well, in marketing class you're generally talking about a product you can mass produce. Writing is (generally) an art form, where the goal is usually to produce something with a unique brand of spirit. You CAN apply the principals of marketing to writing. That's how you get mass series written under the same formulaic patterns and tropes. That is applied marketing at work. People complain the stories are the same, but still read them. Established patterns that easy to reproduce and sold. Examples are everywhere.

The trade off is, none of the written works come off as truly remarkable except perhaps the first to establish the pattern. They are palatable, they make money, but somewhere in the process the uniqueness that underlines artistic value is removed. It's like the difference between a one of a kind world-altering individual public speech by an individual, vs a mass of printed propaganda. The propaganda has it's place in history, but the speech lives on in the hearts and minds of millions to inspire great things. (Don't know if that is the greatest example, but you get the point.)

Yeah, I get the point. You lose the artist's vision and you get an industrial product which isn't great. So Marketing shouldn't be applied to art. I will remember it. I'll keep on writing the stories I want to write and try to execute them at my best.

 

[Mephi]

Those are called Quests, are they not? Those types of stories are pretty popular on Space Battles and Sufficent Velocity.