Should I listen to the readers or continue with the story as planned?

[Mynamejeff]

Hello

I imagine that many have gone through the same thing, you are writing something with a general plan of how the story will play out. But as the chapters go out, readers begin to ask or demand for things that you already have planned to pass or explain later as the story progresses.

My problem is that in my story it is about a protagonist who has already finished his first adventure and as his second adventure progresses, he realizes that it is related to things that happened in the first, but little by little. The story begins right at the beginning of the second adventure, but my readers ask a lot about what happened in the first, although the story tries to tell the same thing but little by little.

So I don't know what to do, whether to make a simple summary of what happened, so as not to reveal the script twists I planned, to continue with my original plan, or to tell me everything. It's something readers have been asking me quite often about what happened in the past.

A guide of more or less how I had planned how to make my story:

First part
Appear a war against dragons The protagonist wins it with a gem that fulfills wishes in exchange for something and a sword At the end of the war, only the protagonist remembers what happened and ends in a world where dragons never existed.

In the second part, where the story begins
The protagonist is trapped in a war between nations and finds himself with the gem that fulfills wishes, so he wishes to protect it, and later he finds himself with the sword. As the story progresses and the enemies look for the gem, the protagonist tells his allies about his past in the war against the dragons, the price of making a wish on the gem and where he got the sword from. Because for the protagonist it is a tragic memory that he does not want to remember.

I imagine that readers are really looking to be confident that if I had the first part already completed so that there is no script hole left. But I think that if I tell that then it would spoil part of the story I had planned.

That is why I wanted to ask to see what you think about what I should do

Thank


I

So I don't know what to do, whether to make a simple summary of what happened, so as not to reveal the script twists I planned, to continue with my original plan, or to tell me everything. It's something readers have been asking me quite often about what happened in the past.

A guide of more or less how I had planned how to make my story:

First part
planned.

That is why I wanted to ask to see what you think about what I should do

Thank you

Just say it will be revealed later on if you don't want to reveal everything. Its better to send a clear message that there will be things that will only be explained later on in the story. Some of the readers are probably just asking out of curiousity and will stop asking if you tell them clearly that it is supposed to be a mystery.

 

[deltanz]

The only reader you should listen is yourself

Unless you're collaborating with a person for a story like I am on one of mine and they are the ones that brought the idea up to you but I agree otherwise. Though in my case we both give ideas and deny ideas as well.

In answer to your question, in cases for me it depends on what they are trying to get you to change and how much of it is something you don't like how they are trying to change how you want the story to go.

 

[Pujimaki]

Do what you want, it's your story.

 

[NotYourTypicalMan]

Reading replies in this thread made me wonder,

Am I the only one who didn't have an outline for my novel and just write whatever comes to my mind when I have the motivation to write?

You guys scare me. I need to leave.

 

[Leti]

Reading replies in this thread made me wonder,

Am I the only one who didn't have an outline for my novel and just write whatever comes to my mind when I have the motivation to write?

You guys scare me. I need to leave.

We need to leave. You're not the only one.

 

[Discount_Blade]

Blue ball them

What a young master.

 

[miyoga]

Following what everyone else has said, and being a reader, you need to follow your plan and not whatever it is "I" (readers) want. Adding to this, though, if you feel that your readers are wanting and you feel the need to deliver, then you could always do a prequel if it makes sense and if there's more to the story than what you're already planning to reveal. I've seen several authors take this route for similar reasons, they followed what they had planned but after some thought also found a story to tell that would appease "us" (readers). The important thing is that if you don't have any desire to do so, then forcing the story will only make you hate what you're doing.

 

[RedHunter2296]

Thank you very much for the advice you have given me.

From what I can see without a doubt sticking with the plan is the best long-term option for the story at the end.

Since most of the questions I receive seem to be about the doubt that the first part is actually planned. I came up with the idea of maybe Make the protagonist have a dream where he remembers in a super vague way a couple of parts of the first part, so that readers can be calm a bit with what I really have a plan in history. Maybe it even helps me to reinforce a couple of points, such as the fact that the protagonist is really terrified of his past and therefore wants to forget it.

 

[RedHunter2296]

Reading replies in this thread made me wonder,

Am I the only one who didn't have an outline for my novel and just write whatever comes to my mind when I have the motivation to write?

You guys scare me. I need to leave.

About that, I would recommend that you plan well what you want to tell. It does not necessarily have to be from beginning to end, but simply to have an idea of what to do in the next story arc to be able to bring the story to exactly that without being weird or rushed. It's even funny sometimes

More than once I have made a lot of single scenes with incredible things but with different themes and then I plan how to connect those scenes so that they are part of a story.

For example, a scenes of a bank robbery that I thought would be great, and the next great idea I came up with was a space battle. Well, to connect the two scenes and it seems that they make sense, I would make the thieves not know that they were stealing and that they did it for a mysterious person, who turned out to be an alien who needed the defense plans of the city to invade it, which were stored in the bank. So the thieves to protect the planet they steal the ship to stop it. And along the way they run into another alien race that is against the first and decide to help them, giving way to the space battle.

Ok I think I got excited about writing that XD

 

[Deleted member 46002]

Reading replies in this thread made me wonder,

Am I the only one who didn't have an outline for my novel and just write whatever comes to my mind when I have the motivation to write?

You guys scare me. I need to leave.

You are not alone

 

[BenJepheneT]

Reading replies in this thread made me wonder,

Am I the only one who didn't have an outline for my novel and just write whatever comes to my mind when I have the motivation to write?

You guys scare me. I need to leave.

No, in fact, we admire your fearlessness; to put faith in your ability to write attractive proses and on-the-go plot to keep readers engaged whilst having zero to no plan. We make plans and outlines PRECISELY because we can't do that shit.

In fact, I'm fucken jealous. I have dozens of ideas for harem/ecchi/fantasy series and I just can't write them because I'm not confident on coming up interesting plot points and scenarios on the fucken go without making a giant outline as a failsafe.

That is your strength and your holy grail; your ultimate move; your means of destructive force. We plebians have to monke-brain our way to form cohesive thoughts while you construct elaborate bridges with the raw processing power of your own fucken mind. I wish I had that power but alas, monke brain is all I have.

Hold true to your strength and revel in it. What you don't have is made up by what you excel in. Don't worry on what you can't do and celebrate in what you do best.

What a young master.

How else do you think I got you hooked?

 

[Jemini]

Thank you very much for the advice you have given me.

From what I can see without a doubt sticking with the plan is the best long-term option for the story at the end.

Since most of the questions I receive seem to be about the doubt that the first part is actually planned. I came up with the idea of maybe Make the protagonist have a dream where he remembers in a super vague way a couple of parts of the first part, so that readers can be calm a bit with what I really have a plan in history. Maybe it even helps me to reinforce a couple of points, such as the fact that the protagonist is really terrified of his past and therefore wants to forget it.

This reminds me of another author's story, one of the ones I might even recommend if the author ever starts writing for it again. (they seem to be on an extended hiatus.)

A Former Hero’s Journey : I just want to live peacefully!

She, a summoned hero from another world, fulfills her destiny and dies. Only to be reborn back in modern Japan along with her powers. Now she just wants to live peacefully.... So why is there a Summoning Circle in the classroom? Discord: https://discord.gg/8CEJD8NrKD (Author: English is...

www.scribblehub.com

So far as this sort of plot goes, it's not important for the readers to know what happened in the 1st adventure. In fact, it benefits the story if they are not told. However, it is VERY important that YOU (the author) has a very good idea of what happened in the 1st adventure. So long as you fill that requirement, the story is golden.

I think the best example I've seen of this sort of plot in history would be Fate//Stay night. This story follows the 5th holy grail war, but the 4th holy grail war which took place just 10 years prior plays a MAJOR role in the plot and a lot of rather specific details are given about the 4th holy grail war over the course of the events in the V-novel / anime adaptations.

Now, some people might get confused here because of the prequil, Fate//Zero. Here's the thing, Fate//Zero was actually a book written years after the original Fate//Stay night. The team who made the original actually hired an author to write it, and he based the story of Fate//Zero off the key details provided in the original story.

THAT shows a truly excellent amount of world-building based off history. In fact, the level of detail where they have an entire other story hidden under the first in the form of such a prequil is to such a masterful level that I do not think I have ever seen such a thing done this well before or since. You don't have to know your world-bulding history material as well as Fate//Stay night did, but you really should at least draw inspiration from this master work if you are going to be writing a story of this sort.

 

[KaiKai]

Depends i‘d say. On the quality and how good you are? And how much you care?

If its Rayvin nights level of bad where we dont speak about plot holes but gaping plot voids and question the sanity of characters, better listen to the feedback and extract information to better yourself.

If we talk about Journey of Black and Red level of quality, be just aware of the feedback and do your thing.

They are afterall readers and invested. If you plan to better yourself and are able to objectively reflect on it and strive for a carrier it will be a guiding help, even from idiots that want to impose their worldview on you.

An authors arrogance on „i write and do whatever i want!“ will seldom help however if you genuinly care. I believe the exsessive use of cliffs will also play a huge part in people trying to influence or guessing where it will go, since expectations will gradually rise until the author cannot fullfill and cover them on a individual base.

Honestly, Journey of Black and Red is a gold standart of mine and the self contained chapters barely leave room for someone to be left wanting and thus trying to impose their opinions. Here all that ever gets mentioned is the wonderment of how things will continue.

On the other hand in Rayvin nights: the people that still care, all just want a lead character to finaly die, to stop alot of nonsense and ending a mariana trench level cliff. They actively wish for it.

What i want to say, i see a correlation between how much/long you leave readers hanging and them being/growing demanding.

 

[Sylvie]

There are all kinds of people with different ideas. A few readers who have given their suggestions do not represent your whole reader base. If you want to, you can add a few nice scenes which are minor and do not affect the storyline. But the major plot points HAVE to be decided by you. I've seen many authors who give in to readers and their novels turn into a mess full of plot holes.

If you are on the fence about the direction that your story has to take, you can interact with your readers and take their opinion by giving them a bounded choice where they have limited options, all of which you feel are reasonable, to choose from.

 

[TotallyHuman]

Hello

I imagine that many have gone through the same thing, you are writing something with a general plan of how the story will play out. But as the chapters go out, readers begin to ask or demand for things that you already have planned to pass or explain later as the story progresses.

My problem is that in my story it is about a protagonist who has already finished his first adventure and as his second adventure progresses, he realizes that it is related to things that happened in the first, but little by little. The story begins right at the beginning of the second adventure, but my readers ask a lot about what happened in the first, although the story tries to tell the same thing but little by little.

So I don't know what to do, whether to make a simple summary of what happened, so as not to reveal the script twists I planned, to continue with my original plan, or to tell me everything. It's something readers have been asking me quite often about what happened in the past.

A guide of more or less how I had planned how to make my story:

First part
Appear a war against dragons The protagonist wins it with a gem that fulfills wishes in exchange for something and a sword At the end of the war, only the protagonist remembers what happened and ends in a world where dragons never existed.

In the second part, where the story begins
The protagonist is trapped in a war between nations and finds himself with the gem that fulfills wishes, so he wishes to protect it, and later he finds himself with the sword. As the story progresses and the enemies look for the gem, the protagonist tells his allies about his past in the war against the dragons, the price of making a wish on the gem and where he got the sword from. Because for the protagonist it is a tragic memory that he does not want to remember.

I imagine that readers are really looking to be confident that if I had the first part already completed so that there is no script hole left. But I think that if I tell that then it would spoil part of the story I had planned.

That is why I wanted to ask to see what you think about what I should do

Thank you

If you don't want to tell them - don't. It's not like they gonna eat you for that

 

[Ai-chan]

Hello

I imagine that many have gone through the same thing, you are writing something with a general plan of how the story will play out. But as the chapters go out, readers begin to ask or demand for things that you already have planned to pass or explain later as the story progresses.

My problem is that in my story it is about a protagonist who has already finished his first adventure and as his second adventure progresses, he realizes that it is related to things that happened in the first, but little by little. The story begins right at the beginning of the second adventure, but my readers ask a lot about what happened in the first, although the story tries to tell the same thing but little by little.

So I don't know what to do, whether to make a simple summary of what happened, so as not to reveal the script twists I planned, to continue with my original plan, or to tell me everything. It's something readers have been asking me quite often about what happened in the past.

A guide of more or less how I had planned how to make my story:

First part
Appear a war against dragons The protagonist wins it with a gem that fulfills wishes in exchange for something and a sword At the end of the war, only the protagonist remembers what happened and ends in a world where dragons never existed.

In the second part, where the story begins
The protagonist is trapped in a war between nations and finds himself with the gem that fulfills wishes, so he wishes to protect it, and later he finds himself with the sword. As the story progresses and the enemies look for the gem, the protagonist tells his allies about his past in the war against the dragons, the price of making a wish on the gem and where he got the sword from. Because for the protagonist it is a tragic memory that he does not want to remember.

I imagine that readers are really looking to be confident that if I had the first part already completed so that there is no script hole left. But I think that if I tell that then it would spoil part of the story I had planned.

That is why I wanted to ask to see what you think about what I should do

Thank you

In Ai-chan's opinion, you should just continue to write as you originally planned. Don't throw away user input but don't use user input as is. It is your story, you know your characters and where it is going to. Admittedly, sometimes as author we missed the obvious things and we had to rely on the readers to tell us about it. In that case, you could change some parts of your story. Maybe nothing drastic, but enough to plug up a plot hole that you didn't know exist.

Apart from that, user input does have its place. For example, maybe your user think the protagonist should've done this, instead of that. Take note of it and use that input to make the story better in the future chapters. Maybe your protagonist bought an apple with his last bit of money, and your reader said he should've bought a knife and go hunt monsters in the sewers instead. That's a fair point, and if you want to use that input, you can perhaps make a future scene where he ate the apple, but as he was about to throw it away, he realized that it could be used as rat bait. So he went into the sewer, used the leftover apple and bagged himself a couple of monster rats, which he sold to buy a knife.

In many cases though, your readers are just telling you their expectation and didn't actually expect you to make changes to the story. They'd probably say, "I hope Adam and Brian get together instead of with that lying bitch Connor." In no way does that mean the reader expect you to pair up Adam and Brian together. You can continue writing your story as you originally planned. Some people may not like it, but that's life. If you try to satisfy everyone, you satisfy no one. Best to satisfy yourself and hope some of your readers are satisfied too.

 

[Reisinling]

Just one request: don't become one of those authors, who when their readers guess future plot development in their story, change it just to be surprising/ out of spite. If people guess what you want to do it's usually a good thing.

 

[Wintertime]

Write the story the way you want, and the readers will voice their thoughts on how they view it. Don't change it for the readers, change it for yourself.