The Balancing Act: Writing a crowd pleaser vs what you think is the better story

[John_Vandermeer]

Is that a choice you feel forced to make? I feel sometimes, sure, the two things are not in opposition. But other times it seems I either write the story that at least aspires to have depth, nuance and realism, or the story readers are going to lap up and love it.

As just one example, I find HEA is unrealistic on almost anything incest. The moment, or even the affaire, of passion is not necessarily implausible. But a HEA, or really anything other than breakup and likely heartbreak for at least one of the involved? Please... Yet HEA is what many incest readers seem to want.

I find what I end up choosing is to make some stories lean more crowd pleaser, and other stories lean "better" stories. And it is a choice.

 

[AlinaX]

I would rather write something that feels right, even if it's not what would be desired by others. HEA is always a fairytale ending; stick to HFN for realism.

 

[alohadave]

You keep it in the back of your mind, especially when you are writing a stroker, but even then write what you'd want to read.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

It is a balancing act, isn’t it? A major part of the problem is the nature of this site. Readers want sex, they come here expecting sex. Sometimes, of course, sex isn’t what a writer’s vision needs for a good story.

Rock, meet Hard Place.

 

[Euphony]

Everyone has their own balance.

I'm of the belief it is (personally) too difficult to write to my standard while also writing to spec. I am rarely truly in control when I am writing for mostly myself and the "best" stuff comes from the unplanned bits of wonder that occur when I can allow myself to fall into that flow state.

Trying to carry others expectations along in that process has rarely ever worked out for me.

Though, it could be I place a higher reverence on the stuff that comes out of nowhere rather than what is my everyday writing. (to me it feels common but my common may be better in some regards than other's b/c I sure as hell see other bits of amazement in what feels likely another author's ho hum I learned to bang these type inspirations out years ago so now it's a matter of course.)

I believe it is smart to train your skillsets to match the craft level of other's output but the application of those skills/decisions have to happen completely in my own space or I get style clash goobledy gook mostly.

 

[SimonDoom]

The way I deal with this is to do both. With some stories I follow my muse, reader be damned. With others I pay more attention to what I think will be pleasing to the readers. I wrote one story, Late Night On The Loveseat With Mom, with the predominant objective of attracting as many readers as possible.

Most of the time there is no conflict. I write what appeals to me but I find it appeals to some others, too.

 

[SirBurnInside]

I write whatever it is I have in my head at the time, post it and see what happens. My pleasure comes from putting what I've thought up into words and putting it out there for those who enjoy it to read. If not everyone does, so be it.

I don't try to please everyone, I try to write the best fantasy story I can and take it wherever I think it makes it most fun and enjoyable, regardless of if it's super realistic or not. I'm not one of those who writes the most realistic stuff.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Never an issue for me. I write what I want to write, readers read what readers want to read, and if they want to tag along with my stuff, that's fine with me.

It would never occur to me to stop and say, "Gee, I wonder what Susie might like to read today?" Because my muse would just say, "Who's Susie?"

 

[djrip]

Is that a choice you feel forced to make? I feel sometimes, sure, the two things are not in opposition. But other times it seems I either write the story that at least aspires to have depth, nuance and realism, or the story readers are going to lap up and love it.

As just one example, I find HEA is unrealistic on almost anything incest. The moment, or even the affaire, of passion is not necessarily implausible. But a HEA, or really anything other than breakup and likely heartbreak for at least one of the involved? Please... Yet HEA is what many incest readers seem to want.

I find what I end up choosing is to make some stories lean more crowd pleaser, and other stories lean "better" stories. And it is a choice.

HEA especially with incest may be unrealistic. That doesn't mean it's bad writing. A lot of what is written here is fantasy. Fantasy is a perfectly legitimate thing to write. If I write HEA, it's because I want to write a HEA fantasy, not because I'm choosing to please the crowd instead of follow my muse. Well I don't tend to specify what happens down the line but if I did.

And if I wanted to write a downer, I'd go ahead and do that too. There are readers for both.

 

[SamScribble]

It is totally pointless asking me if I write for ‘readers’, if by readers you mean the hordes of people who come to Lit looking for a quick thrill. I don’t give them so much as a passing thought.

First and foremost I write what I write. And then, having written what I have written, I vaguely hope that my arrangement of words will put a smile on the faces of the couple of dozen people who seem to enjoy what I write.

 

[John_Vandermeer]

I'm of the belief it is (personally) too difficult to write to my standard while also writing to spec.

That is an interesting question. I have, on occasion, "speced" myself (and so have much more experienced author's here. Nod to Em's tentacle porn), and sometimes what comes out is pretty good. Yes, too much spec can ruin our writing, but a little constrain can sometimes allow awesome creativity to flow.

 

[gunhilltrain]

That is an interesting question. I have, on occasion, "speced" myself (and so have much more experienced author's here. Nod to Em's tentacle porn), and sometimes what comes out is pretty good. Yes, too much spec can ruin our writing, but a little constrain can sometimes allow awesome creativity to flow.

Often if you write what you wish, the readers will like it too. Although, sometimes they won't; sometimes it may have to do with the subject matter. (Like you would think Dr. Phil is a good target for satire, but some people dislike him so much that they miss it.) I've admitted that I don't read a lot from other writers here (sorry guys), although I suppose I've learned something from reading "print-published" novels and short stories over the years.

 

[oneagainst]

Is that a choice you feel forced to make? I feel sometimes, sure, the two things are not in opposition. But other times it seems I either write the story that at least aspires to have depth, nuance and realism, or the story readers are going to lap up and love it.

I reckon it's a false dichotomy. I track my views and ratings and in the vast majority of times, the story won out. You might get a dip, but then there's the consistent upward momentum longer term as people find your story based on tags and following the likes of people they like. You realise that the story you wrote in the way that you wanted that tackled the subject your were interested in has a dedicated core of followers that are going to be unearthing it for maybe years. You go for quality, you win in the end.

 

[Bramblethorn]

There's a story about Kurt Vonnegut talking to Joseph Heller at a party. Vonnegut mentioned to Heller that their host had made more money in a day than Heller had earned from his famous novel Catch-22 in a lifetime, and Heller replied: "Yes, but I have something he'll never have: enough."

We can't please everybody, so it comes down to which segment of the readership one wants to please.

If I was writing to pay my bills, that might be "the largest possible segment", and I have nothing but respect for professional authors who treat their business like a business. For me, I prefer to write what speaks to me, and trust that readers who are on the same wavelength will appreciate it. That seems to be enough for me.

That doesn't mean I'm immune to the urge to please everybody; the urge to fit in is a strong one. With every new project I have to fight that "but will they like it?" and remind myself not to be afraid of the sound of my own voice.

 

[NotWise]

If I knew how to write a crowd-pleaser, then I might do it more often.

 

[Euphony]

That is an interesting question. I have, on occasion, "speced" myself (and so have much more experienced author's here. Nod to Em's tentacle porn), and sometimes what comes out is pretty good. Yes, too much spec can ruin our writing, but a little constrain can sometimes allow awesome creativity to flow.

Every discussion here balances on a matter of degrees. (extremes turning even a generally good procedure into rubbish)

I understand completely writing for contests/author's exercises but slavish devotion to category expectations or a bespoke story is where I get off the bus.

Can I do it? Have I done it? Absolutely.

Is writing mostly for others rewarding/therapeutic enough for me? Rarely. Rare enough to be worth the generalization it's usually not my thing.

 

[KeithD]

I give some regard to whether there will be an audience for something I write, especially in terms of where I'll submit it, bt that comes way on the short of the balance to writing what I think makes the right story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Readers want sex, they come here expecting sex. Sometimes, of course, sex isn’t what a writer’s vision needs for a good story.

I believe that comments such as this act as a creative "leash" to a lot of writers here, especially newer ones. Stories involving sexual activity are popular here, as they are in many other sites, but they are not the exclusive attraction for readers that comments such as this imply. Otherwise, there would not be categories here that cater to very successful stories with little or no sexual activity in them, and most of my stories would have bombed.

I write what I want to write, readers read what readers want to read, and if they want to tag along with my stuff, that's fine with me.

Where any author's contributions to a free-to-read website are concerned, this is the best philosophy to embrace.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Where any author's contributions to a free-to-read website are concerned, this is the best philosophy to embrace.

Yes. Readers are a bonus, not an expectation.

 

[PennameWombat]

That is an interesting question. I have, on occasion, "speced" myself (and so have much more experienced author's here. Nod to Em's tentacle porn), and sometimes what comes out is pretty good. Yes, too much spec can ruin our writing, but a little constrain can sometimes allow awesome creativity to flow.

I don’t see an issue writing to a contest or an event here, where there is a spec. But it generally follows the path of my Valentine’s Day story. My thought was to work in an actual human heart sans its original owner, given the ubiquity of such shapes for the holiday. That led to an EH story with a serial killer and a victim’s revenge. So… I had little, actually no, expectation of winning, thinking that’s not the sort of subjects fans of the contest want. That said, it’s definitely the story I wanted to write and the audience that found it, while small, seems to quite like it.

I also don’t get worked up that certain genres (or Categories here) have their common tropes and that readers expect those tropes. Those in which I have no interest, I simply avoid writing such stories.

If I knew how to write a mega-bestseller, I’d do so. Lacking that, I write what I enjoy writing. I like to write to some of the contests and events where it allows a challenge that fits my proclivities.

 

[stickygirl]

When I first started in 2012, I wrote what I thought was expected ( my infamous two fucks a page rule ). As that first series progressed I tired of writing to a formula and gained enough confidence to write what pleased me and what I felt my characters deserved to make them credible and alive.

I had a long break but when @electricblue66 chastised me for not writing I found I had several more adventures to share. I love to push my boundaries and so I still write for me, but I am my fiercest critic so like the worst authors, I am 'between books' and 'doing research'.

 

[John_Vandermeer]

When I first started in 2012, I wrote what I thought was expected ( my infamous two fucks a page rule ). As that first series progressed I tired of writing to a formula and gained enough confidence to write what pleased me and what I felt my characters deserved to make them credible and alive.

Confidence and tenure sort of come together though. Newer Lit authors like myself have to work to find an audience/build a followers list first, so as not to get heavily down voted and vitriol commented by a bunch of random readers that are not even addressing your writing, but simply that they do not share your kinks/fetishes or even interests. And being downvoted heavily enough does mean some readers would not even click to find out if they agree with the votes or not. But I recognize it is a parallel process. You write what you like/are good at, at the same time you try to get found by appreciative readers.

 

[onehitwanda]

In a year's time, which garden will please you more when you revisit it?

 

[stickygirl]

In a year's time, which garden will please you more when you revisit it?

My lady garden of course

 

[TheRedChamber]

For me, it's rarely a question of crowd-pleasing vs artistic integrity. Instead you make a thousand different decisions when plotting and writing a story and occasionally done of these become sticking points

- The happy ending versus the cynical ending?

- Would adding an extra chapter or extra 20k words strengthen the narrative or get it bogged down?

- Would the reader be interested in second, third or twelfth point of view?

- Is this twist as brilliant as I think it is or will the reader think it's needlessly convoluted?

I generally get a sense as I write about where a story is going to be on the popcorn pretension scale early on in the writing process and that often guides my decisions, but inevitably there are moments where I step away from my writing going 'I just don't know'