"Give the Fans What They Want"

[MelissaBaby]

Food for thought from something I read elsewhere. Not a position I am necessarily advocating, but I am interested in other's thoughts.

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

My brain must really be going to mush because I don't understand this at all.

 

[lovecraft68]

You'd be a fool to try because what we've all experienced here is you can rarely make everyone happy, and often times one element you add to a story can make many happy but send others to the one bomb button.

My latest I/T story has a lot of people sounding seriously annoyed that I had the never to go with an element in the story many don't care much for.

But I checked my account and it seems I made the same amount of money on this one as I did on the ones most people liked

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

But I checked my account and it seems I made the same amount of money on this one as I did on the ones most people liked

The wisdom you shared in this statement would alleviate the angst from almost all of the gripes snd complaints we see in this forum if we’d all just live by it.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It depends on the motivation. I see a number of reasons for a commercially oriented author to do just that - pander to the readership. I see plenty of them taking that road in all kinds of media.
But for us, here? It would feel silly and pointless.

 

[Bamagan]

I think classifying fans into 'real' and 'fake' categories is kind of silly. One can be a fan of something while also feeling that it could be better, at least from certain perspectives. They might express it as constructive criticism or spoiled whining, but the sentiments can come from the same source.
That being said, creating or re-creating things based on the loudest feedback seems equally silly. Maybe they're hard to please or have niche tastes, and indulging them may not be worth the risk of alienating fans who are more easily satisfied. That doesn't necessarily mean their suggestions are garbage, though.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Yup.

https://variety.com/2018/film/opinion/william-goldman-dies-appreciation-1203030781/

William Goldman wrote a book "Nobody Knows Anything" about how people whose entire career is about making and selling movies still have no clue what's going to sell and what won't. I don't have any reason to think the average amateur writer is better equipped to gauge their market.

So why bother trying to pander to the market when one doesn't even know what the market is?

 

[Cagivagurl]

Food for thought from something I read elsewhere. Not a position I am necessarily advocating, but I am interested in other's thoughts.

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

The difficulty is deciding who your real fans are... IMO...
Is it the commenters??? The ones suggesting this, or that?
Or is it the quiet majority who simply read quietly???
Trying to pander to an invisible audience is a short road to unhappiness... IMO...
Please one and piss off another... Nobody wins in that endeavour...
Cagivagurl

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Wait, you guys have fans?

 

[dirk2024]

my latest I/T story has a lot of people sounding seriously annoyed that I had the never to go with an element in the story many don't care much for.

I just went through all your comments on this story. I am amazed at how bent out of shape some people got. Why were they reading a Taboo story in the first place?

But I checked my account and it seems I made the same amount of money on this one as I did on the ones most people liked

This is a 5 star comment.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Food for thought from something I read elsewhere. Not a position I am necessarily advocating, but I am interested in other's thoughts.

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

Fans follow me for what I write, which presumably strikes a chord with their own likes. I never set out to "please fans" - that's up to them, not me. They either like my writing or they don't, but I don't go chasing anyone's desires but my own.

 

[ruddygore]

My brain must really be going to mush because I don't understand this at all.

The only people you hear from are the ones that aren't happy with your writing.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

The only people you hear from are the ones that aren't happy with your writing.

Not true. I get more positive comments than negative by a large margin.
Yeah, I get the complainers and the nay-sayers, but they're a definite minority.

 

[SimonDoom]

I think it's more complicated than that. I don't quite agree with the expressed idea (which Melissa made clear is not necessarily her own) of what a "real" fan is. I agree with Bamagan that it's possible for a reader to be a "real" fan and yet think you could do better. In a sense I write for myself as a fan and as a reader, and I always think I can do a better job of pleasing that idealized fan. I don't write to do a better job of pleasing the people who comment negatively, but I do write in part to keep getting better to increase the fan base. I have a fairly positive, sanguine view of the fan base as a whole despite the ridiculous comments I often see.

 

[ElectricBlue]

The only people you hear from are the ones that aren't happy with your writing.

Rubbish. 99% of the comments I receive are complimentary, not complaints. But let me guess, I don't write in the same categories that you do.

 

[DeMont]

Food for thought from something I read elsewhere. Not a position I am necessarily advocating, but I am interested in other's thoughts.

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

@MelissaBaby,
Such a short question from a wordy... um... lady, and very interesting. Can I pose a counter question? Let's take author Dean R. Koontz as an example, he, as you probably know, writes horror fiction quite pointedly, graphically and with no excuses, what do we think would happen if he wrote a romance novel? Would his fans gobble that up just because Mr. Koontz wrote it?

On another note, let's look at one of my personal, and lifelong, inspirations Gary Numan, the Father of Electronica. I first picked up his (When he was the Tubeway Army with Jess Lidyard and Paul Gardiner) first album in 1979. Never looked back, even through his perceived "dismal failure" period in the eighties and early nineties I was still there and I am still there today during his resurgence and regained popularity. Yes, I can say that if Gary put it out I have it. Is that the meaning of "true fan" in your query?

What would you think of those two examples my dear colleague?
Respectfully, always,
D.

 

[THBGato]

I think on Lit, where we write for our own amusement and not for financial gain, there's no point trying to write what fans want. You should write what YOU want to write.

If, however, writing is your main source of income, then it may be a different matter. If you've a mortgage to pay, then maybe you do need to keep giving the fans what they want. I imagine that's the situation for many professional writers (not to mention journalists, musicians, actors, etc). The very, very top can switch directions and take the mass majority of their fanbase with them, but most can't.

 

[MrHereWriting]

Food for thought from something I read elsewhere. Not a position I am necessarily advocating, but I am interested in other's thoughts.

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

You're always going to give some fans everything they wanted while others are going to be disappointed with some aspects of your stories.

Real fans are the people who keep coming back, even if they don't agree with every choice you've made, because they trust you're going to provide them something worth their time.

As I've gotten older, I've realized I don't care what drives a writer's choices, so long as I enjoyed their work overall. Whether a writer claims to write for the fans or write for themselves, if my enjoyment ceases, I can walk away. I can still have an opinion on their work, and I can analyze it, discuss it, agree, disagree, considered it genius or garbage, but it's not written solely for me, but for an audience and whoever that audience might be and quite possibly, an ever-changing audience as the writer evolves throughout their own lifetime.

 

[THBGato]

Also.... fans don't know what they want. Most of my core fans (maybe 30 readers?) tell me that they love my slow-burn, friends-to-lovers stories.

Yet my most commented-on stories are one that features two strangers meeting the parents and exchanging "I love yous" within 24hours and another that's rivals-to-lovers, with the action taking place over a single morning. Both also have way more votes than two true friends-to-lovers slow burns that I published in between.

 

[Actingup]

Also.... fans don't know what they want. Most of my core fans (maybe 30 readers?) tell me that they love my slow-burn, friends-to-lovers stories.

Yet my most commented-on stories are one that features two strangers meeting the parents and exchanging "I love yous" within 24hours and another that's rivals-to-lovers, with the action taking place over a single morning. Both also have way more votes than two true friends-to-lovers slow burns that I published in between.

So it's true.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

I think another way of expanding on "the real fans are enjoying what they are getting" is to say that those types of fans can acknowledge and appreciate a writer's desire to write different stories, or a band trying out new sounds, or a filmmaker exploring different genres. A real fan may not always like the results, but there's an underlying respect there for each effort.

 

[TheLobster]

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they say they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

FTFY. You are conflating explicit and intentional feedback, like comments, with more objective measures of popularity like views. The former is indeed a poor measure for gauging what your fans want, but the latter doesn't have to be.

 

[StillStunned]

It is pointless for a creator (in any medium) to try to give the fans what they want, because the real fans enjoy what they are getting and aren't the ones making suggestions for changes.

Fans become fans because they enjoy what they're getting. Some fans will stick with a creator through thick and thin, defending even their poorest works while others drift away after being repeatedly disappointed.

So who's the real fan there? The fan who's dedicated to the creator, or the fan who's dedicated to the quality of their works?

 

[Bramblethorn]

@MelissaBaby,
Such a short question from a wordy... um... lady, and very interesting. Can I pose a counter question? Let's take author Dean R. Koontz as an example, he, as you probably know, writes horror fiction quite pointedly, graphically and with no excuses, what do we think would happen if he wrote a romance novel? Would his fans gobble that up just because Mr. Koontz wrote it?

I can't speak for Koontz, but I'd point at T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) as an author who's been successful in both horror and romance*. My impression is that there's a lot of crossover between those who read those two parts of her output.

Also, good to see another Numan fan here! Though I can't claim to have been listening for quite as long.

*Admittedly the romance has more than the average number of severed heads for that genre, but it's still distinguishable!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

There's options - give people more of the same, or give them what you want to give them.

If I give Lit readers stories just like what's already out there, why should they read my offerings rather than the existing stories with thousands of Favourites and followers showing they meet some standard?

Or I can produce something more personal to me, that's a bit different, and some people will be persuaded to try it and enjoy. Possibly it's the quality they like, or maybe just it's something a little fresh and a change.

The same applies to the local startup burger joint. The burgers are pretty good (not amazing), but it's their range of shakes and the spice options on the sweet potato chips that has them gaining loyal custom. I guess my snarky sarcastic Brits are my spicy sweet potato fries.