What We Owe The Readers

[Paul_Chance]

I read an interesting article today about what authors owe readers and it made me think of lit.

The author puts forward that, in general, in exchange for the readers time, authors "owe" the readers five things:

1. A good "Character" that the readers can follow, interesting, distinct and developed.

2. A good "Voice" for the narrator of the story, that supports the tale and is consistent fpr the reader.

3. A good "World" for the story, again, consistent and interesting for the reader.

4. A good "Problem" for the character to resolve. The more interesting the better for the reader.

5. A good "Event" for the character to participate in and the reader to come along through.

So, here's my question. I know that here, in the AH, opinions vary widely on what we, as authors, owe readers - from "not a damn thing" to "everything".

At the macro-level though, outside of a specific story, do you agree that there are things that you, as an author, owe those readers who take the time to enjoy your stories, maybe even follow you, interact with you, or give you votes?

 

[lustychimera]

only if they're payin

 

[Cagivagurl]

Lusty has it right.
When you post a free story on an erotic story site.
You owe nobody anything.
LOL...

 

[Paul_Chance]

Two on the "nothing side" - do you think you at a minimum owe them a good tale?

 

[Carnevil9]

I'm in the "don't owe them a thing" camp. However, that is still a good list. But I'd rather title it something like "things which make a story worth the reader's time and effort" or similar sentiment.

I have a personal list of the three things which I believe any sort of written story needs to be "great." They are:

1. Interesting story and/or characters which keep the reader interested.
2. Well crafted prose that makes the reader feel something.
3. A sense of importance, so the reader walks away feeling their life has been improved for reading it.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Sorry, but I just loathe formalistic ‘must do’s’. I”m with Carnevil9.

 

[lovecraft68]

I recently stated we don't owe the readers anything here. An opinion I've had a for a long time.

As for the list in the OP, I agree, but we owe ourselves to do that and write the best story we can.

 

[lustychimera]

Sorry, but I just loathe formalistic ‘must do’s’. I”m with Carnevil9.

...but think about the exposure (‿*‿)

 

[TheRedChamber]

People are clearly going to be (and already are) picking apart that 'owe'. Really though, it's not a bad starting point for a discussion. Some thoughts.

- Is 'Character' and 'Voice' the same thing? And if it's not (and we want to separate the in-world traits of the character from the way that character is expressed through the PoV) shouldn't the first one be 'Characters' plural?

- I'd probably have "Problem" and "Resolution" as seperate items. Too many stories set up a great Problem but then whiff the Resolution.

 

[intim8]

I agree with the OP. I think people here are reading "owe" in the sense of some sort of legalistic oblgation. It isn't. But you're asking readers for their time and attention (else your story would stay on your hard drive), and in exchange, the implicit offer is a story that will be worth that time and attention. You "owe" them your best effort, but the only penalty for failing to live up to it is them not taking your offer next time.

It doesn't mean you owe the cranky and entitled readers anything more than what you think is a good story and the the best effort you can make at the time. You don't owe any specific person a story that they specifically will like, or a story that has this element or that, whatever. You just owe "readers" as an abstraction, a story you believe is good.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Okay, its a place to start, but it reminds me too much of the Discworld Fool’s Guild, with demoralized, browbeaten students drearily memorizing the seventy-three approved subclasses of pun, the listed pratfalls and the acceptable jokes.

 

[Bamagan]

"Good" is too subjective and therefore vague, as is "interesting," although perhaps the author of the article tries to stipulate what they mean beyond merely "consistent" or whatever. Without having read it, I think the article author is viewing things more transactionally than artistically. To the extent that a writer owes anything to anyone, I would be more likely to frame it as an obligation to the craft of storytelling, although even in that sense, it has more to do with successfully combining the elements of characterization and plot into something at least some people will relate to: if one fails to accomplish that, is one's creation even actually a story?
There are plenty of stories I've read which are considered 'classics' or otherwise hailed as literary accomplishments that I found uncompelling and unenjoyable for various reasons. That doesn't mean they were "bad" stories in any compositional sense, necessarily, even though I regret or resent the time I spent reading them. In the case of pleasure reading, though, one can simply stop when it ceases to be pleasurable. That's probably doubly true for erotica, where one person's squick is another's fetish.
It's probably also worth making a distinction, as some above have said, between amateurs/hobbyists and professionals. There's a mix of both here on the site, but I think it skews towards those that are giving their time and effort freely, and anyone who feels cheated when they spend their time here reading something they don't like has little reason to blame anyone else for their feelings.

 

[MyBareTorso]

I don't feel I "owe" the reader anything for clicking on my story and "giving up their time" to read it for free. I actually question how valuable the time really is of someone who spends a lot of time on an erotic fiction website, and that's not a criticism. It takes a lot more time to write a story than it does to read one, so I, ahem, don't have much time for those readers who complain about writers who have "wasted their time" with a story they dislike. I certainly hope my stories are fun and entertaining, and I work hard to make sure they read well, but I still don't feel I "owe" the reader anything at all. All they've had to do is click a link. That's a pretty low energy output for something that's taken me - hell, ALL of us - days or weeks to create. Everything changes, of course, when it's a paid experience.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Owe is probably the wrong word, but I do agree that as a writer you need to put something forth to engage the reader and not waste their time. I don't think that it's anything specific other than to entertain them is any way possible to make the read worth it.

However I know that there are several writers here that feel that the readers owe them something for the story that they so graciously offered for free.

 

[intim8]

I think the article author is viewing things more transactionally than artistically.

Any creative work is melding of the two, unless you indent for nobody to ever enjoy it. I think this is a good reminder of that. Art purely for art's sake is navel-gazing.

Doesn't mean you have to put the transactional aspect ahead of the art, just that they're both present.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I give readers the gift of my writing, and some thank me for it. Some find arousal from it, and tell me they've orgasmed. That's their payment for what they "owe" me. The rest of it comes down to my pride in myself as a writer, not to give them something shoddy.

 

[KeithD]

I'm in the "don't owe them a thing" camp. However, that is still a good list. But I'd rather title it something like "things which make a story worth the reader's time and effort" or similar sentiment.

Yeah, as I saw it as what a writer taking pride in their writing should do (and why bother to write if you won't take pride in the effort) rather than anything owed to readers.

I've posted elsewhere that I feel I owe making the story coherent with the grammar/spelling to be as polished as possible, because I do want it read if I've had it published anywhere and reading requires a time/effort investment--and I want my writing to be something I can take personal pride in.

 

[intim8]

I know that there are several writers here that feel that the readers owe them something for the story that they so graciously offered for free.

They do, ethically. If they found it worth their time, they owe an acknowledgement of it. Not a specific rating, not even a comment or a favorite... but unfortunately, on Lit those are the only way to do it. There should be a "hat tip" button, just the kind of thing you do when someone holds a door for you or something. A nod and a "thanks", where you just acknowledge that you read the story and don't feel it went back on the implicit deal to be worth your time.

 

[intim8]

The rest of it comes down to my pride in myself as a writer, not to give them something shoddy.

Yeah, and that's a lot of what this is about. What you "owe" your readers is really about what you owe yourself.

 

[Lumiere_Amie]

I agree with @MyBareTorso, I hope my stories are entertaining, but I “owe” nothing to the readers. I write for my enjoyment, and I post to entertain. My stats say I’m successful at entertaining. I agree that the OP’s list is what I consider elements of a “good“ story, but readers here are not that selective. I’ve read a lot of crap on Lit that has decent scores and positive comments.

 

[Mastered_again]

We owe the reader our best effort, nothing more, but nothing less.
We owe ourselves the joy (and agony) of creating something that is yours and yours alone. If your not emotionally linked with your work, why bother?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'm somewhat conflicted about this. The rational part of me says, fuck no, I don't owe them anything. The irrational part says that, at least to those who bothered to comment and share their thoughts, I owe to finish the story and not to fuck it up.
Objectively speaking, the rational me is 100% right, it's just that I am not an entirely rational person

 

[pink_silk_glove]

They do, ethically. If they found it worth their time, they owe an acknowledgement of it. Not a specific rating, not even a comment or a favorite... but unfortunately, on Lit those are the only way to do it.

You offered it for free yet they owe you?

 

[intim8]

You offered it for free yet they owe you?

It's courtesy. I'm not going to sue them over it.

My lament about there being limited ways to do that here was not to imply that they're obligated to use those ways, it was to point out that there is no reasonable way to leave just a simple acknowledgement.

As common courtesy, do you owe someone who holds a door for you (for free) a thank you, or at least a nod of acknowledgement? That's all I'm talking about here.

 

[Bamagan]

Any creative work is melding of the two, unless you indent for nobody to ever enjoy it. I think this is a good reminder of that. Art purely for art's sake is navel-gazing.

Doesn't mean you have to put the transactional aspect ahead of the art, just that they're both present.

I'll point out that I did use the word "more", which implies both are present.
Also, I do have a belly button fetish; navel-gazing is my jam.