Understanding your audiance

[BlackSnake]

I've tried to leave holes in my stories, so that the reader could fill in the missing pieces. Then I get this:

"...plus you never told us what there measurements were..."

To be fair, I used terms like "full" "soft" "appealing"...I could just express my personal feelings that anything more than a hand full is a waist, but I digress.

I just submitted a story that will probably get 1 bombed and fill up my email with hateful comments. I'm expecting it on this one called "Playa Playaat" The story is about a young man's struggle in his own reality.

I think I will have a problem with my regular readers. The tone is very hard compared to my usual stroke fests.

I think it's the direction I want to take my stories in the furture. Making them more real, with realistic drama and emotions.

For instance, in the story the mother doesn't given and fall in love with her son while he bangs her lights out. She has a problem with it and doesn't change that, although she isn't that cut and dry.

Anyone else worry about their audience when they are writing?

 

[Stella_Omega]

Yeah I do, and sometimes I wonder if I'm not aiming too high!
I feel like I'm writing for intellectual people who love sex- and maybe there aren't so many of those.
I get emails like yours, complaining about my lack of measurements, my mannish women, one girl complained that I made fun of the Rennaisance Faire and made her feel bad.... I can't write for the lowest common denominator.

 

[Guest]

Not worry, no.

I do wonder if they'll "get" what I'm attempting to convey, however.

One of my BDSM stories shows a Master being abusive to his sub. I recently received a Public Comment lecturing to me about how terrible that was, and how that abuse was the wrong message for the D/s relationship.

But that was the idea of the story (named "Who is the Master?") That was the entire POINT of the story, and it was totally missed.

Ah, well.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I consider who I am writing for. I always sweat it when I am trying new things. Thus far, my regular readers have proven to be stellar, forgiving and willing to sufer thrugh my experiements

 

[BlackSnake]

Not worry, no.

I do wonder if they'll "get" what I'm attempting to convey, however.

...

But that was the idea of the story (named "Who is the Master?") That was the entire POINT of the story, and it was totally missed.

Ah, well.

I'm changing my style a bit, and wondering how it will be precieved. In my new style, if a character grabs a woman's butt-cheeks at work, he get the dog shit slapped out of him and fired from his job. I'm trying to keep things a bit real.

 

[Guest]

I consider who I am writing for. I always sweat it when I am trying new things. Thus far, my regular readers have proven to be stellar, forgiving and willing to sufer thrugh my experiements

That's because you're so damn good, Colly.



(And your writing is good, too.)

 

[rgraham666]

My 'audience' is pretty much me. I write the sort of thing I like to read.

Haven't gotten many negative comments yet. One complaining that I was risking the main character's career by teasing her in front of her bosses. And one saying an appropriate end to the story would have been the cheating wife returning for a threesome with the main characters.

To which I can only reply,

 

[MichelleLovesTo]

I don't get criticisms about not giving measurements. I tend to get pretty nice feedback, BUT I know I could have a bigger -- albeit dumber-- audience if I wanted to pander.

Why would I want to arouse idiots? It would just cause them to go out and breed.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

There are things I'll compromise on and things I won't.

I usually don't care when people criticize the content of my stuff and tell me how they would have done it or how I should have ended it, or that my doms aren't cruel enough or my women are pushovers. It's my story, after all.

But I do worry about matters of style and tend to obsess about them. All someone has to do is mention that a story starts off slow, and I find myself falling all over myself trying to start the next one off with some slam bam action. I have stories I'm sitting on right now because they have three paragraphs of background before the action starts.

I can't help it. I write to communicate, not to hear myself talk, and any failure to connect with my audience truly bothers me.

 

[lil_elvis]

I can't worry about the audience, which is not to say I don't care whether they like it. I write what I write, the story is what it is and I do my best to be certain that is understandable and readable. All I can do is hope that they like it.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

That's because you're so damn good, Colly.



(And your writing is good, too.)

thanks

*HUGS*

 

[elsol]

Worry...no.

Shape evidence... of course, I'm a freakin' Republican.

At least to democrats... to republicans I'm a dippy rights hippy.

As to spaces for interpretations... I call them layer.

Layer 1 -- Stroke Reader
Layer 2 -- Congratulations, You can read!
Layer 3 -- Aha... college literature major
Layer 4 -- Hmm... you, sir/ma'am, are worthy of my respect.
Layer 5 -- GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!


Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[rikaaim]

Why would I want to arouse idiots? It would just cause them to go out and breed.

I'm sorry, but this is just too good to pass up. I love this little statement.

 

[rikaaim]

I think I take too many efforts to play down my stories and make sure that the reader gets the point. I need to be more bold and leave the obvious out. Let the reader figure it out. If they don't get it, oh well. The ones who do will enjoy the story so much better. As others have said, layers. That seems to be the best approach in this particular genre.

 

[BlackSnake]

I write generally what my readers have told me that they like. They have been loyal and quick to point out the differences in my style.

I want the stories to do more than get the readers pants wet. I want to envoke thought.

I've been trying to get my readers ready, by not allow the mother character to turn over as say "fuck mommy's pussy." The mother characters are doing more soul searching "I'm going to hell for this." And at least giving the son a few slaps across the face before she falls into her baby's arms.

Now, I want the characters to be more complex. I want to show that the character believes that he/she are doing the right thing, even when it is clearly morally and socially unexceptable. I want the reader to think what they would do if they found themselves in the character's situation. I want my characters to have flaws, some that are liked and some that are not liked by the readers. I don't even what the readers to necessarily like my characters.

I am trying to more towards a more realistic story that will bridge the gap between main stream fiction and erotica. A crime story with hardcore sex. Just no romance crap.

 

[rikaaim]

I write generally what my readers have told me that they like. They have been loyal and quick to point out the differences in my style.

I want the stories to do more than get the readers pants wet. I want to envoke thought.

I've been trying to get my readers ready, by not allow the mother character to turn over as say "fuck mommy's pussy." The mother characters are doing more soul searching "I'm going to hell for this." And at least giving the son a few slaps across the face before she falls into her baby's arms.

Now, I want the characters to be more complex. I want to show that the character believes that he/she are doing the right thing, even when it is clearly morally and socially unexceptable. I want the reader to think what they would do if they found themselves in the character's situation. I want my characters to have flaws, some that are liked and some that are not liked by the readers. I don't even what the readers to necessarily like my characters.

I am trying to more towards a more realistic story that will bridge the gap between main stream fiction and erotica. A crime story with hardcore sex. Just no romance crap.

It sounds like you really know what you want to do. I say do so confidentantly. Your readers will follow you if it's really what you want to do. At least I think they will. Sure, you may loose some, but you'll gain others. It's all give and take. You have the plan. Just go for it.

 

[BlackSnake]

Worry...no.

Shape evidence... of course, I'm a freakin' Republican.

At least to democrats... to republicans I'm a dippy rights hippy.

As to spaces for interpretations... I call them layer.

Layer 1 -- Stroke Reader
Layer 2 -- Congratulations, You can read!
Layer 3 -- Aha... college literature major
Layer 4 -- Hmm... you, sir/ma'am, are worthy of my respect.
Layer 5 -- GET OUT OF MY MIND!!!


Sincerely,
ElSol

My readers have that range, and those at higher levels excuse my spelling and grammer errors, but are the first to nail me when I try something different. I have to get out of my comfort zone if I want to reach my goal. I want to be able to put my face on the back cover and stand up and defind my works in public.

 

[BlackSnake]

It sounds like you really know what you want to do. I say do so confidentantly. Your readers will follow you if it's really what you want to do. At least I think they will. Sure, you may loose some, but you'll gain others. It's all give and take. You have the plan. Just go for it.

You say that now, but when "Playa-Playa: Pat" is approved, which I'm sure it will, you may change your toon. Well, at least women will find it offensive. I knew that it would be offensive when I wrote it, and that it would rub the better sex the wrong way, but the story is as real as it get; as far as attitudes go.

A few educated readers that previewed the story and said that it was well written. I could feel the cold from the absence of elaboration. Absolutely refused to add more. "Just not my taste" was said when I pushed hard.

 

[Weird Harold]

But I do worry about matters of style and tend to obsess about them. All someone has to do is mention that a story starts off slow, and I find myself falling all over myself trying to start the next one off with some slam bam action. I have stories I'm sitting on right now because they have three paragraphs of background before the action starts.

I can't help it. I write to communicate, not to hear myself talk, and any failure to connect with my audience truly bothers me.

I make one concession to the "audience" and that's "readability." Beyond making sure I write to a "seventh grade level" of readability, I write the story I want to tell in the way I want to tell it.

Some stories need to start slow and others need to start off with "slam-bam-thank you ma'am."

The only time criticism abaout a story starting too slow would bother me, is if I intended for it to be a fast start.

The best criticism I ever got was a complaint that a character's description made her "sound like a japanese school girl" -- they thought that was a bad thing, but it is exactly the image I wanted to convey.

The second best criticism was that that a four-way argument in dialogue was too hard to follow who was talking -- again, the exact feeling I wanted to portray; a four-way argument IS hard to follow and I wanted to convey the confusion.

I too write to communicate, but I don't particularly care what the audience thinks about what I communicate, only whether they got the image or mood I wanted to portray. I don't particularly care whether the readers like a story as long as they react to it.

 

[elsol]

My readers have that range, and those at higher levels excuse my spelling and grammer errors, but are the first to nail me when I try something different. I have to get out of my comfort zone if I want to reach my goal. I want to be able to put my face on the back cover and stand up and defind my works in public.

Oh... see, I never really cared about the readers in that sense.

It's my story until I publish it... then it's their story.

They have a choice... they don't have to read it.

My choice is to fight for a year and half not to write something, making myself miserable in the process.

Too fucking bad for the reader if they don't like the direction I decide to go in.

It's free... pay me and we'll talk about writing YOUR story and not mine.

Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[BlackSnake]

Oh... see, I never really cared about the readers in that sense.

It's my story until I publish it... then it's their story.

They have a choice... they don't have to read it.

My choice is to fight for a year and half not to write something, making myself miserable in the process.

Too fucking bad for the reader if they don't like the direction I decide to go in.

It's free... pay me and we'll talk about writing YOUR story and not mine.

Sincerely,
ElSol

That's the thing. I want them to buy when I have the story written the way I want.

 

[elsol]

That's the thing. I want them to buy when I have the story written the way I want.

In a sense, I think it's impossible to write in a way assured that someone will 'buy' it... especially if they already read your stuff.

It's like asking, why did JK Rowling sellout an 11 million first printing of Book Six in her series... some people will say "Marketing", others will say kids...yadda, yadda, yadda.

I see it completely differently... a damn-near perfect expression of what the medium is meant to do.

A story takes you away.
Music expresses something you already feel, want to feel, or at its best takes you back to the moment you felt something.
A painting evokes.
A sculpture expresses.

To me, the story needs to take the reader away... but some don't want to go on the journey.

I'm not a marketing guy... I don't want to make the reader buy the bus ticket. My job is to make sure they enjoy the ride every time to an extent that when I say... "Bus Ride to Timbuktu" they say "Oooh... Timbuktu."

I think of it very much like sex with a woman... if I make it good everytime, when I say 'How about some anal sex?"... she might be nervous, a little scared, anxious but she trusts me enough to know I"m going to make sure she has a good time.

If she says "No..." though... her loss, not mine.

I can't tell you how to make the ride fun... I'm writer... I let others come up with things like 'Structural narratology as an explanation of when a reader feels the story has come to an end."

I KNOW when I've come to the end... I write "The End".

If I had fun along the way, then hopefully my enthusiasm and pleasure will carry the reader to.

But again, if they don't want to buy the bus ticket... too bad for them, I'm a damn fine bus driver and excellent tour guide.


Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[cloudy]

I don't pander to a certain audience either. That said, like Zoot, I want my work to be readable, but that's really the only concern.

One of my favorite feedbacks was on The Warrior's Song, which deals with NA healing ceremonies. It said, "One of the dangers of writing about such a subject is the temptation to explain and often over-explain to the reader. I loved that you could present it simply as "this is what is", felt no need to explain, justify or give a lesson in history."

I could have attempted to explain it, but I'm not sure I could have. Either you believe in it or you don't, and explaining it to someone who doesn't believe won't make them believe. I trust my reader to either get it, or to backclick, but I'm not going to force things, it's just not in me.

 

[Boxlicker101]

My audience is people who want to read dirty stories and wank or frig while they are doing it. With that in mind, I try to have flowing sentences with no speed-bumps along the way. By that, I mean mechanical errors like typos or spelling or grammar. I use spellcheck but I don't rely on it because it misses many errors such as there/their, its/it's her/here and etc. I also try to avoid loose ends or loose beginnings. One time, a reader called me on the fact that I mentioned a man disposing of his condom and I hadn't mentioned him putting one on. That's what I mean by "loose beginning".

I have gotten some complaints from fans of anal stories about a lack of detail so I am now going into much more description of preparation, applying lube, etc. Ideally, I will include so much detail that the reader can almost feel himself or herself doing the things I am writing about.

I almost never use any kind of exact figures unless they are relevant. I sometimes refer to "large breasts" or "long hair" or about one character say "His cock is close to a foot long, and thick". I might use a quote or an indirect quote in the narrative if I want to be more precise such as saying something like "She told me her bra size is 38D, but numbers can't possibly convey just how succulent her breasts are." And, I would only be that precise if I am writing a story for somebody and he or she wants me to use it for identification.

 

[BlackSnake]

The feedback is in:

Incoming!

This sucks!
11/25/05 By: ***** in GRITS girl trapped in Iowa-SAVE ME!
I'm a Black woman who likes incest stories with Black people, but this has to be the WORST. Why must the mother be portrayed as some golddigging hoe? *sigh*

One day someone will write a Black incest story worth a damn. Sadly, this one is far from it.

Surely a 1 bomber. I have been watching the rating and as soon as I saw this pop up in my email I checked the rating and it slumped down to 4.25. But this was for "Sprung." This reader is going to 1 bomb every one of my stories once "Playa-Playaat" is approved.

Other feedback was much kinder:

Nice
11/25/05 By: ***** in usa
You did a great job on this story. keep up the work

Comments:

great story.ilike your work, it shows a true wicked imagination. people need to
remember that this is only a story! please do a part 2 to this.

Comments:

excelent stories love incest erotica would love to read more