This is a casual variation on a reading circle. There is no real obligation to read each others' stories (although many of us do read each others' work already anyway), and no structured weekly discus...
"mercuryfoam;c-17643274" wrote: It’s something I’ve wondered about when I was writing B2WS1 and came to a decision midway that I think influenced my writing, or at least the way I perceived my writing.
That's a good point, with simlit you have the added factor that the reader interpretation might then directly influence the author to add another layer into the mix.
I try fairly hard to not let the way readers might be interpreting events to not steer me from my original intention, but as the story is still being written and I am semi-fluid with some of it, I'd imagine it must register with me on some level, even if it's subconscious. It's a weird double-edged sword, because sometimes it gives you extra insight into themes you might want to develop more or haven't considered, but then on the other hand, you shouldn't let it influence you too much because the readers don't have access to the full story yet.
I've definitely done minor adjustments to some of the story based on reactions - not any dramatic plot changes or changes to how I see the characters personalities and/or relationships, just little things - for example (minor spoiler for chapter 35 of BC, though I think you're all caught up anyway)
The only reason Tomax is even present in this chapter is because when he was referenced in the past, the initial reader reaction seemed to be imply that the general consensus was that something incredibly sketchy went down with him and he's rotting in a dungeon somewhere, so I thought I best throw him in to show that he is just a scorned ex, but indeed "happy, healthy and alive" (well, happy is debatable, but you know :D ) and not buried somewhere in the magic realm gardens lol
@lone_cat I feel like you could branch into so many sub-topics on this, phew!
"lone_cat;c-17644038" wrote:
As a reader, I usually don't like to know much about the author when I start reading. This is hard because sometimes I will read popular books and I already know a little bit about the author. I did like how the video explained reading as being a sort of intimate experience between author and reader. That I can relate to. I do find myself connecting to the reading, and maybe the author on some level, because I like the way they create a character or how imaginative the work is.
Same, most of the time I don't look up anything about the author and I don't really care, but of course, with some prominent names, it's become impossible nowadays.
In simlit it is even easier because everyone is anonymous. It is easier to “kill the author” because I’m not going to ask people about their personal views or personal history because that’s an invasion of privacy. I’m reading simlit because it’s fun and I enjoy the story, and I think it's kind of refreshing to have that anonymity.
The great thing about simlit is that it provides a pretty blank slate to start off with, because you know nothing at all about the writer's background and experiences, like you said. Though as you make friends with people on the forums it probably has to impact the way you read a story on some level... and then arguably in the simlit realm you do end up talking to people whose story you connect with on some level, so I guess that's even more amplified there. Just by chatting in this thread alone, we will likely have a different perception of each other's stories than someone who would start reading them say, by randomly stumbling across them in WP reader.
(So guys, if you think something in my story is pants, do not hesitate to say it just because I feed you make-belief pancakes :D )
Unless of course if the author is writing about something like finance (another random example) and it turns out they laundered a bunch of money or went bankrupt, then maybe I wouldn't take the book seriously anymore.
Haha that reminds me of some of the law of attraction self-help gurus.
Or the reader might interpret it a little differently than I had intended. I guess in this situation I think it's valid for the reader to interpret it the way they want even if that's not what I intended. Usually, when I see this, I'm like... that's interesting, I never thought of it that way. Sometimes I do offer my interpretation if I think the reader is lost (I'm writing some mystery with plot twists, so I don't want my reader to be completely lost and get frustrated). I think the more I write, the more I leave it up to interpretation. With my current story, I am not going to explain everything at the end, so the reader can formulate their own opinions.
Yeah, you can get some interesting insights! I never know how much of my own view/interpretation to offer, I feel like sometimes I play it very safe and don't give people enough, and sometimes I tell readers too much :D Like, I don't want to spoil people, but at the same time some things might never be directly explained, which to me is fine, but someone might find that particular point really pertinent.
It's a weird balance, because you obviously want your readers to see your characters/story the way you see them, but then no two people will ever look at one story the exact same way - but that's also the awesome part about getting to discuss them.
I think most of the time, I'm pretty solid on how my characters would react in almost any situation, but I don't exactly have an analytical reasoning for it other than "I feel like I know them," so it's definitely interesting to see the points people bring up.
That, half the time my thoughts are just a non-verbal stream of goo, so how can I expect anyone to see things the same way as me? :D
Edit: Haha! Got my first censored word, it wasn't even that bad of a word, lol.
Haha wow, congrats, I feel like I randomly run into flowers all the time and I don't really think I'm that much of a potty mouth, it always surprises me which words are censored.
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