# How do you take people's suggestions if you shouldn't write by committee?



## ironpony (Jun 27, 2019)

I got some opinions on my screenplay, and so far the readers made suggestions that I should make changes to the parts of the plot, but I feel like I cannot just swap one thing out for another without it effecting the entire story.  The story and plot are like a building full of jenga blocks and you pull one out and the rest come tumbling down.

So I feel that even if you show your story to readers, you cannot even implement any of the recommended plot changes, and your only choice is to release it to people, and hope that it's good, cause changes are almost impossible accept for the maybe odd lucky one that doesn't infect everything else.  Do you find this is normal?


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## Rojack79 (Jun 28, 2019)

If you are writing a fanfiction than yeah go ham and do whatever you want. If your writing a serious novel, screenplay, or script then take people's considerations under advisement. Write them down on a separate sheet of paper, go back to the screenplay and see what you can change and what can't be taken out.


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## JustRob (Jun 28, 2019)

I don't know anything about writing screenplays but I believe that they are mostly commissioned works rather than freelance ones, so there are people reading them who know what they want and expect to get it. There are many other factors in screen productions, such as likely actors to play parts and what their abilities are, the production costs and hence settings and so on. In theatrical productions the writer is likely to develop his work progressively alongside the actors in a workshop environment. Hence I don't know how one should develop an entirely freelance screenplay devoid of such constraints, if that is what you are doing, and can only comment as I would for a piece of literature, so I will do that.

There are two distinct things that critical readers can do. They can tell you their reactions to your work and also they can tell you how they would change it. If they tell you the latter without first telling you the former then they aren't providing critique but just rewriting your story. Separate out from their critique their specific reactions to your version and decide how you feel about them before taking any notice of their suggestions for changes in those areas. Perhaps they haven't seen how the whole thing hangs together, in which case possibly that's their failing or else you've been too subtle with the cross-connections and need to make them more obvious to deflect such suggestions. It helps if they have an outline of what you are attempting to achieve so that they can gauge whether you are succeeding in that particular respect.

When I sent an extract from my draft novel to a professional reader for assessment he primarily told me to focus on writing about a minor character in the story whom he found fascinating and wasn't at all helpful with his comments on my story line. He had become so fixated on this character that he'd missed the main thread of my story. I told him that his suggestion would no doubt make a good story if written by someone else but it wasn't the story that I was writing. He wasn't too pleased that I was going to stick to my own story line, but then he'd only read a relatively small extract from it. I fixed the problem by moving the fascinating minor character further into the background of the story to prevent anyone else becoming so fixated on him, so this reader's reactions did actually serve a purpose. Such things do happen, so be clear about what you are trying to achieve and then stick with it. You don't want just to be told _that_ your work will fail but _why_ it will.


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## Bloggsworth (Jun 28, 2019)

That rather depends on how many camels you own.


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## JohnCalliganWrites (Jun 28, 2019)

what if a suggestion makes your story better? You are still the conductor, and you have to decide if it is worth doing all that rewriting. Sometimes we get in the way of our own vision.


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## ironpony (Jun 29, 2019)

Well I feel that some suggestions have made the story but when I am suggested to change the pay off, I don't know why I am doing it really.  Plus I would have to change everything that builds into the pay off, which means rewriting almost all of it, if not all.  So I feel anything that changes the pay off has been problematic, cause even if I did try to detach from my own vision, I don't know what I am writing, when trying to build into a pay off that is someone else's and I don't know how or why they got there, if that makes sense?


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## bdcharles (Jun 29, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Do you find this is normal?



Yes.

To add to that, I keep foremost in mind the fact that I am both author and authority in my stories, and suggestions have to get past me first. They may be perfectly sound but they have to be the right style, the right moment, not interfere with the structure as you say, not mess with the flow, before I consider including them. There’s a lot that goes into that decision. I know my story better than anyone. But even before that, the key is to spend time with it. Edit. Reread. Edit and reread again. It can take years, often in isolation, but that’s just the way it is.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jun 29, 2019)

Like I've said before, you never actually take reader's advice.
Readers are schmucks, content consumers, bovine masses.
They lack the creative spark.

But when a reader suggests an alternate ending, it is because they felt that what you wrote did not blow up their skirt.
*Anytime that readers suggest alternative storylines, it is a sign that you wrote it so poorly that the reader thought they could do a better job*.
It means you need to make it better, but not necessarily do that thing the reader suggested.


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## ArrowInTheBowOfTheLord (Jun 30, 2019)

Ralph, if that's the way you see your readers maybe you need some new ones! Personally, to avoid this problem I first get advice from people who have proved time and time again that they know what they're doing, understand what I'm trying to do (important), and are honest with me. I will secondly go to a site like this, but then I take the advice more carefully and usually check what kind of work the critiquer themself creates.


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## luckyscars (Jun 30, 2019)

Ralph Rotten said:


> Like I've said before, you never actually take reader's advice.
> Readers are schmucks, content consumers, bovine masses.
> They lack the creative spark.
> 
> ...




Oh geez.

There are no such thing as 'readers'. What there are, are individual human beings who happen to read. Some of those, believe it or not, will definitely know more about writing than you (writers are readers too!) and others will know more about the subject matter because of who they are. And, of course, some will know nothing of particular importance... 

OP: Who is making the suggestions? If it is a fellow writer who has been successful in a similar genre and their advice is about a structural or character issue, or if your reader is a veteran police detective and their comment is that your detective character is behaving in a way that is unnatural, obviously you should listen to that closely, because they are qualified and therefore probably correct. These are 'experts'. Conversely, if your reader is some neck-beard who lives in his mothers basement and their feedback is 'more titties please' then obviously that should not be listened to. Because they are unqualified. 

Advice must be vetted where possible. Of course, in reality a lot of the time it is impossible to vet anything, thanks to the glorious internet. So, I hear you ask, what's the solution to that? 

I suggest rather than dismissing comments, as Ralph suggests, the writer should look for _patterns: _When you pick a hotel online and see 100 reviews within a similar time period and ninety-five of which mention the hotel being spotlessly clean but five of which mention it being horrifically dirty, it is sensible to assume that the hotel is probably going to be clean, right? Maybe not perfect, but clean enough to do the job. 95/100 people thought so. You don't fixate on the five outlier reviews, you ignore them and book the hotel. 

Otherwise, ironpony, you will experience a situation where you have no hotel. _You _are looking for the perfect accommodation here, and yet you have proven your neurosis extends to a hapless muddle. The moment you hear that somebody once found a dried-up condom under the sheets back in 2005, you are canceling everything in a panic and starting over, only to repeat the cycle. 

This has been explained to you repeatedly. 
Repeatedly you have been told to think for yourself.

But, of course, thinking for yourself doesn't mean shitting on readers or otherwise ignoring good, honest advice. 

Patterns, man! 

If ten people respectfully tell you your story sucks, and you have no reason to doubt their existence or integrity or motive...your story probably sucks, okay? If it's 50 people, let's say it _definitely _sucks. But, if 50 people have read your work and maybe 2 or 3 called you out on whatever, at that point it's a judgment call. What do the other ~45 people say? You need to make your own mind up based on your assessment. You need to own the decision from there: Is this actually a real problem, or is it a condom-under-the-bed-sheets-circa-2005 problem?

Patterns, man.


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## ironpony (Jun 30, 2019)

Oh sorry, I don't mean to imply that I am shitting on readers or anything, that is definitely not my intention.  It's just I don't know how to apply the advice, since if they tell me that I have a plot hole, and they tell me how to fill it, I can't do that without opening other ones, if any changes are made.

So I wasn't sure how to apply the advice if doing so, opens up more, that's all.


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## bdcharles (Jun 30, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Oh sorry, I don't mean to imply that I am shitting on readers or anything, that is definitely not my intention.  It's just I don't know how to apply the advice, since if they tell me that I have a plot hole, and they tell me how to fill it, I can't do that without opening other ones, if any changes are made.
> 
> So I wasn't sure how to apply the advice if doing so, opens up more, that's all.



At the end of the day you should have a better grasp on your story, or screenplay, than readers do. If they are finding plot holes, ideally you would already be aware of them being there (even if dimly). If not, and these plot holes are both catching you by surprise and creating more problems, you may have to look at the possibility that your project is too complex. You might have to consider a rewrite. It is by no means unheard of for writers to have to do this. Could you break it down into some sort of serial to simplify it? And / or - and this is probably heresy but it happens too - is there some way you can gloss over the plot holes so that people may not notice? I can't shake the notion that your project may have arrived at that stage.


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## ironpony (Jun 30, 2019)

Oh well, it's just that it's hard to change the plot holes without rewriting everything, and I would still like to keep the ending I have if possible.

It's just that in order to change the plot holes and rewrite everything, I need to know what ending the rest of the plot is building into, and since the readers don't know, how can I know, and therefore have trouble applying the changes of what a character would do, or what would happen instead.  If I take the changes recommended as to what should happen, I don't know why it's happening, and where it's all going then, so not sure how to write it therefore.


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## Olly Buckle (Jun 30, 2019)

I would listen to suggestions about the writing to the point of "I would put that first because it could make it sound as though...", but I would ignore suggestions about the plot. To me that is just them wanting you to write their story; not yours. If they want a different plot let them write their own story!

PS. Don't worry too much about 'plot holes' either, if the story is good enough the reader is tied up in it and will ignore them.


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## Bmad (Jul 1, 2019)

I'd say if there is at least a common theme among the critiques, try writing a simple branch off while writing the main story. Doesn't need to be detailed. A simple outline will work. Come back to it later and see if it speaks to you.
If you feel that you have to rewrite huge parts of your own story out of doubt, you may not have been as committed to your work than you thought.


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## ironpony (Jul 1, 2019)

Oh okay.  Well the doubt it caused by readers saying they couldn't suspend their disbelief, as it too illogical to so.  So it's not that I wasn't committed enough I don't think, it's just that when the say that, that gives me doubt.

One thing I was told is that since the story is told mostly from the hero's point of view, the villains remain too much of a mystery and unexplained till later.  But the reader is not going to wait until later, they are going to assume the villains do not make sense, and tune out before waiting till the reveals.  So if that's true, how does one get the reader to think, it's okay, it will all make sense in the end, once everything is revealed and explained?


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## luckyscars (Jul 1, 2019)

ironpony said:


> So if that's true, how does one get the reader to think, it's okay, it will all make sense in the end, once everything is revealed and explained?



Readers probably aren't ever going to think that, regardless of what you do. Suspension of disbelief isn't really a matter of conscious choice. You can't choose to switch off your skepticism beyond a very limited point.  

Good writing feels real, it's that simple. A story about a talking aardvark who becomes sheriff of Atlantis and saves a three-headed princess from a criminal tomato plant obviously requires a greater suspension of disbelief than a novel about two millennial singles looking for love in contemporary New York City. 

But it is entirely possible for the former to feel more realistic than the latter, not because the subject matter is more credible (it obviously isn't) but because the former could simply be written really well where the latter could be lumpen.

That's essentially what the people who talk about The Stupidity Of Readers are meaning, I believe. It's not that anybody thinks readers are actually stupid in any real sense (if anybody does think that, they're an idiot, and undeserving of having any readers at all) but rather that it its your story and that taking advice from people who have not yet read the thing (or have only read a snippet) and/or some vague synopsis or character description you provide them... isn't wise. 

 You really need to learn to finish the thing first (ENTIRELY) before asking for feedback. Have you finished this yet, ironpony? It's been a few months since we had this conversation so I would assume you have made significant progress at least. And when I say finished I mean at least three fucking drafts with a full narrative from beginning to end?


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## ironpony (Jul 1, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> Readers probably aren't ever going to think that, regardless of what you do. Suspension of disbelief isn't really a matter of conscious choice. You can't choose to switch off your skepticism beyond a very limited point.
> 
> Good writing feels real, it's that simple. A story about a talking aardvark who becomes sheriff of Atlantis and saves a three-headed princess from a criminal tomato plant obviously requires a greater suspension of disbelief than a novel about two millennial singles looking for love in contemporary New York City.
> 
> ...



Yes I finished the latest draft of it, and the entire story.  I keep polishing it.  But the entire draft is finished.  However, readers say that it takes too long for things to be explained.  Like for example, they don't know why characters are doing what they are doing till certain reveals happen, which isn't good I was told cause the reader is going to tune out before the reveal, thinking that it doesn't make sense, if the characters cannot understand what they are doing until then.

But the problem I have is, I cannot reveal every single thing about a character right in the opening.  You have to find out more as you go along, so what can I do to get readers to trust that they will find out more and that it will make sense in the end, if that makes sense?


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## Rojack79 (Jul 1, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Yes I finished the latest draft of it, and the entire story.  I keep polishing it.  But the entire draft is finished.  However, readers say that it takes too long for things to be explained.  Like for example, they don't know why characters are doing what they are doing till certain reveals happen, which isn't good I was told cause the reader is going to tune out before the reveal, thinking that it doesn't make sense, if the characters cannot understand what they are doing until then.
> 
> But the problem I have is, I cannot reveal every single thing about a character right in the opening.  You have to find out more as you go along, so what can I do to get readers to trust that they will find out more and that it will make sense in the end, if that makes sense?



Spread out the "reveal" in little bits and pieces as the story goes along. In the downtime between scenes have the character's get to know one another and have them reveal themselves that way.


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## ironpony (Jul 1, 2019)

Okay thanks, that is what I attempted to do but readers said that the audience is not going to wait that long, and they need to know who characters are, and why they are doing what they are doing, from the start, in order to buy into everything making sense.  And I don't know how to do that, since it seems impossible to know everything about a character when they first appear and start doing things.


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 1, 2019)

ironpony said:


> … readers said that the audience is not going to wait that long, and they need to know who characters are, and why they are doing what they are doing, from the start, in order to buy into everything making sense ...



That is what the readers say, but actually they only need to *think* they know who the characters are, that's enough to engage them and hold interest. One instance of that is the 'Save the cat' scenario, the audience sees the hero do something heroic and makes judgements about him based on what it is. Readers are not writers, their comments on what does and what does not engage them in a piece of writing are worth listening to; their suggestions on how to fix this may not be so great.


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## ironpony (Jul 1, 2019)

Oh okay, how do you get them to think they know, as oppose to not knowing?  I mean there is only so many things a character can do before it effects the plot, so you don't want them to do anything that doesn't work of course.


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 1, 2019)

Affects the plot, not effects. Check it out.

Basically you get them to do something they do in a way that someone like them would do it, something like saving a cat


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## ironpony (Jul 1, 2019)

Oh okay.  Well so far the critiques were point at the villains and I think the readers just think they are too crazy, and need much more explanation and background up front, rather than waiting for the reveals.


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## Sir-KP (Jul 1, 2019)

Olly Buckle said:


> I would listen to suggestions about the writing to the point of "I would put that first because it could make it sound as though...", but I would ignore suggestions about the plot. To me that is just them wanting you to write their story; not yours. If they want a different plot let them write their own story!



I guess this is kinda off topic, but yes, I have experienced this from a friend. He told me my protagonist should have been designed to be able to mutate into humongous monster instead of (my initial idea) about mutated human with genetically altered, weaponized arm. I was like, "hell no!" That just wouldn't go with the whole story at all.

Then I realized he really was and is still obsessed with this mutating monster idea and he's trying to implant his own desired ideas whenever he's giving me feedback. Not a good deal there.


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## ironpony (Jul 1, 2019)

Oh okay, well some suggestions about the plot I just don't know how I could apply them.  Like for example some readers say that having a group of villains working together is far fetched, and that I should change it so there is just one villain, but it wouldn't work with just one, unless I literally rewrote the entire plot.

Or how another suggestion was that a certain character getting killed created a plot hole, but I needed other characters to think the character is dead, to motivate them to get to the ending I want.  The suggestion was to have the character fake his death the whole time, to motivate them.  But why would a character fake his death, to motivate other characters, when doing that creates so many other problems and challenges compared to a real death.  Just felt like it would make things more complicated that way.

Just things that seems like if you were to make changes to correct plot holes, they open up new ones.


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## luckyscars (Jul 2, 2019)

Sir-KP said:


> I guess this is kinda off topic, but yes, I have experienced this from a friend. He told me my protagonist should have been designed to be able to mutate into humongous monster instead of (my initial idea) about mutated human with genetically altered, weaponized arm. I was like, "hell no!" That just wouldn't go with the whole story at all.
> 
> Then I realized he really was and is still obsessed with this mutating monster idea and he's trying to implant his own desired ideas whenever he's giving me feedback. Not a good deal there.



 Let's be real though, most people don't care about most stuff they read enough to try to change it in their own image. I would say it's almost a compliment - _almost_ - if somebody was sufficiently inspired by your work to want to screw it up.

I think good practice is to handle with care any and all feedback from friends and family. They aren't objective and will never see you as A Writer but rather Bill/Sue/Ed/Gary who is doing some writing.



ironpony said:


> Yes I finished the latest draft of it, and the entire story.  I keep polishing it.  But the entire draft is finished.  However, readers say that it takes too long for things to be explained.  Like for example, they don't know why characters are doing what they are doing till certain reveals happen, which isn't good I was told cause the reader is going to tune out before the reveal, thinking that it doesn't make sense, if the characters cannot understand what they are doing until then.
> 
> But the problem I have is, I cannot reveal every single thing about a character right in the opening.  You have to find out more as you go along, so what can I do to get readers to trust that they will find out more and that it will make sense in the end, if that makes sense?



Okay, so, this is what i would do:

- Don't let anybody else read it. For now. And don't take further feedback.

- Source between three and six people (at least three but ideally six) who (1) Are not in any way related to you (2) Enjoy reading in your genre (3) You can trust to give you an objective view - that is, they will neither care about upsetting you nor derive active enjoyment from ripping into you. (4) Don't know each other. These are called Beta Readers. You can find them on the internet. Hell, I would personally volunteer.

- Ask them to read it. Don't clue them in on any areas of work you are concerned about. Ask them for feedback that is as specific as possible and if possible could they highlight the relevant sections that they reacted strongly (positive or negative to)

- Wait for their feedback. Nobody else's. Don't mess with the script until you have all of the beta feedback in.

- Once you have all the beta readers' feedback, then you go into straight analysis mode. Look for patterns - that is, look for common things. Any area any single BR identifies as an issue should be looked at, however only if more than one beta reader mentions it, is when you consider what they are referring to very seriously. And not before. If a plurality (or majority) of the six readers mention an aspect that is the same or similar, then you MUST fix it. If the BR's have done as you asked and given you specific examples of what triggered this reaction - this should not be that difficult.

- Make the fixes.

- Repeat all of the above as needed until you receive BR feedback that is generally positive.


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## bdcharles (Jul 2, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Oh okay, well some suggestions about the plot I just don't know how I could apply them.



Then don't. Maintain authority over your work.


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## ironpony (Jul 2, 2019)

Oh okay.  Well for beta readers, I was getting a few readers online.  I didn't show it to anyone related to me.  The readers online pointed out plot holes, but I just don't see how to fix one without opening another, if I still want to build towards the same ending, since any suggestion on how to fix it, changes the plot too much...

That's the tough part.  It's strange though cause one reader will say there is a plot hole and to change it to this instead... so I will change it to what he suggested.  But then another reader said that it was a plot hole, after I made the changes, and that I should change it to this instead, and she recommended exactly what I wrote before, that I was told was a plot hole.

So I am not sure, what works and what doesn't when readers have opposite opinions of course...


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 2, 2019)

Did you read the last two posts from luckyscars and bdcharles? Take no notice of what they say about the plot, unless they all say the same thing, it is your story; not theirs. Remember that when people are reading to comment they feel bound to make a comment, they will think up something, it is not necessarily something good.


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## Annoying kid (Jul 2, 2019)

Ironpony, if writing really was as difficult as you make it sound, I wouldn't want to do it anymore. Chill out, have fun, and stop trying to be a perfectionist all the time. This uptightness and fear shows in the writing. You're a paradox in that you're already taking a huge risk in having your story be about a bunch of rapist, murdering incels, but you're unwilling to take normal artistic decisions that are par for the course in writing. Its a fundamental contradiction in your process that doesn't make sense. Just dive in, if you're going for it. 

[video=youtube;Ub-HMBkN6ts]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub-HMBkN6ts[/video]


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## ironpony (Jul 2, 2019)

Yep I read them, I was responding to what luckyscars had to say about beta readers.  Sorry, as if it came off as if I wasn't responding

I talked to the readers in a group chat online, and usually one would point out a problem but then the others would agree.  So either they all saw it, or one would point it out, and then the rest would pick up on it after from it being pointed out to them.


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## Sir-KP (Jul 2, 2019)

ironpony said:


> I talked to the readers in a group chat online, and usually one would point out a problem but then the others would agree.  So either they all saw it, or one would point it out, and then the rest would pick up on it after from it being pointed out to them.



Then what do _you_ think of their feedback? Is it applicable to your work? Do you think they improve your initial idea or drive away from there?

Number =/= correctness

You don't ask people how they think of your WIP tulip garden and follow what exactly to what they say, because it won't be Ironpony's Tulip Garden anymore when the field has patches of Jackhole Jim's tobacco and Scummy Sam's cannabis.


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## ironpony (Jul 3, 2019)

Yep I see what you are saying, but at the same time I want people to think it's the best it can be as well of course.

I feel that perhaps at least two of the readers have been misinformed of the genre or world setting.  They say that the villain is not realistic enough and too comic book-ish, but that is what I was going for.  I wanted a comic book villain group, and it was that type of story, but when people think of it is a bad thing, did I do a bad job of setting up the type of story perhaps?


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## luckyscars (Jul 3, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Yep I see what you are saying, but at the same time I want people to think it's the best it can be as well of course.
> 
> I feel that perhaps at least two of the readers have been misinformed of the genre or world setting.  They say that the villain is not realistic enough and too comic book-ish, but that is what I was going for.  I wanted a comic book villain group, and it was that type of story, but when people think of it is a bad thing, did I do a bad job of setting up the type of story perhaps?



But this goes back to the problem of lack of self-awareness and independent thought: What does your _gut_ tell you when you hear these comments? 

Unless you just started writing yesterday (and you haven't - you've been going on about this story on here for years now) then you should already have some idea what you are good and not-so-good at. You should know where you tend to have problems. 

The purpose of a beta reader, or any reader, isn't to help you figure out your shortcomings. The purpose of a beta reader is to tell you what they liked or did not like. If they did not like something that your _gut_ tells you is good...then duh, don't change it. If, however, they reference something that lines up with a problem area you know you already have, that's entirely different.

For example: I am really bad at narrative pacing and overwrite. I tend toward flowering out my characters and descriptions of setting to the point of saturation. Often my longer stories take forever to get going, then speed up too quickly. I'm also very bad at getting my characters off the couch and out of the door. 

But I also know I am really good at capturing emotions and symbolism and making my characters _feel _things, and expressing those feelings. I know I am pretty strong (not perfect, but decent) on dialogue. I know how to carry suspense and tension in a scene.

So, when I have a story beta read and the feedback is "[x] character was bland and two-dimensional" I am inclined toward skepticism right away. It doesn't mean I would necessarily disagree with the feedback, because occasionally I do half-ass that stuff...but I also know this is typically something I do well. So, I will assess criticism of my character's emotional depth with way more scrutiny and not jump to the instant conclusion that I need to change stuff wholesale. I will allow for a possibility that the reader in question just didn't gel with this particular character and the way they were written. 

If a beta reader's feedback, though, was something like 'This story takes forever to get going - I'm 10,000 words in and have no idea what it's even about!' that is totally different, because it _rings true. _I have written many a story which, in hindsight, suffered from exactly this sort of problem. So, to that comment, I am going to apply my self-awareness and most likely make changes based off it.


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## ironpony (Jul 3, 2019)

Oh okay.  Actually some of my comments are opposite of your example, where they say the story starts out too busy too fast, and opens with too much of a gang, and that I should delay that and introduce the characters and their backgrounds first.  But I want to keep the villains a mystery which is solved later through detective work more so, so I feel I cannot delay the bang, without causing other problems in the story structure.  That is what my gut tells me anyway.  But at the same time, I don't want it to start out so busy that the reader says they get lost either.

My gut tells me maybe there is solutions to some of these problems, but not their solutions particularly.


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## Olly Buckle (Jul 3, 2019)

ironpony said:


> one would point it out, and then the rest would pick up on it after from it being pointed out to them.



That sounds like you hit the nail on the head. Individual independent readers would be more useful.


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## bdcharles (Jul 3, 2019)

ironpony said:


> Yep I see what you are saying, but at the same time I want people to think it's the best it can be as well of course.
> 
> I feel that perhaps at least two of the readers have been misinformed of the genre or world setting.  They say that the villain is not realistic enough and too comic book-ish, but that is what I was going for.  I wanted a comic book villain group, and it was that type of story, but when people think of it is a bad thing, did I do a bad job of setting up the type of story perhaps?



Or it means they have no taste when it comes to comic books. Write your vision, not theirs. You'll always find people that don't gel with your work. I have lost count of the number of people that say my writing is too this nor not enough that. Out of let's say 60 people that have read either parts of it or the whole, it's in the dozens. There are a similar number who just aren't interested, and that's fine. By contrast, the number of people that truly get it in the way I do is probably less than 10, but they make it worth it. Their ideas and mine align, and in the context of my story, it's my ideas that are important. Have confidence in your work. Believe in it, and yourself. God I sound like a tool.


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## ironpony (Jul 6, 2019)

Okay thanks I can try and do that, and have been writing my vision cause I feel like I cannot please everybody and still have it be one consistent vision of course.  But I can try and do that and hope that it's good in the end to send out, even with conflicting opinions.


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## Ralph Rotten (Jul 13, 2019)

luckyscars said:


> Oh geez.
> 
> There are no such thing as 'readers'. What there are, are individual human beings who happen to read. Some of those, believe it or not, will definitely know more about writing than you (writers are readers too!) and others will know more about the subject matter because of who they are. And, of course, some will know nothing of particular importance...
> 
> ...




Scars: You are going to need to show some credentials to make targeted statements like this. I speak from experience, and my work is available for readers to examine for themselves. 
I have published over a million words, both Indie and classically. I get good reviews (except for that suspicious one...) and I make enough money off my books to support a growing drug habit.
You are free to disagree with me, but if you want any credibility then you need to show your work.


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## ironpony (Jul 14, 2019)

Oh well I just try to get advice from readers and other writers as much as I can.  Since I am writing a screenplay, a lot of my critics are also filmmakers in the filmmaking community as well, unless I should be asking other people's opinions.


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