 Fantasy: December 13, 2011 Issue [#4769] |
  Fantasy
This week: Audience Intrusion Edited by: Satuawany  
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You've heard "know your audience." Depending on what kind of writer you wish to be, that is important. Too many writers, however, lose their stories when they consider the audience during the writing of the rough draft.
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Audience Intrusion
You always hear about "author intrusion," that thing where you're reading along and suddenly some bit of the author's beliefs or personal voice is pushed in there. Maybe you get a paragraph of over-the-top opinion, or a character spits out dialogue that is completely out-of-character, but reeks of "What the Author Really Wanted the Character to Say." It ruins the natural flow of the story.
Another thing that can ruin the natural flow of a story is "audience intrusion." You let it happen. You may even strive to make it happen. Audience intrusion happens when you get so caught up in how your work will be read that you forget to just write the story.
I understand there are many writers out there who have a target audience in mind before they even start writing. There's not a thing wrong with that, if that's how you work. There is even a lot of advice out there lauding this approach. But even those who plan for a specific audience can suck the soul from their stories when they worry too much about that audience during the initial writing.
You run the risk of audience intrusion when you hit some pivotal moment, big or small. It could be something as important as the climax, or something as seemingly inconsequential as a single line of dialogue. For instance, your main character is about to respond to something one of the other characters has done or said. Her characterization, her very being, dictates that she'd say, "Well, dern," and walk off.
You're writing for an audience who wants action, however, and it's been too long since any action happened. To instigate it, you have your character draw her sword and start a fight. Now, she's just acted out-of-character and you've risked ruining the flow of your entire story.
There are a few ways to fix that. If you're bent on having that action-craving audience, you may need to rethink your main character. That means an overhaul that could alter the story long before the "Well, dern" or sword-drawing. That's also why people keep telling you to work on characterization. It's nice to know you have the right cast for what kind of story you would like to write.
If you're in love with the main character, and like where she takes the story, then it may be time to let go of the idea of an action-packed progression.
 Those Who Plan
These are the writers who have an outline for their story, who know exactly where and how the climax will happen, and what kind of readers they want to attract. It is very important that these people know their characters and setting backward and forward before they start writing.
If you want to be a strict planner, you have to address it all, or else you run the risk of winding up with a formulaic story. That sounds counterintuitive, but it's true, and it has to do with audience intrusion.
Your outline should be well developed and easy to follow. You should know your characters are exactly the kind of people to follow through with the events of the story. Your setting should be tailor-made to propel the events. These are the things that play to that target audience.
The beauty of it is, the better your beginning plan, the less you have to worry about that audience during the writing. Instead of wondering what they might think of this scene or that one, you know you have all the elements to ensnare them and you can just write.
And on the rough draft, that's exactly what you need to do. Just write. You have the story---the events, the people, the places. When you get to worrying about what the audience might think of this or that detail that pops up, you fumble some good ideas. You lose details that make the story more alive.
Those Who Don't Plan
These are the writers who just put pen to paper and see where it goes. They might have a loose idea of where and how the climax will come about, but it's not a set thing. Some are even hoping they'll be completely surprised when they get there. They may start with well developed characters, but they may be getting to know the characters as they go along.
You have no excuse for letting the audience intrude. You're just writing a story; only worry what audience may want it once you're done. The rough draft is an exploration to see where it goes; let it go there. You, more than anyone, sabotage yourself when you worry about an audience.
Without a set idea, you run the danger of worrying what the action-seeking audience thinks of Chapter One, and then what the romantics think of Chapter Two. And let's not even get started on the action-romance fans---sure, they tie Chapters One and Two together, but they might get impatient with the amount of action in the former, and roll their eyes at the amount of romance in the latter.
Those are useful things to think, but not on the first draft. You start worrying too much about that in the first draft, you're going to have a story that's all over the place. Or else you're going to stall out, worrying whether the next scene appeals to this group or that one.
If you're going to be a free-writer, be free. And be prepared to have a story in need of more revisions than a planned one. This kind of seat-pant-flying method has its own rewards, but it has its drawbacks as well. All methods do.
Everybody Swim
Either way, when you get to writing, just write. The audience is not yet invited, in any form. Your assumptions of what they might think are useless in the rough draft, and likely detrimental.
Directors don't sell tickets for rehearsals. They experiment, run the players through lines, and figure out how to set the stage. And they try different things to see how best to get the story across.
It's during the revising that you let in thoughts about the audience. Even then, if you obsess over it, you can wind up deadlocked with no idea how to work. That's why you have test audiences; peer-review groups, fellow Writing.com members, and maybe a reader friend here and there.
That's when "know your audience" takes on a whole new meaning. If you want your story to appeal to romantic fantasy fans, then you have to be careful with those comments from the reviewer who reads only sword-and-sorcery. Don't get me wrong, getting comments from readers outside your planned dynamic can be incredibly enlightening, and can do more to help flesh out your story than any others. But it's important to be wary of their advice when it boils down to, "There's way too much romance in here."
It's difficult for a lot of writers to "forget the audience" during the writing of the rough draft. You don't have to be perfect at it. Just pay attention. During the process of writing the rough draft, look out for those thoughts that lead you toward altering things according to what you think the audience might say.
You need something an audience can react to before you worry how they might react. So get it written, get it reviewed, and then see how you should (or should not) accommodate your audience.
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Comments submitted to my previous newsletter, "Switching Genders" .
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  writes:
Sometimes it can be a challenge to put someone in a different role. Other times it's easy.
A writer's gotta love a challenge.
Donald Previe  writes:
You know, I feel I have a problem writing the female character. I try to stay politically correct and make weak and strong characters both male and female. Some of my readers have said "you can tell a guy wrote this," because of the sexual nature of some of my female characters. Is that okay, or am I a chauvinist?
It depends. (No, no, I'm not calling you a chauvinist; I'm saying that whether or not what you're doing is okay depends.) It sounds like these stories tend to be for a heterosexual male audience. There's nothing wrong with that, if that's the audience you want.
There are a ton of male characters out there who are obviously written by female writers, but they're written for the entertainment of a certain kind of reader. With that sort of thing running rampant out there, it's unfair to tell a male writer he's a chauvinist for writing female characters for the entertainment of a certain kind of reader.
For a broader audience, and for characters who feel more real, I advise trying the exercise in the newsletter. However, it always comes down to you--the writer--and what you're aiming for. If you read a newsletter, article, or review that runs counter to everything you write for, consider ignoring the advice before you consider changing your writing.
Consider both, certainly, but there is no better way of hurting your writing than by trying to follow everyone else's advice.
If you're still having trouble, shoot me an email with a link to a story that's received the comments you mentioned, and I'll be happy to take a look at it.
jim1184  writes:
I liked the letter from the editor. It contained a great idea and I am going to try it before I do any more on one of my manuscripts. My lead character is female. She is a modern female warrior and academic. So I do need a litmus test.
Outstanding! I'd love to see how that turns out!
Lorien writes:
Great newsletter, Chy! I love seeing gender roles twisted, mashed up or eliminated altogether, but it seems that the "damsel in distress" trope has simply been superseded by the "tough as nails woman who just needs love." It's not inventive or subversive. Honestly, it's barely even better. Here's to fantasy (and other genres) that take risks!
Thank you! And I agree completely. It seems to me that the fantasy genre has more freedom to take such risks than any other, and yet it's one of the genres that takes the least advantage of that risk.
Cheers!
atwhatcost writes:
Fun with gender bending - check out the 1984 movie "All of Me" with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. It's one of those movies where two souls get stuck in one body - Steve Martin's body. But, it shows a woman trying to act like a man, and a man trying not to act like a woman. Funny stuff, but it also taught me how bad we are at changing genders.
Ohh, it's been years since I've seen that one. If that's the kind of thing you're looking for, you can also check out 1991's Switch, where a man finds himself in a woman's body. There's also Tootsie, She's the Man, plus dozens of other movies, not to mention episodes of TV series. In Hilary Swank terms, I was talking more Million Dollar Baby than Boys Don't Cry here, but those kinds of films can definitely help some get an eye for that kind of thing.
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