Does the audience influence your fic/drawings?

[valis2]

I've been thinking a lot recently about LJ, and how it makes communication between writers/readers and artists/viewers so easy. The commenting system creates the possibility of having many conversations with other LJ users, whether one-on-one or multiple.

One of the interesting things about commenting is how the original author/artist reacts to comments.

Comments generally fall into three categories: detailed analyses, a paragraph or a few lines of details they liked/emotions they felt, or a simple one-liner of "I liked it!" or something similar.

Some authors/artists respond to each and every comment with a line or two, detailing something in their response to the comment, and I'm always impressed by people who take the time to craft each response like this. Some respond only to certain comments. Some respond to every comment with a simple thank you and/or an emoticon. Some leave a blanket response, either as a new entry or as part of the original entry. It's understandable, especially when artists/authors are receiving three or four pages of comments, and most of them are simply "I like it!", and they'd rather create new art than respond to four hundred comments. Some never respond at all.

I always wonder how the back-and-forth communication of LJ affects the original artist/author. Commenting/responding is communication, after all. Reviews and feedback can be an excellent tool to hone one's craft. If many reviewers point out the a particular characterization, then odds are it needs revising. If an artist receives several comments praising their clouds, then that is probably a strength and something to be explored.

I've been writing a WiP, and as I've been writing it the reviews and feedback that have been left for it have sometimes influenced the story. A minor character who was meant to be a simple annoyance has gained significant "stage time" due to positive reviews. The conjectures of some of the reviewers have led to minor plot alterations and new directions. This isn't really possible for an author who waits until they're finished to upload their fics, or writes short fics all the time, but still, I wonder how much feedback influences people. Especially artists. If you're drawing Draco Malfoy for the hundredth time, and you have Harry in the background, and all of your regular Draco viewers enthusiastically respond to Harry's appearance, do you pursue Harry, even if you're not fond of him? Or do you just keep drawing Draco, because he's still fascinating?

I'd love to hear thoughts about this. Does the audience influence your fic/drawings?

Comments

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

Yes - I've abandoned posting in some fandoms because I know I won't get the quality/quantity of feedback I need to keep me enthusiastic.

I write for myself, but posting is stressful, and I need to know the audience is enjoying it, otherwise I feel like I'm just imposing on them with unwanted stories.

If I post in WIP form (almost never), I'll write faster and faster because I'm spurred on by the enthusiasm of the audience.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Yes - I've abandoned posting in some fandoms because I know I won't get the quality/quantity of feedback I need to keep me enthusiastic.

Whenever I really need to get motivated to write, I read reviews. Nothing makes me want to write more. I'm a ham at heart, I guess.

It's interesting that you feel like you're "imposing" on people if you're writing something you think they won't enjoy.

[ldybastet.livejournal.com]

Thinking about that comment... I realise that I sometimes feel that way too. Sometimes even to the point of wondering if I should a) take it down, or b) rewrite it.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I've seen two people on my flist recently take down fics they weren't happy with. Part of my understands that it isn't up to their standards now, but part of me thinks, it shows the journey, and there were fans for the works as they were...

[ldybastet.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. that's true, and a different way of looking at it.

Mostly, I do leave my fics as they are posted, unless I find a typo or something. But I do often squirm and wish I could rewrite and make them as best as I can at this moment *g* I will try to see it from this angle instead, because it may be easier to accept the earlier 'mistakes' and clunkiness then. ;-)

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

It's interesting that you feel like you're "imposing" on people if you're writing something you think they won't enjoy.

I feel this way too. (Same with posts about my life, actually - I fairly often feel that no one would be interested in reading them at all, and so post fewer and more trivial and/or silly ones).