[random thought warning...]

I think if the topic is truly controversial, and you do a good job setting up your side of things, you won't have any trouble with the different camps drawing the line in the sand (like Trekkies and SW fans <grin> ) and chosing sides. If, on the other hand, you're trying to write a compelling and controversial story that shows both sides equally, I think you are doomed to failure.

As for everyone liking your story, don't even try. Tastes are driven by a lot of things, not the least of which are topic of the story and style of the author. As we all have heard, we have to write for ourselves first. We write what we enjoy to write/read, and leave the rest to the fates. To do otherwise in an attempt to please everyone is only setting yourself up for failure.

Now, if you're looking for why some stories seem to grab the attention of the masses, and how to get yours to do the same...well, that's why we're all here. My advice would be to stick around and keep asking questions and reading responses.

Ciao,

JP

Get over that!! I personally think sounding boards are necessary in the creative process. You'll be surprised to learn how "on target" (or gasp! off-target) you may be. Especially if you've been nawing at this controversial topic for so long, you may have blinders on... an outside source could help remove those. Hell, this board is relatively anonymous... You can use us!

"How do you write a story and get part of the audience to like it and part to hate it?"

Why would you want to? (Besides which, that would never be something you would successfully pitch to a publishing house... "Sell my cleverly crafted novel that will have half the readers liking it, clamouring for more, and the other half to hate it who will never pick up any more books by me.") It's one thing to say that your topic is so controversial that it will spark debate and will really make readers question what they considered to be society's values/morals/mores. It's another to try to craft a novel that is going to alienate half your audience.

"I always get a story that either I don't like and others do, or that others hate and I consider it a masterpiece. How can I solve this dilemma?"

First, write for yourself, no one else. My feeling is that most of us writers have this insatiable urge to write. I once described it in a short story I wrote as hearing voices in your head. You hear all these voices, see all these people, and these people or worlds take on a life of their own so that at some point, they become more real than the RW you live in. I don't think I'm a nutcase, and believe that this is typical for many writers. Write for yourself. If the story is good, the writing tight and expressive, readers will fall into your world without you having to TRY.

With that said, listen to your readers/editors. You may not like something because you're too close... You've been living in this world or with those characters so long, they may become stale to you. Similarly, you just may have an overactive case of editoritis. The flip side, however, is don't be too cocky and think that you've written a masterpiece... If your readers don't like it, chalk it up to constructive criticism, and find out why. Really dig into what specifically they have a problem with. If they don't have specifics, I wouldn't necessarily give it much weight. But if they do, consider it. You may also find that taking a "pause" from your newly finished work will help rejuvenate your perspective.

Depending on the genre of the story you've written, you may try a writers group. There is one at http://delrey.onlinewritingworkshop.com/ that I am currently a member of. Here, your work can be reviewed by both writers like us, and by DelRey editors. And if they think it's the best submission of the month, they'll post it in their gallery and publish their review of it.

My 2 cents worth, take it as you will!

Concerning my comments about having those who like it love it, and those who dislike it hate it... There's a reason for this. It's a well-known fact that publicity is increased if a novel is hated and loved, versus being perceived as "so-so."

I have a thing for controversy... I like it. I like it a lot. I like to use it to make readers either love it with a passion or hate it with a passion. That's the beauty of controversy: it's so controversial. (grin)

The question I was merely asking was not "Is it good to get half of the audience to hate it?" but rather, as stated, "HOW can I get half the audience to hate it?"

To broaden the scope of my query... allow me to ask this: How can I get the audience to respond strongly to a story?"

I have been writing a great number of years, and I have written many lengthy (or not so lengthy) pieces of literature. I have never published them, because I never felt that they were "finished." And that is why I ask my question.

In your second post you equate controversy with publicity, that it's much more exciting to have people "hate" the novel. 50/50 love/hate = controversy = publicity = sales. But then you reask the question: "How can I get the audience to respond strongly to a story?" I think this is something of a different question, and one whose answer I thinkn I touched upon.

Previously I wrote:

"I think if the topic is truly controversial, and you do a good job setting up your side of things, you won't have any trouble with the different camps drawing the line in the sand (like Trekkies and SW fans <grin> ) and chosing sides."

Now admittedly the controversy between Trekkies and SW fans may not be as weighty as your idea, but the point still holds. I don't think there are any gimicks or divices out there that will result in the reactions I think you're looking for. If the topic is truly something that will touch nerves, and you write about it competently, with conviction, then your audience should react strongly to the novel...some agreeing with you, others not.

All that said, I still can't imagine why you would want anyone, let alone half the audience, to 'hate' the novel. I can only assume you mean that you want half the audience to hate the conclusions you draw, or how the hero resolves the crisis. If that's the case, then I'll stand on what I said earlier...it will come down to good writing, and you designing characters that are believable, identifiable, and loved (or hated) because the audience feels so strongly about them. Without that foundation then the "hate" reaction could be simply: "she wrote a mediocre story about (insert topic here) that was less than thought provoking, divisive and served nothing but to polarize already existing camps, and I wouldn't waste your time with it -- unless you just want to be reminded about what you already believe."

Good writing. Good writing. Good writing. It doesn't matter if you're writing romances, sci fi, westerns, controversial or not. If you want strong reactions, then you write strongly. Powerful characters that latch on to you. Dialogue that rivets you to the page. Narrative that is expressive without bogging you down. A plot that develops, scene by scene, in such a way that you can't put the book down.

It doesn't matter what you write. If you want the audience to respond strongly to a story, then make it a damn good story.

However, if you insist that you need to develop a love/hate relationship with your audience, then I suggest that you read reviews of books that do get controversy and find out why they loved/hated it.

I don't think there can be a really good answer for these two questions. I think it depends on the author's talent and creative use of narrative and word choice. I think that you can have one thing-- say the Mona Lisa-- and two different authors would describe its details differently, one might work while the other doesn't. Is it so much the details that were included, or was it the word choice, tone, image that those descriptions evoke? For example, in describing the Mona Lisa, you might include the relatively obscure detail that she was painted in mourning. You might treat that in a very casual manner, I might treat that in a historical manner, while Stephen King in a much more macabre manner. Which is more interesting? Part of that answer is relies on the receiver... the Constant Reader, and what they're bringing to the table with them.

Some readers are fascinated by all the minute details included in the works of George R.R. Martin, Robin Hobb, and Robert Jordan. I find myself skimming long narrations. I want action, dialogue, action. But is that the fault of the detail, or the author? Or, gasp!, the reader who has a short attention span and wants to "get on with it." My point being, I don't think there is a good answer on your first question.

As to the second, what details are important, that is 100% your call as the author. The rule of thumb is to only include the details that move your story forward. Do we have to know that the Hero had a Romanesque nose? Probably not. But knowing that a vicious scar bisected his cheek from eye to chin might be significant in what it reveals about him. Only you know what's important. And just because you can cleverly craft the detail doesn't make it important. Does it explain something about a character, scene, or plot point that the reader needs? Does it move the story forward? Or is it a piece of history that we need to understand why the characters are doing what they doing? Only you know.

As long as this post was, I sure hope it was helpful in some way to you...

A couple of guidelines you might try in figuring out what details to include and what ones are important:

First of all, consider your point of view at any given time. What does your point of view character at that time care about, notice, think, etc? Which things in that list are relevant to the story. (Some people claim that all five senses should be included in description on every page. I say phooey! to that. If the point of view doesn't smell or taste anything in a whole chapter then the author should not have to include smell or taste in the description. If the point of view character doesn't notice a sound, then why include it? To do so is breaking point of view.)

Second, remember faith, hope and clarity (if you don't remember them, read Orson Scott Card's books on writing).

Faith, hope, and clarity are what you as an author owe your readers.

Faith answers the question, "Oh, yeah?"

Hope answers the question, "So what?"

And clarity answers the question, "Huh?"

You include only the details that help your reader believe the story, care about the story, and understand the story. If you don't include enough details to do that, you have failed. If you include too many more than that, you risk confusing or boring the reader.

And the only way you are going to know how much or how little to include is to just write it, cut it, get feedback on it, fix what doesn't work, and maybe cut it again.

To be fair, I don't think anyone was throwing out criticism as much as we were answering the question as we understood it, and asking more questions to try and understand what it was you were trying to get at.

It took us a while, but you have to admit that we came a long way from "How do you write a story and get part of the audience to like it and part to hate it?" to "What details interest the reader so they will keep reading, and what details are important and what must be left out?"

Through the dialog that insued I think we got you to state what you were searching for in clear, definite terms, and likewise got some interesting answers. I for one have enjoyed reading the last few posts, since you restated your question.