posted
I got a few crits yesterday, good ones too. And by that I mean they were detailed and informative. It was pointed out to me that I seem to have a fetish for fast pace (minimal description) and extremely complicated plots/world politics. Which some readers found fascinating and compelling, but other found difficult to wrap their minds around and therefore tiring.
I feel my work is destined to find a cult following with a minority and be simply too hard to digest for the mass majority. Anyone else have similar sentiments?
posted
You know, there's a certain wacky charm in being idolized by a small group of rabidly cultish fans, while being able to shop at WalMart without a disguise because nobody in fruits and vegetables would ever recognize you. Sort of like Elvira. And you only need one really wacky RICH rabidly devoted fan to keep you in the style to which you wold like to become accustomed.
Chin up! -it could be worse, you could find out all you're good at is ad copy!
posted
hells yeah! I'm thinking my book will attract a select group of women in their late teens/ early twenties who like deeply emotional (read: mawkish), slightly idealistic (read: sappy) stories but aren't afraid of gore, and have a liking for military tactics. In other words, a cult of one: me.
Seriously, though, don't discount cult followings. They have enormous power. Better to have a few fervent fans than masses of mildly interested ones, I say. Who but a cult following would show up in drag or lingerie at the local theatre every Saturday at midnight to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show?
[This message has been edited by annepin (edited September 27, 2007).]
quote:I'm thinking my book will attract a select group of women in their late teens/ early twenties who like deeply emotional (read: mawkish), slightly idealistic (read: sappy) stories but aren't afraid of gore, and have a liking for military tactics.
Er ... well, I'm an overweight 36-year old male, but ... can I read it too? Seriously, that sounds like the kind of book I'd love. Let me know when you need a reader.
quote: It was pointed out to me that I seem to have a fetish for fast pace (minimal description) and extremely complicated plots/world politics. Which some readers found fascinating and compelling, but other found difficult to wrap their minds around and therefore tiring.
It sounds like you just reinvented Ghost in the Shell. Or maybe even Tom Clancy in his prime (the Ops Center and Rainbow Six series in particular)
The market certainly is there, though to capture that market away from TV and comic books may be challenging. But it's certainly there for the written word too.
posted
Well, I write what I enjoy. But thanks for the motivating words, and it's true, it feels good to have people deeply enjoy your work.
Even having my siblings excited for the next installment (who are so far the majority of my cult following...) already are motivation enough for me to work on my WIP regularly. Nothing compares to the mment where you encounter a reader and you discuss your world and your characters--that you just up and invented--and they get excited and interested, and start posturing theories and ideas. It's like a good tickling, but on steroids.
posted
Is there a possibility to enhance some aspects of your stories that would appeal to a wider readership?
If there is a compelling story for the characters, it isn't always necessary to understand the complexities of the politics and intrigue. Danger and suspense can be felt and understood with a great deal of mystery still involved.
As someone who has promoted a high level of tolerance for mystery on this forum, I would probably gauge it charitably, but also consider ways to enhance it. (Plus, I enjoy complicated, political stories.)
If you would like to pick a story and send it to me, I'd be happy to give you my perspective on it.
posted
Thanks. Glad there is still somewhat of a market for this kind of fiction.
I'll consider how I can flesh it out for a wider appeal, but I still want to be true to my work. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the story I'm telling is deeply rooted in the complicated politics and they cannot be separated, they're the same organism.
Also, I seem unable to write a short story. I intended this novel, my third, though first of its world, to be about 80,000 words. At this rate it'll be about 110,000 before I'm finished.
quote:Fortunately, or unfortunately, the story I'm telling is deeply rooted in the complicated politics and they cannot be separated, they're the same organism.
Well, I certainly can't evaluate without having read any of it, but do things like character transformation and theme rely completely upon the complicated politics in your work? I certainly wasn't implying you should diminish your work--I was simply suggesting that there might be a way to carry some readers with some simpler threads interwoven that wouldn't require their full immersion into the intricacies. But it already sounds like very challenging writing, so I really have no idea how realistic that is.
You sure have me curious, though. Even if you don't need more crits, I'd be interesting in reading some.
posted
That's actually flattering, I'll see if I can't have something to send your way before too long, check back with me, I'll see what I can do... but finding an appropriate excerpt might not do it justice, and the WIP is far from ready top be released as a whole.
[This message has been edited by Zero (edited September 28, 2007).]
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