Author/Reader Contracts

[ysabetwordsmith]

This post talks about author/reader contracts. I agree with the concept but not the execution.


The core of the contract is simple entertainment, which is why the only unbreakable rule is Thou Shalt Not Bore Thy Reader. Beyond that, readers and writers have different tastes, and that's fine. The author is only obligated to make it worth the reader's time.

Beyond that, I'd add: don't abuse your readers. I've seen authors, movies, etc. do some really egregious things that they thought were funny and audiences really resented. It's the kind of thing that makes me an ex-fan of canons.

But genre? I use that as a stress toy and my readers love it. I write gothic fluff. I write postapocalyptic hopepunk. The organized crime Quakers are so new they don't even have a landing page yet. And the last two of those were specifically based on fan prompts. :D I love my audience. They don't hesitate to follow me into bizarre dimensions.

That's because they trust me to make it worthwhile. They know they'll get a good story and I won't drop something hideous without providing support for it. My footnotes are extremely popular. That's one of the main tools I use for contract maintenance, aside from the narrative itself.

Another is content notes. I try to give people a good idea what a given piece of writing is about, so they can decide if that's something they want to read. "Canon-typical" varies extremely by canon, but tends to be much more consistent within a given canon. So it's not hard to figure out which series to read if you like particular things.

Comments

[jake67jake]

I agree with most of what the article says... especially with the characters and what they are capable of. I read a LOT of fanfiction (a few different genres) and nothing pisses me off more is when this character (whom the author obviously is fond of) has way more powers/insights/intelligence/etc. than in canon, with the only reasoning for it being the author's preference. Usually, the character isn't even developed INTO these aspects, they just suddenly "discover" them. Irritating.

In my opinion, the best fanfiction is one that takes the canon in another direction or expands on what the original canon had. Again, YMMV. I love when a writer can develop a pairing or storyline within the original context and make it believable.

And what is missing in this contract is the writer's obligation for basic grammar, spelling, etc. Yes, liberties can be taken with spelling in other worlds but using "then" when you mean "than" or "Her and I" (or worse "I and her") when it should be "She and I" knocks me out of the story every time.

[pronker]

"but using "then" when you mean "than""" Maybe I didn't notice this one before the past five years or so, but it's become prevalent in fanfiction. And annoying!

[jake67jake]

Yes, it is. I mean, I understand typos and *some* spelling errors (especially when the spell-checker "helps" you spell the word). But what I read is usually beta'd (there are a few exceptions), and for two "writers" to consistently use the wrong WORD. Ugh.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I read a LOT of fanfiction (a few different genres) and nothing pisses me off more is when this character (whom the author obviously is fond of) has way more powers/insights/intelligence/etc. than in canon, with the only reasoning for it being the author's preference. <<

Yeah, that's annoying.

>> In my opinion, the best fanfiction is one that takes the canon in another direction or expands on what the original canon had. Again, YMMV. I love when a writer can develop a pairing or storyline within the original context and make it believable.<<

I describe this as "derive in, extrapolate out." Take something in canon. How or why is it like that? And then, what does that mean for future stories? For instance, Iron Man shows Tony Stark blacksmithing. That is one skill you cannot get from a book; it can only be learned by doing, and the muscles require maintenance. So I wrote "What Little Boys Are Made Of" to explain that.

>>And what is missing in this contract is the writer's obligation for basic grammar, spelling, etc. Yes, liberties can be taken with spelling in other worlds but using "then" when you mean "than" or "Her and I" (or worse "I and her") when it should be "She and I" knocks me out of the story every time.<<

For me it's a sliding scale. I prefer to read well-written stories than ones full of errors. But I would rather read a gripping, original story with typos than an impeccably edited but boring one. The more different a story is from the usual fare, the more typos I'll tolerate, whereas a typical story had better be well-edited.

[pronker]

Thanks for linking because the para re the early failure of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum proved enlightening. It's one of my favorite movies and I've also attended the play. I enjoyed your comment about genre.

[arlie]

This seems real to me.

I'm currently feeling a bit annoyed with the latest novel I read for leading me on to expect one thing, but giving me another. That particular book works, but I'm considering not checking out the rest of its series. (Why must every book with werewolves or vampires be loaded with sexual content? I expected a nice chaste Frenemies romance, possibly spanning several books, with the main plot being the mystery. Since when does a book described as a "comedy of manners" feature the main characters making out when they should be figuring out how to complete their escape from their evil enemies?!)

OTOH, I think the linked article is just a bit simplistic.

There is for example the meta-genre of genre subversion. Doing that right is complicated - and doubtless beyond me - but I know it when I see it. Doing it requires both signaling the intended genre and leaving open the idea that this book is partly genre parody. Sometimes that's explicit, as in the story collection Chicks and Chained Males; there's an introduction, as well as the suggestive title; moreover it's part of a series that's always been meta-genre.

I've also encountered at least one series where the heroine predictably solves each book's main problem by using aspects of the setting only revealed to the reader when she invokes them. Reviewing the first volume, I complained that the reader never had the clues to predict the solution, which arrived like a deus ex machina. By the third volume, I knew to expect this and appreciated it - enjoyment comes from watching the situation play out, and learning more about the world, not from observing plucky or ingenious success. (That particular series also has another common implicit contract - it will all come out well in the end, and no one the readers know and like will be killed.)