Stressed out trying to please my audience

Discussion in 'Setting Development' started by Rick n Morty, Jul 17, 2016.

  1. ToBeInspired

    ToBeInspired Senior Member

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    It's inevitable for a person to make comparisons with items they are familiar with. It's just how most minds work. We do it with people as well, we base new interactions off past experiences. Don't take it the wrong way, just do what you feel is right. We have absolutely no idea how long the universe has been around, hell maybe it's virtually infinite. The idea of being "original" might as well be unfathomable in that situation. Why worry about it? Do your best and as long as you're happy with it, who cares?
     
  2. Siena

    Siena Senior Member

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    It's called evaluation apprehension.

    Easy to say, hard to do when you're suffering from it but: try to please yourself a little more....
     
  3. Elven Candy

    Elven Candy Pay no attention to the foot in my mouth Contributor

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    You already received great advice from others, so I'll just give you a little info on how I worked on character development:

    When I first started the current version of my book, I had decided my MC, Sarah, was going to be a happy girl full of goodness. About 10,000 words into it I realized she had absolutely no personality. Take a happy-go-lucky Mary Sue, add sugar, stir in some sunshine, cook in a rainbow pan, and Sarah would pop out. Once I saw what she'd become, I hated her and the story and gave up on writing for a month or so. When the writing itch started haunting again, I decided to pick her apart and write down each of her traits separately. Then I thought about who I needed and wanted her to be. Did she have to be happy all the time? Did she always have to be good? What was most important to her, and could I use that to give her struggle (not evil, but internal or external struggle)? I erased some of the happy-go-lucky, added in fear based on what she wanted most in life, and walla! My new MC has a lot of internal confusion and a lot more personality without compromising who and what I wanted her to be. Granted, I had to rewrite the book from the beginning (again), but it was well worth it.

    Making characters have depth, I think, is the toughest thing to get right, or at least it is for me. That said, I've read several books where critics said the characters had no depth and were boring. My opinion of those same books was that they had wonderfully well-rounded characters that I would love to be able to write. To each their own.

    As for character growth . . . well, I really don't worry about it. If, in a later draft, I feel like she needs it, I'll add it. For now, I just remember that readers are either going to hate or love the book no matter what I put in it or how I write it. All I'm worrying about is making sure this reader loves it.

    And by the way, I usually like "generic nice guy" protagonists . . .
     

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