This is round dos of the questions and discussions I'd like to have that stemmed from xsecretxkeeperx's campfire yesterday.
Yesterday, Lifeinthesnow wrote the following analogy about the relationship between a writer and her readers, specifically pertaining to announcing a flounce or disliking a course a story was taking:
If you were a guest at someone's dinner party and you've enjoyed some nice first courses, would you throw your napkin down just as the third course is served, announce to everyone within earshot that you don't care for spinach and you didn't think this meal would include spinach, then storm out? Some people do care for spinach.
Now, if it's a matter of the spinach being overcooked or too salty, or a too-bitter contrast that doesn't pair with the first two courses, there's a way to give feedback that the cook can use to prepare the dish better the next time. But even then, for me, I would possibly do that at a restaurant where I'm a paying customer but not so much as a guest in someone's home.
Now, I personally didn't agree with the analogy, HOWEVER, it's caused me to think SO much this past day. And maybe I'm wrong. Because I think there is a HUGE degree of validity to the idea.
IS the writer and reader relationship in this fandom similar to one of a personal dinner party?
Have we crossed that line, into familiarity? Taken away the distance that is usually established in a writer/reader relationship, and replaced it with accessibility, even accountability?
I remember one of my first thoughts about writing for this fandom, and it had been returned to me by my readers, was that it was great to be there with them during the writing process. They could "pick" my brain, so to speak.
Many of us aren't BNA's here, so we DO review reply, we DO get to know our readers. Yesterday, I responded to the above analogy with what I viewed the relationship to be like:
It's quite a difference to serve spinach at your dinner party than it is to cater it out to an entire 250 guest event. Which really is what happens when putting something out for mass consumption.
The analogy of serving spinach at your dinner party to a writer and her readers is only applicable in the sense of pre-readers. Because honestly, would you invite just any stranger off the street, that you didn't know anything about, don't know their preferences or not, into your home and serve them as a personal guest? It may be a bit extreme, but you don't know that guest, what if they've got a HUGE issue with spinach, what if they have high cholesterol and the salt does them in? Just like they weren't personal guest and you didn't personally invite them, there isn't that level of comfort or knowledge, therefore the line of "hospitable" is erased.
Now you've got the same situation as a cater to the 250 guest event. There are going to be those that bring up last event's cater, and what they did better, there are going to be those that LOVE the spinach, and those that HATE the spinach. And those that will be quite vocal about whatever opinion they have. They may talk about it among their group, they may wonder exactly what went wrong with the spinach and ask other guests, they may even come up to you and ask you or tell you what they felt was wrong with the spinach. And you have to deal. You put your spinach out there for mass consumption, not a group of pre-readers who will hold a hand, or bite a tongue on their personal preferences to spinach because they're guests and don't want to be rude.
NOW I'm starting to believe that neither is wholly accurate in comparing the relationship of a writer and their readers IN THE FANDOM, because it has somehow become a fusion of the two analogies.
AND, to get to where I'm trying to get at . . . IS this a good thing?
With familiarity comes a degree of comfort.
If you've got a house guest over and they're one you've had over quite often and personally discussed the spinach with, and they'd previously loved it, and now hate it or instead of taking a second serving of spinach like they usually do, dismiss it altogether, wouldn't you feel comfortable enough with them to ask them what went wrong, or at least hope that they would tell you?
Conversely, If you've been a house guest over at the hostesses home many times, and personally discussed the spinach with her, loved her spinach but then she changes it up, maybe she's trying a new recipe that's different from her previous spinach, maybe she adds bacon, and she's always added bacon, but you're just now noticing, and you feel comfortable in asking her why she went the new route. Even more you feel comfortable telling her you don't care for the spinach this way, and would you even feel comfortable enough to expect her to want to amend the spinach to please you?
With familiarity comes a sense of entitlement, it's human nature. When you get comfortable with someone, and they get comfortable with you, favors may be asked, emotions exchanged, a relationship forms, and subconsciously the familiarity evolves into expectations.
Is THIS what's happening in the fandom?
Is there too much familiarity?
Is that old, common separation between writer and reader blurred? Is it a sign of the times?
Is that a good thing? A bad one?
Is THIS why negative criticism is harder to swallow in the fandom, because we subconciously feel it's coming from a guest instead of a stranger?
Think about a writer who responds to your reviews, or a writer that you developed a relationship with because of their writing.
What if they stopped responding to reviews? What if they said something in a campfire or community or on twitter that you didn't agree with AT ALL, maybe even something that upset you? What if they took a turn in their story that you didn't agree with?
How would you handle the above situations? Would your answers be different if you DIDN'T know the author or DIDN'T have an established relationship with them?
Is entitlement justified?
Get in here and chitter-chatter with me about this please! I'm super curious!