Yesterday I wanted to talk about GoT, but I really wanted to talk about story and expectation. Specifically, I am concerned about the relationship between success and fan service–particularly in continuing or long lasting series. I worry that the mountain of responsibility in the age of social media is shifting towards doing what the fans want vs. the author exploring and realizing their own arc. What is responsible for the shift? At least here in America the answer seems to be privilege based expectation and social media.
I remember the end of the Harry Potter series as it came out. This is back in the day when the movies were released after the books mind you. The ending landed with a thud, because it did not match fan expectations. Except JK Rowling wrote that ending and stuffed it in a vault years before she finished the books. In other words, the story came from that place where it started, not from the support and attention of the millions of fans who bought the work. This is important because the place where the story started is, IMHO, what brought readers to the page in the first place. To devolve into Fan service is to betray your own story.
Yet here we are in an era where that is not only expected but accepted–especially in TV drama where the work is not often written by a single writer but a room of authors who change as often as the seasons over the years. I don’t want my big work to be like that. I want to create it in isolation as a response to the zeitgeist. I want to put it out there and let it be as it should.
Not as the fans decide they want it when they decide to take ownership.
Some Thoughts:
- 365 days in a year means I am pushing about 45 days until 3.0 is over. I’m on a new exercise routine and trying to stick to a new writing routine. All of this last minute stuff means that I have not really changed all that much. It isn’t the best look.
- Several Amber Alerts here lately. Bad things, man…