How much should authors explain about their work? (+poll)

[DokiDokiTsuna]

Basically, when it comes to discussing things like lore and character motivations and possible futures, how much do you want to hear from the writers outside of the story itself??

• Nothing
• A little
• A lot
• As much as possible

Show results

I've been reading a lot of opinions on this topic lately (including this really funny Tumblr post about the MCU...but that's a little beside the point [and not indicative of my personal feelings ^^;]).

Something that actually got to me was this random YT comment I came across about an author who would sometimes join discussions in online chatrooms about her work...and noticed that whenever she would actually answer a question, her word would be seen as 'canon' and all discussion would stop.
So she stopped doing that, preferring to encourage discussion and creative thinking about her stories rather than to inadvertently use her influence to shut it down. ^^;

That sounds more like me...I don't like to give too many answers, or else the fans will have nothing to think about. ^^
Of course, at this moment in time, barely anyone ever talks about my stories...so if I don't explain things, nothing will happen. But in a perfect world, where there was a lot of discussion and theorizing about my work, I'd greatly prefer to just sit back and watch. ^^ Maybe throw in a emoji every now and then.

That isn't to say I don't like to talk about my characters...in all honesty, I love it; I could write analytical essays on each and every one of them. But to hear someone else talk about them gives me the same rush of satisfaction, so it's easier for me to refrain. I'd probably stay out of fan conversations and discourse, but if anyone were to interview me...I guarantee they'd never be able to get me to shut up. ^^

As a consumer, however...
I really don't know. It depends on the franchise, and probably the actual content that's being explained.
For example, I liked hearing things about how the actors brought heart and soul and love into the original Lord of the Rings trilogy (I swear, I don't know how those movies got made, but I doubt such a thing will ever happen again). That was some good creator commentary.

On the other hand, stuff like what was described in that Tumblr post...not good creator commentary. >_< I mean, it's funny 'cause I'm on the outside and I don't have to care that much (I've seen the Ant-Man movies and I've seen Tom Holland's Spider Man, and that's pretty much it for me. Hit me up when Moon Knight comes out, tho)
But I know how it feels to be in a situation where you can't really trust the creators of the story you're consuming; like at any moment they're gonna pull some dumbass explanation out of nowhere and ruin things for you forever. After all...I've been an anime fan for half my life. o(￣▽￣)ｄ

Basically, I think it's kind of like...reading fan comments while you watch a show. Sometimes it can be a great experience; other people will notice things you didn't and provide valuable insights that will help you enjoy what you're watching even more.
And sometimes they'll poison your mind and make you wish you'd never read them, and cast a dark shadow over the rest of your time with the series (happened to me recently...). o_o; It's a bit of a gamble.

[vothnthorvaldson]

I'd say as much as possible, BUT only if the story and author allow for alternative interpretations too.
So, this is a best case scenario and not necessarily what happens all the time.

Let's say I tend to like getting a lot of extra info, but I need to be allowed to stick to my first understanding even if it is different. It is disheartening when a story or part of it hit close to home but the author insists that you are all wrong and that you entirely misunderstood.

As a creator I also go for that. I like giving info, and I like people having their own interpretations. I did change my story here onTapas a bit to avoid unwanted interpretations at the very beginning (before posting online), but that was only because ALL my beta readers interpreted the same way and it was not what I meant. In this case it looks more like a mistake on my part than just another possible interpretation.
But otherwise, I am happy when people read my stories differently than I intended them. It means they are more universal and complex I originally thought. This is nice.

[Oto_Kouda]

I think it's okay if you're talking about nonsensical stuff like, "Ah yes, Tony Stark likes eating Cheerios" or something like that.

But if you go full J. K. Rowling on it... that's a nope from me.

[Aleksei]

Nothing! Let people enjoy things!
But of course, it's nice anyway to have the author to engage with fans.

[MeltingCORE]

If your story has an expansive universe then it can be fun to talk about things like world building, lore, history, etc. That's what I do! (I really love to make videos where I discuss certain story topics.) But no spoilers. I don't like spoiler content.

[joannekwan]

I wouldn't mind answering questions from readers but only with answers that can be extrapolated from canon/what's published in the series. Like if someone notices my character ordering meat at restaurants, I could confirm it by saying "His favorite food is any sort of smoked meat."

I only go with canon simply to keep things organized. Like if someone asked what was a character's favorite flower, and I hadn't thought of that yet, then I might forget later when someone asks the same thing. Plus it would also lessen the possibility of me spouting something crazy like wizards pooping their pants and magicking it away when toilets are canonically in the school.

[crowstories]

Any well fleshed out world will have a LOT of worldbuilding material that never makes it into the book, and I'm usually fascinated to hear about that kind of thing.

Not so much interested in authors trying to retroactively shoehorn in things like representation (Dumbledore being gay could've been great IF SHE'D ACTUALLY WRITTEN IT.... but also I don't care anymore because she's a horrible terf, so go figure).

[simonitropunk]

As little as possible.. or to be sneaky, give some "white lies" to throw people off 🤫

[VibrantFox]

I'm kind of a sucker for it especially for worlds or stories that I'm really invested in. Like crowstories mentioned when it's a big fleshed out world there's tons that you can't really cram into a comic without it getting lore dumpy or distracting from the actual plot.

I'd say the best example i could give would be the franchise I've been invested in longest that being Sonic, which despite the limited character info given in the games there's a lot of depth to them not to mention overall lore for world building and things like that (even with it's many reboots and spin offs). So when info is given about that kind of stuff I tend to soak it in like a sponge because not only am i learning stuff about this thing i really like it's inspiring me and giving me ideas on how to write my own stuff.

Overall tho I say if someone wants to share stuff go nuts if not cool it's the author's decision anyway

[thecrystalrook]

I personally love hearing this stuff out of story. You can really go deep into the philosophy of the writing and the lore of the story

[Bokyongyo]

If I’m really into the story already, more info on the world is always a plus

For my comic I do some little lore tid bit stuff that talk about stuff mentioned in the chapter and kind of detail, just kind of due to what @VibrantFox said. Trying to fit and explain all of it would make a lot of dialogue scenes just fill unnatural and lore dumpy. So having a little extra page dedicated to lore stuff just helps with that.

Really just like learning a tad more about little extra details from stories I like to read.

[RyzaCobalion]

Basically, when it comes to discussing things like lore and character motivations and possible futures, how much do you want to hear from the writers outside of the story itself??

i'd say a little of it like say during a Q&A chapter because you reveal too much of the information about the characters and lore there's a good chance that most of it might be spoiled if you speak too much of it.

[rajillustration]

I say as a reader I like a little bit of lore explanation, but not a ton. Like when I was younger we used to theorize about Harry Potter all the freakin time, because the books were still coming out. Now that they're done and finished...I really hate it every time we get new official lore about how wizards pooped directly on the floor for like thousands of years or something like that. Maybe this type of random ass lore was necessary in creating a world, but I certainly didn't need to know that! Especially after a series is done...less is more. I don't really want to know any more.

Same with other things where the ending was better off left unexplained--like the ending of Evangelion, or some of the weirder Final Fantasies, or like...I dunno, Kingdom Hearts? there's a lot of series where the appeal is that it is mysterious and open-ended, and we really don't want clarification or that kinda ends the fun of thinking about it.

Then there's other things that were just kinda happy accidents--like Undertale's Gaster, who was probably just the result of a dev room in the game to test things--but the people created so many fanons of what was possibly happening with this "deleted character", if it was on purpose, if he was directly in the game ever at all, and how he was related to everyone else that I'm glad toby fox just kinda stayed largely mute on the subject and let people continue to stew up their fan theories.

[thispersonishuman]

For me, as both a writer and a reader, it depends. If it's a minor detail that doesn't affect the series in any major ways, like Mrs. so and so eats a bunch of watermelon because it's her favourite fruit, or a confirmation of a minor detail like a logo from another piece of their media being put there intentionally and tying the universes together, or something like that, I don't mind getting it from the author.

However; if it's like "X is actually gay, I just didn't make any references because of [reason]," or something like that it feels like a cheap shot.

[Kaydreamer]

I love hearing the official word on things, but you are right with how it can shut down fan discussion and theorising, which is also incredibly fun. For me, I like it when there's heaps of fan discussion and headcanoning online, but the author expands upon the lore in codexes and such little by little throughout the series. (I'll need to rely on codices a bit for my stories, because I have an extremely deep lore which, had I stuck with writing novels, could have been mostly explained in-book... but there's no way that'll work with a comic, haha. )

I'm also perfectly fine with an author continuing to expand the world's lore and such well after the series is done. Especially if they have a big sandbox universe they may continue to play in over future decades. This was done... poorly with Harry Potter, but it can be done well.

Really, if an author loves to share, I like to hear what they have to share. Some people don't, and they can choose not to listen, but they shouldn't rag on an author for wanting to keep talking about the thing they made.

[scmarshtacky]

I'm around 'a little' and 'nothing.' In general, I feel like character motivations and world building should be able to be interpreted from the story itself. All audience members should have some room to craft ideas and headcannon, but if they are so lost that the author needs to spell out why this character did that or why the world works this way, then the story and characters may not be very well constructed. That said, I think that tidbits about characters or the world that aren't able to fit into the story naturally are fun to have.

[shfra13]

I'm gonna say as much as possible, because a little might be too little and a lot might be too much. As much as possible, I believe, is when the author give a decent amount of insight and is still open to many interpretation, but not too much to the point of dictating a story. Kind of a balance in which consumers can create a plausible theory that is "backed" by the canon/lore presented by the writer's explanation.

As a reader, personally, I prefer to lean on a little bit too much information, because I'm just more comfortable with more certainty (in this case, a canon lore). However, sometimes those explained lore can be disappointing and discouraging, and sometimes coming out of nowherr and doesn't line up with the story's plot, so I understand that a lot of people would be more into theories and stuff.

As a writer, though, I'm never sure how to answer when my readers ask I'd love to be able to talk about the theories and lores, I could definitely go on and on for hours with discussions and inputs, but I'm scared that what I say might end up spoiling the fun of the reading experience for the readers.

[LadyOttoline]

I only want to hear a couple of cute facts about the work. However I want to hear as much as possible about the authors process and motivations.

[DesiredUsernameTaken]

Oh boy... I could write pages on this

This one is pretty hard. When it comes to discussions, theorizing, etc, that's an ideal situation for a story in the "professional world". If people keep talking about it, they get their conversations and socialization and you get free publicity, Everyone wins and has fun. That's all fine and a great. I'd prefer a writer to keep most things to themselves if the story is still ongoing. It makes more sense that way.

When it comes to finished works...

I prefer writers to share everything they feel comfortable with sharing. It can, in some ways, "ruin" one's vision of what their story was, or how they thought some characters ended up after The End, but it never mattered to me. I've never been so attached to another's imaginary world that it would, say, disrupt my actual life if it turned out the truth is different. I'd rather know the truth of the matter. As a creator, I do not adhere to the belief that you get to create your own little alternative route to an ending--or anything else that happened in the story--unless it's been stated otherwise, because their creation doesn't belong to me, you, or anyone else but the creator. I despise the whole "death of the author" thing. Even when I was a reader, and didn't create, I still hated it.

The moment anyone can make up their own reality about someone else's creation is the same moment in which the story loses merit and credibility in my eyes, because at that point, the story truly feels like nothing more than fantasy. I personally enjoy accepting the author's say as the final voice on a matter, when it comes to their own works.

If they prefer not to do that, and give it up to their audience, that's fair, too, but I also detach myself from the world very quickly after that. I'm invested in that particular story, and therefore, interested in what the creator of that particular story has to say. If I wanted to read or hear about other people's take on the stories, I'd rather just read about their own stories, and stay with them on their journeys into being creators of their own worlds.