So, how much do you compromise for your readers?

[AnnaLandin]

I wouldn't say I compromise - I have a plan for my comic and I will stick to it, because this is the way my comic is supposed to play out.

I have certainly never tamed or censored stuff. Perhaps it's because Grassblades - while being violent - is not likely to be offensive to people in the first place. There's violence, but it's rarely particularly gory. There's very little in the way of offensive language (one of the benefits of having one main character be a selective mute, and the other be too grumpy to talk much! XD), and as far as I know, no one's been bothered by any of my character designs so far.

There might be issues in the future - I have some plans for one upcoming character's backstory that might not fly with everyone, though I'll be sure to warn people before the chapter mentioning it begins - but I'm not sure. I'm going to stick to my guns there too, though.

However, I have tweaked some of my plans for it due to reader-reactions. Mostly, it's been readers who really like minor characters that might otherwise have never appeared again - and since they like them so much, I've decided to bring them back later and give them more to do. Alas, their re-appearances are much further down the line, so it's not like this comes into play right now.

[Vikiro_Hop]

The short of it is that I try to be thoughtful, but at the same provide content only I can provide. Nothing wrong with taking good advice, but there are some decisions ya just gotta stick by.

This is a really good question, a lot of the time people will say just let the artist do what they want. Only to turn around and complain about how off the rails they went. Its kinda a catch 22. Compromise might be a bit harsher word for a lot of people, but in the end we all do things to try and make our comic reach as big of an audience it is meant to. If that means omitting a few bits of things that really don't connect with the reader I'd hazard to say most authors wouldn't bat an eye. As @keii4ii said some things we do for the sake of accessibility and there isn't anything wrong with that.

First off I suppose comics for me is more about being an entertainer than just engaging in a social interaction. They aren't mutually exclusive just that I think being an entertainer better fit for what I do. In a social interaction there are pressures to be sincere and genuine and certain things you should and shouldn't do according to society. As an entertainer you enjoy a lot more freedom but also inherit the burden of having to entertain. I might just be arguing semantics though.

Whenever I make a piece of art, especially a comic I try to be an artist first and an entertainer second. As an artist my only goal is to communicate what I want, to the best of my abilities. This is done without regards to audience reception. I do this to keep myself from pandering to the audience or so I don't throw away good ideas because they might not be popular. Then as an entertainer I work out how and if there is a good way to present this idea to the world so that it gets the most attention it can.

[gateofselidor]

I haven't made any compromises to the overall structure of the comic, but I certainly read the feedback I get from readers and try to take it into account. So, if a particular character gets lots of positive feedback and interest, I might add a scene in, or adjust a scene to give them a bigger role. I have a lot of world and character background details that will never make it into the comic because I just don't have the space without disrupting the pace, but I don't mind adding a little extra in here and there if people seem interested.

[igneriss]

I don't. I mean, I usually have so many pages done or already planned/sketches ahead that it's too late to do any changes. Though it's not like in my series there's anything that could offense my readers. I made only one, little change after comments, but it was not a compromise- more of 'oh my I love that idea so much and know how to make in work in the story!'.

[myung]

Great answer. Compromise is indeed a little negative sounding for what is basically trying to have a dialogue with your audience. For instance, if you were having a conversation, you wouldn't change your values or way of thinking necessarily for the other participant, but you would adjust how you're trying to communicate, what words or analogies you use, so that your meaning would be clearly understood.

Comics, movies, animations, tv all have some aspect of commercialism inherit in it. Despite what some people say, this is not an evil thing. The amount you want to insert dictates whether you critically analyze and adjust to your market, or you just politely thank your readers and take their comments as mere suggestions. That is unless you have no intentions of showing your work to ANYONE except for yourself.

[andychrist]

"Compromise" to me would be trying to reach an audience that was never going to be on board with Andy Christ's dark humor anyway. Like, it's what it says on the tin, you're going to like it or you're going to hate me.

But I am trying to consider the reader's feelings every step of the way, which I don't think is the same thing. I think art and fiction is a conversation, it's a dialogue, it's reaching out into the world and trying to connect. Even if you only do it for yourself, to say "This is how I feel," you still want people to see it and understand it. You have to make yourself clear. And in my case, I need to be aware of whether the violence is funny or upsetting. Which reaction do I want to elicit? Are my potentially offensive jokes funny enough to justify the risk of alienating people? Who's the "victim" of this joke? Am I punching down? Is my perspective on this really needed or have others said it better than I could?

To be clear, I don't think I've gotten GOOD at this. I've just gotten a little better. I think Andy Christ #2 is a tonal disaster of violence that can't decide if it's comedic or tragic. #4, however, is the most violent thing I've ever written, with lots of zombie children getting crushed, maimed, shot, exploded... But the TONE of all this comes off more cartoonish and goofy than mean, I think.

It takes a lot of empathy, self-awareness, and just plain practice to make a good educated guess about how your story will be received.

I had a really viscerally violent, horrible image in the script for the book I'm releasing right now. About a week before I was going to have to start drawing it, I debated with myself whether or not I should cut it and rewrite. The decision was made when I realized, very simply, I didn't want to draw this awful thing happening to this character I really love. If I don't want to draw it, how can I expect anybody to want to look at it?

[shazzbaa]

I agree with the idea of thinking about the readers and how this will come across for them, but not compromising things that are important! Ultimately I try to be true to the story, and the story's audience can be a useful reflection of that. I think about the people that I want to be able to enjoy the story, and keep them in mind. Sometimes that does mean cutting things out that I would be fine with, but that don't really enhance the story enough to justify excluding the people who wouldn't enjoy them. But if it's an important element, well, what is the point of telling a story and holding back on the elements that would tell it?

A story is a promise, and that means not holding back on delivering that promise, but also not suddenly changing your mind at the last minute and delivering something different to what you promised.

My audience for RW probably got into this for a fun story about weird characters. So if I were to introduce a REALLY emotionally heavy topic, I want to make sure it fits in the story, is important to the story, and that it's not going to hit people hard because the story promised something else. Sometimes that means I look at a scene and go "does this really NEED to be this intense," but sometimes it means I look at a scene and go "this needs to be hinted at earlier so people know what they're getting into."

[elixiadragmire]

hmmmmm, I dont think I do so much. i do 'standard' stuff like cencored swears, no gore, etc etc. I just try to make the story more readable is all.
The plot wont changes, the darker scene s wont change (that would really be phoning it in, and piss everyone off) but the 'framing' might if I think it'll tell the story better.

Comics, movies, animations, tv all have some aspect of commercialism inherit in it. Despite what some people say, this is not an evil thing. The amount you want to insert dictates whether you critically analyze and adjust to your market, or you just politely thank your readers and take their comments as mere suggestions. That is unless you have no intentions of showing your work to ANYONE except for yourself.

I totally agree with this! We are both artist and entertainer

[joannekwan]

I wouldn't say I compromise. I mean when I first start a story I keep in mind what people would like to see/read. What's the point of producing something you ultimately want to share if nothing about your story is likable to anyone other than yourself? I have a vision and I stick to it. I do take comments and suggestions into account if they overall help the legibility of the pages. And I might write more of a character in if they're particularly popular with readers. But ultimately it's the story I want to tell, some people will like it, others won't.

[DynamoToon]

I actually compromise a LOT, i dont show it but i have an EXTREMELY dark sense of humor. I just dont wanna offend anyone so I pull back a lot, i try to make my humor as clean as i can. Who knows? Maybe down the road I can make a comic thats nothing but dark humor, but for now I like where my humor is currently at. After all, the best kind of humor is well-executed clean humor.

[KrugosNavarro]

I don't, I usually write the full script long before it's illustrated and starts reaching the readers, so their reaction have no effect on the story. I probably wouldn't change anything anyway just to please readers.

[bsienk90]

Hi! I'm the creator of Confessions.
I do boyxboy...so a lot of my readers probably would enjoy smut-like stuff..there probably isn't much I have to hold back. XD But I do try and make it a social experience for everyone, bc I like interacting with my readers. (Like Ill ask a question or something on the page). Though I do kinda worry about not giving them ENOUGH of my characters relationship, bc I do more exrotica and soft boylove, and on top of that my two characters won't get into it until much later down the line, so I'm just hoping readers stick around till that happens, because character development is super important to me, so down the line I guess we will see where I'll compromise for my readers. I do move things around and do 2 pages instead of 1 to keep the story moving along sometimes, just so readers will stick around. I also do more "smut"-ish stuff and couple artwork for the readers. So I keep in mind what niche I'm in. But I think over all I have a nice balance, bc I do enjoy everything I do, even when it's for the readers.

[scythe]

Compromise? Not so much. Respect? Hell yeah. By that I mean, I'm doing my darnedest to build a world for them that they can become attached to, and with that comes certain expectations. They won't appreciate me completely flipping everything on its head for no good reason or basically turning it into a story that is diametrically different to what I've 'promised' them in my opening scenes.

But yeah, I won't be pandering, holding back or compromising on anything just to please a section of the readership.

[Wolven_Sister]

I agree with the idea of thinking about the readers and how this will come across for them, but not compromising things that are important! Ultimately I try to be true to the story, and the story's audience can be a useful reflection of that. I think about the people that I want to be able to enjoy the story, and keep them in mind. Sometimes that does mean cutting things out that I would be fine with, but that don't really enhance the story enough to justify excluding the people who wouldn't enjoy them. But if it's an important element, well, what is the point of telling a story and holding back on the elements that would tell it?

A story is a promise, and that means not holding back on delivering that promise, but also not suddenly changing your mind at the last minute and delivering something different to what you promised.

^^omgeeeee yes all of this! This is also my thought process when I dive into a character's backstory or just the plot in general. I try to make my character's reactions, histories, and personalities as real as possible. And reality can be ugly as well as beautiful without any restrictions as what @shazzbaa wonderfully said.

Story-wise I may not make compromises. Like, I'm not gonna add in an unnecessary scene just for fan service. That detracts from the atmosphere and the mood of the comic and can be quite jarring for some readers. HOWEVER, I may make a quirky little short comic or illustration based on reader's suggestions and what they want to see from my characters. For example, I recently got a request from some readers to make a drawing of my characters in RWBY outfits due to a prior conversation. This I have no problem with!

[carloswebcomic]

I hear a lot of people say that they will not compromise on their stories and such, but the way I see it, that's a compromise in itself.
Perhaps it's my ADD talking, but I get bored very easily of a story or character patterns and I generally want to change something drastically, but I know it would not fly with my readers, hence I compromise to not make drastic changes regardless how much I want to.

[Kura]

If I gave my readers exactly what they wanted / keep asking me to do all the time my comics would be 90% porn (Not saying artists that work on porn are bad just that it's not my thing), with fighting, explosions, military and guns all over the place, and it would be filled with characters I did not create but readers made and begged me to put into the story, and crossed over with about twenty different series. There would probably would also be a trigger warning for every page something mean happened.

That being said I very rarely change things up for readers. Spelling errors or art advice/fixes yes (if I'm able to, those 'colour this I don't like black and white and you're being lazy' ones I can't really do since the reason that comic is not in colour is because I physically can't due it because of arthritis), but not much else.

[AnnaLandin]

I hear a lot of people say that they will not compromise on their stories and such, but the way I see it, that's a compromise in itself.

I'm.... not actually sure what you mean by this. By refusing to compromise, we're compromising?

[carloswebcomic]

Indeed. If you want to take the comic into a different direction, but you know you shouldn't because it would alienate your readers and move away from the spirit of the story, you're compromising what you want to do in order to deliver a consistent experience.

Mind you, perhaps my interpretation of "compromise" is a bit broader than most and I certainly do not see any negative connotations to it. In fact, the ability to compromise can be quite a useful virtue to have.

[scythe]

I'm finding it hard to agree with you I think because the language is so vague. I get what you're saying and to an extent I agree.

To get a bit more specific, imagine GoT is a webcomic, and GRRM decides not to kill off Ned Stark because the readers love him so much. That would be a compromise. If he decides he wants to make is to that that after the red wedding, aliens from the Delta quadrant drop down and lay waste to Westeros, War of the Worlds style, but is worried about the backlash, that to me isn't a compromise, it's just basic respect for your audience. If you all of a sudden want to write a different story, you should do that rather than destroy your current one.

You're right though, a promise is made to the reader at the start of a story, and creators should know that they break that promise at their own peril.

[carloswebcomic]

I once started a comic and I was all like "I'm going to be so punk and do what I want with this and fuck the man and his rules!"
Needless to say, I very quickly fell back into line as doing whatever the hell I wanted just made a mess.

I guess discipline plays a big part in all.