Jul 2017
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Jul 2017
Jul 2017
miesmud
Jul '17

I feel ya... I have MULTIPLE people that guessed right already and rip.

But like, is it a good sign or am I too predictable? :cry:

keii4ii
Jul '17

Yeah, it's not necessarily a bad sign. Surprise isn't the only element (nor is it a requirement) that makes a good story.

Though if yours is the type of a story that relies on surprise... well...

SirGutsalot
Jul '17

Mine is a mystery comic, so it is nice to have the element of surprise every now and again...

shazzbaa
Jul '17
1

Yeah, I agree with keii4ii -- there's a big difference between "Aha! I knew it! :D" and "psh, saw THAT coming" even though both are responses to guessing the outcome. The first one isn't bad at all! But the second one is something you want to avoid.

I think this is a good thing to keep in mind even if someone hasn't predicted the ending yet -- that it's a big risk to just rely on folks' getting their minds blown by the surprise of the ending; it's a good idea to focus on making that ending satisfying, too.

Like, if you've figured out the main characters are going to get together, you'll still enjoy watching it happen -- it's not "predictable" when a story does the thing you've been looking forward to. If you've figured out that jigsaw is manipulating everyone to..... have to saw off their own arms or whatever (I'm not 100% clear on what jigsaw does) then there can still be tension and dread in watching that inevitable doom approach.

VermillionWorks
Jul '17

A risk one takes with a story that's posted a page at a time. I'll say that if someone predicts your ending, do NOT acknowledge it's right, delete it, or act funny to the person who guessed it. XD

I personally would try to avoid changing my ending even if someone did predict it. I think it's better not to let something like that ruin your original plan for your story, discouraging as it can be for a moment. You may feel way worse later if you changed everything for someone's lucky guess. =P

And then this is very important. Even if someone guesses some big part of the ending, it doesn't mean they know exactly how it's going to play out or how it's going to make them feel.

rmdooley
Jul '17

Bittersweet. The twist and surprise are lessened but it means that the pieces leading up to it and foreshadowing was done right

Michelle
Jul '17

I agree with others, it's not a bad thing! You want to strike a balance of keeping people guessing, and making them feel clever when they reach the right conclusions. If none of their expectations pan out, they'll get frustrated. I'd only worry if they guessed the ending on like, page 1. That could be a problem.

The best you can do is to not squash anyone's predictions, no matter how close or far from the mark. Any plot predictions on my comic pretty much get a "Definitely maybe!" from me, no matter how close they are to the actual truth.

VermillionWorks
Jul '17

Maybe if the comic begins with "This is the story of how I died." XD

Michelle
Jul '17

I mean, even that sounds interesting! People can know how something ends and still want to know how it gets to that ending. :>

Rhombik
Jul '17

I think a good ending seems inevitable when you think back. So there's always a risk that somebody will guess it.

heraclus
Jul '17

I think it will be warst if you had a mystery and someone solved it before you finished it.Maybe his name would be sherlock XD.

sarrowsmith10
Jul '17

I'm pretty sure most of my readers know how my comic is going to end. It's not a mystery story, so its not that big of a deal. I think people read because they enjoy the drama and the action. Not everything is totally predictable, but if my readers didn't understand where everyone is going in the story by now (we are 3/4 complete) I would be seriously worried that our storytelling really sucked.

FlutterbyBubbles
Jul '17

NOBODY CAN PREDICT MY ENDING BECAUSE EVEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!!!!!

I'm also considering just an on-going comic with no end

(I dunno)

DiegoPalacios
Jul '17
miesmud

it depends, sometimes a writer drops hints on purpose in the form of foreshadowing. Those are good, they make the reader feel smart if he saw those hints earlier. But being predictable because your work is too formulaic or a cliché may be a bad thing. But if the readers know a character is gonna die and it makes them cry anyway because the scene touched their soul, then being predictable is not a problem.

miesmud
Jul '17

Good points you got there

My comic is a slice of life, sports and heartwarming-esque kind of story. And all that happened up until now kind build up to the main plot, and I've been forshadowing a lot. So I think it might be good thing in my case that people understand where it's going.

And I think they'll still enjoy it, even though it's pretty clear what wil happen.

tuesdayisms
Jul '17
shazzbaa

I am relieved to hear what you've said. No one has predicted my story outright, but there may or may not be a little too much foreshadowing for one of the plotlines that will happen WAY later into the comic.
It's not the destination that's important anyway (unless you have everything perfect just to throw it away at the last minute for a terrible ending), it's the journey that counts. As long as your audience can't predict beat by beat how your story is going to go cough coughEmojiMovie*cough cough*, your story should still be engaging and leave your audience in suspense!

jimena
Jul '17

The interesting part is going to be how you get to that ending dont you think?
There are many books and stories, (movies and series) that tell you the ending right at the begining, the important part is the journey not the destination (omg I do watch a lot of tv XD)