I know what you're thinking: What possible advice could I have on readers?
Well, not a lot, but I have some insight that you probably already know.
The most important thing to remember as you're writing is that your reader is going to decide whether or not to continue reading your book based on your grammar, your way of writing, and your plot. There's a lot of other things, but those are the main things that I think are important. There may be similar readers, but generally everyone who comes across your book is going to have different tastes. It's natural to like certain things over others. For examples, I really like thrillers but I'm not so much into romance.
You have to keep in mind that there are these different people. Not because you should try to please everyone, but so you can decide who you want your target audience to be. You should pick one or two things that are going to be the main aspects of the story.
For example, romance and fantasy.
Those are two things that could easily mix together and you easily reach two different groups of people, meaning more people might see your story, which is GOOD. What you don't want to do is try to incorporate every single thing in existence. It'll just muddle your story and lose your readers because of it.
I'm going to use Harry Potter fanfiction for the following example because it's what I'm most familiar with.
I have read more than a handful of Harry Potter fanfics. They all have their own unique things, but I have ran into those one or two fanfics that are just a pile of garbage. It seemed like the author just threw a whole bunch of things into the story and called it a day.
What I'm talking about is how the story starts out like most Harry Potter fanfics with a witch, or wizard, who are going to Hogwarts. Yay! You know, nothing new. Then something gets added - they're a Seer! Whoa, that's neat! I've only seen a couple of these! I'm interested in what the author does - Oh! Wait... the main character's Sirius Black's daughter? Oh, okay, that's not new, but interesting what- WHAT?! She's a vampire - SHE'S AN ANIMAGUS AS WELL?!
You get the picture?
Instead of having the main character have one or two unique things about them, they're suddenly everything. I also have seen characters where every single boy or girl loves them. It's just not realistic at all.
This really ties in with Mary-Sues. They're basically perfect and amazing and just unicorn vomit and I don't like unicorn vomit!
That was a bit graphic, but the point of the matter is: DO NOT CLUTTER YOUR STORY.
Your readers are just going to be like:
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Well, some of them might be like...
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Whoever those people are... I wouldn't want to be friends with.
Keeping your story clean and neat not only helps your readers follow along but also helps you in the long run. You won't have to worry about big plot holes or forgetting to tie ends up. Just... KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Not to say you can't have intriguing or complex things in your story, just don't make it so complex no one can follow along.
You also have to keep in mind that not everything that makes sense to you will make sense to other people. You are the author. You know the story. Your readers don't. You just have to find a balance where you can satisfy your writing needs and your readers can still understand and not wonder how in the world a vampire can become an Animagus. [I actually think that would be quite an interesting thing to read about. What animal would it turn into? A bat? :P]
Oh, also, your readers are kind of like your viewers on YouTube. They read your story and give you feedback just like subscribers do with creators on their videos. Not all of them will be nice, but generally they will be - or at least that's my experience.
Main points you should take with you:
- Don't clutter your story with nonsense.
- Your characters aren't Wonder Woman or Superman.
- Your readers should be lead along the story with care but don't hold them too close. Don't simplify in fear no one will get it.
- Your readers will give feedback most of the time. The nice feedback is nice, but the constructive criticism is important.
- Always think of who you want your target audience to be. Tweens, teenagers, older teens... parents... or just certain groups of people - romance lovers, thriller seekers, Harry Potter nerds etc. It will help you with your writing.
- All this advice depends on what you're writing, so take it with a grain of salt.
