Interacting with a blog fiction

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Okay, I think it's time to discuss the concept of "suspension of belief", and, how it relates to Blog Fiction. If you've never heard of the term, I'll direct you to this media glossary article.

In the world of fiction you are often required to believe a premise which you would never accept in the real world. Especially in genres such as fantasy and science fiction, things happen in the story which you would not believe if they were presented in a newspaper as fact. Even in more real-world genres such as action movies, the action routinely goes beyond the boundaries of what you think could really happen.

In order to enjoy such stories, the audience engages in a phenomenon known as "suspension of disbelief". This is a semi-conscious decision in which you put aside your disbelief and accept the premise as being real for the duration of the story.

When it comes to Blog Fiction, the reader must also suspend their disbelief and accept that they are reading the blog of a fictional person. If the writer of a blog fiction wants the reader to believe that they are reading a blog of a fictional person, that illusion needs to be maintained as much as is practical.

So why do I see so many blog fiction sites where the *Author* is the one responding to comments? When this happens it completely breaks the illusion of reading a blog. It is a reminder that you are reading a blog written by a writer not a character. It jars the reader out of the illusion - and that is not good if you want to keep your readers interested. Evangeline's ride is a good example of how jarring it is. Almost every entry I am thrown out of the illusion when I read about how the Author has been busy, or how she's improving her writer, etc...

Some sites, like Fate's Acquittal, started out leaving comments as the Author, but transition to responding "in character" as the story unfolds. I think it got better when this happened as it allowed the writer a second tool to reveal what the character was thinking. It also gave some foreshadowing for the thorough reader.

To those who are reading blog fiction, this article is for you too. If you're reading a blog, be sure that your comments are left for the character as well. If you want to talk to the author directly try looking for an email somewhere on the site. Please don't be like Ian over at Flyover City. In this case you, the reader, are ruining the illusion for other readers.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent post! I have made it a point to reply to comments in character, but rarely do I ever get the commenters to do the same. There has been many a comment I couldn't post because it was written to me, and not to him. I have made many changes to my blog, even updating my blogroll to show only links the traveler would visit. Now I am going to re-visit my comments and delete accordingly. Thanks again.
Isaac (the storyteller)

peg (hot) said...

So right you are, but I sympathize with the writers in that some of us are social oafs in real life, so when real-time biology intrudes we act like dorks and make the wrong choices. I leave posts on other people's blogs as a character on my blog-- what's that about? I reply to my RARE visitor comment as a back-slapping Chrysler dealer hoping you'll sign up and tell yr friends. Goofy! I want to make up for the in-your-face disregard for the reader's presumable good taste found in much of my "content," I suppose. If your content is sugary, you should be rude to your guests, and vice-versa. You heard it here first.

Ted said...

I mostly agree with you - but it's tricky...

When I first started writing Flyover City, I imagined cultivating a dedicated group of readers who would interact w/ the blog, taking the story at face value; but that's pretty rare. Because interaction is a huge part of why people read blogs, if they're commenting AT ALL, I don't want to just leave them high and dry. I interact as much as I can without COMPLETELY tearing down the 4th wall...

The other problem - for me, anyway - is the fact that FC would be, in the "real world", a PERSONAL blog (it is the journal of an aspiring superhero, after all. It would be like Bruce Wayne writing an entry about "Last night, as Batman"... etc.)

I suspect that part of the reason blogfic writers have such a hard time getting comments is because readers are hesitant to interact w/ fictional characters. I think this will change as the blog-fic genre grows...

Dustin said...

@5ws1h and Ted
I don't know if you should go as far as deleting or ignoring reader comments that are out of character, but you could respond to them as the character in a confused fashion. The reader should quickly catch on that, in the comments, they should address your character, not you.

@peg (hot)
>>I leave posts on other people's blogs as a character on my blog

That's awesome! I think that's great publicity.

Ted Said:
The other problem - for me, anyway - is the fact that FC would be, in the "real world", a PERSONAL blog (it is the journal of an aspiring superhero, after all. It would be like Bruce Wayne writing an entry about "Last night, as Batman"... etc.)I think that's where suspension of disbelief comes in. Readers will, for the sake of enjoyment, ignor the fact that it doesn't make sense for someone to be blogging about their secret identity. That's the beauty of suspension of disbelief. If you believe in your readers, they'll believe in your characters and the world they live in.

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