Quoting Nicholas Leifker <nightelf@thekeep.org>:

I think the problem here is that everyone expects the setup to be done,
is complaining about unanswered questions, and Mark CAN'T ANSWER
because of this thing called 'spoilers' that writers don't like to give
away.  The result is that Mark has to act defensively to an attack on
his work without giving backup or reason to it - his "being an ass", as
Lurker so eloquently put it.  He isn't being an ass; he's simply trying
to keep his story intact and without spoilage.

My suggestions to the criticism is the following: Having been a part of
the pre-reading on this, there ARE reasons - good reasons - as to why
Akane and Nabiki are getting the police treatment, and why Akihito is
so interested in Ranma.  Be patient; there are a lot of words yet to be
written.

I haven't read the story in question (for reasons that are not at all the
author's nor the story's fault) but I think there's a general point to be made
here.

It's sad but true that readers don't tend to have a lot of patience. If a story
looks like it's not going anywhere interesting, most people will just quietly
go look for something else to read. This is as true with fanfiction as it is
with any other reading material that we aren't required by work or school to
read.

As you say, there are times when an author has to keep the readers in the dark
so as to surprise them later. But short of giving away secrets, there are often
ways to maintain reader confidence. More foreshadowing, maybe. Perhaps cutting
back the setup to get to the real meat of the story more quickly.

Would any of that have helped in this case? I don't know. Certainly there are
times when there's nothing you can do except ask people to bear with you. But I
do know that referring to a reader's honest concerns as "crap & drivel" is a
very effective way to lose your readership. If I had expressed similar concerns
and the writer had said that he understands my concerns but would I please be a
bit more patient, I'd probably keep reading. If I got only insults for my 
trouble, I'd probably just start auto-deleting the author in question's fics.
Which is fine, if that's what the author wants.

Is that what you want, Mark?



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