Literary Influence

Hello!

I'm sort of new to the forum community. I was hoping to find some forums where writer's tread to ask a question I'm writing a paper on. The question is, "How much influence do you believe a reader holds over a writer's literary work?" This interests me, because I myself am pretty self-conscious when it comes to my own writing. I would like anyone and everyone's opinion! Have you had strong enough positive or negative reviews of your work, so much so that you changed your writing style entirely? Maybe you took several tips here and there, but kept your work generally true to how you intended it to be. Anyway, I hope I can get some good input within the week.

Hey Bearbear!

Welcome to YWS. Seeing as you asked, I went ahead and moved your topic to a forum section we call 'Ask an Expert', where, as you might expect, you ask questions in regards to writing and you might even get some answers.

Anyhow; How much influence do you believe a reader holds over a writer's literary work?

I'd start off by saying that both writing and reading is subjective. Not only within what they like, but in how they perceive things. In the end, the writer can only put his work out there, and it's left to the reader how they perceive it.

You bring up reviews though, so I'd assume you also mean the influence your readers will have on what you write as you are writing it. Feedback, generally. That's a pretty neat question.

Sure, I've changed a lot of stuff within my writing as a result of the feedback and critique I have received. Not to say my writing style though; I write how I want. But a lot of things in my writing has been affected by others. Which is good. Mostly.

As in, if someone tells me to change my writing because it is wrong, without really explaining it or it just being their personal opinion, it's not really going to affect me. If they go ahead and actually show me how something is wrong, it would most likely lead me to change or edit something.

I'm short on time, I'm sure you'll get more than enough answers within the week.

Personally, the reader's of my work have changed the way I write. But not necessarily in a negative way. We'll use my poetry as an example. Over the years, I've tried many different concepts, styles, themes etc etc. As I've grown as a poet, I've learned to listen to the reader's opinion about what they liked or disliked about the poem. These opinions, whether subconsciously or not, have changed the way I write merely because I want to write things people like to read. When I use the same theme over a couple of poems, and the theme is received well, it stands to reason that I'm going to use that theme again later in my writing. If I format a poem differently and no one receives it well, that format might get put on a back burner because I want people to like what I'm writing.
So I guess, yes, the readers have shaped my writing. But I would never say that's a negative thing. I got where I am today because of my readers.

Actually, I just wrote a poem yesterday that is a perfect example of a writer changing the way the reader writes. See when I first joined YWS I had no idea about poetry, I still don't, so I went around telling people that they needed more puncuation and capitals in their poems. The YWSer would calmly inform me that those things were common in poems, and that they did it on purpose.

Anyway, the point is the other day I decided not to have a single capital in my poem.