Is it okay to tell readers when so and so is about to start after such and such chapter

[CrimsonGenius]

Like put in the author note 'These guys will storm the gates after chapter 80?'

 

[Deleted member 266]

Sure, they can do whatever they want.

There are no rules.

Personally, I will instant drop a book that does that tho.

And I will probably not read anything by that author ever again.

 

[DireBadger]

I will sometimes put in an author's note if a scene is too crunchy or juicy, where a reader can skip to the next chapter if they want without missing much overarching plot.
Guess that means Blue Moon will never read my books :)

 

[RepresentingWrath]

I can see why you would want to put a warning that there is going to be sexual violence, gore, etc. Why would you want to spoil your own story though? You obviously can, but I don't get why you would want to do it.

 

[CrimsonGenius]

I can see why you would want to put a warning that there is going to be sexual violence, gore, etc. Why would you want to spoil your own story though? You obviously can, but I don't get why you would want to do it.

Overthinking. Some people will probably wonder when will this situation be cleared up because they are tired of waiting.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Overthinking. Some people will probably wonder when will this situation be cleared up because they are tired of waiting.

I understand this problem. Happened to me. Personally, I dealt with this by saying, "just wait and see." I think the second best way of doing it is putting it under a spoiler and not giving any concrete info. "They will storm the gates really soon." If readers want more info, ask them personally if they want a 'full' spoiler or not.

 

[DireBadger]

Just don't use the phrase 'little did he know...."
God, I hate that. I really do. switching to an omniscient POV showing the bad guy's 'tilted lair' where they talk about the plot is perfectly fine, but blunt mid-story narration is so awful

There was a movie that came out a while back, called 'stranger than fiction', and the piece of crap writer in that movie literally was every one of the WORST writer tropes in existence.

 

[Clo]

Since I juggle 4 main PoV characters, I will sometimes mention in the comments when (or how much) we'll of a specific character, especially if people like them, or are curious why we haven't had their PoV in a while.

In the book format, those notes will not exist,
But on the web, since it can take half a month before something get addressed? I don't mind mentioning things like

"Vaelith will show up nearly every two chapters for a while: ch 13, 15, 17, 19, then 22, 25 and 26."

I don't tell people what she'll be up to. Just that this when he story conitnues.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I get comments like this all of the time, and I just give them a thumbs up and reply vaguely. Like simply "mayhaps."

 

[Valmond]

I get comments like this all of the time, and I just give them a thumbs up and reply vaguely. Like simply "mayhaps."

Honestly, it kinda defeats the point of a book if you’re spoiling the actual contents of the story itself like this.

I don’t know when this started, but been so for a while. I answer pretty much like you do, I try not to give it away.

Why? Well, what I stated, and two. You lose with both coin toss.

They want to know and you tell them, they call you a bad writer. You don’t tell them, and they call you a bad writer.

You tease, and they call you a bad writer. There is no winning. XD

 

[beast_regards]

Normally, there is no reason to.

Some foreshadowing is fine in narration, but the writer's comment informing readers that something would happen at this chapter is completely redundant and wouldn't be normally done.

I understand why you want to do this... the web novel readers are notoriously fickle and you want to avoid them flipping over, but ...

...there is no point. They could and would overreact regardless if they had forewarning or not.

 

[LilRora]

If it's under a spoiler with appropriate warning to inform readers when they can expect something, I don't have an issue with that.

I've had multiple people ask me in the comments when something was going to happen in my story; some people evidently want to know such things.

 

[Lysander_Works]

Might be better to stick to what has already worked before, but if you want to foreshadow without foreshadowing in your content, maybe try the Latest Chapter Discussion Thread. You can summarize what already happened (with or without spoilers) while foreshadowing to what is next to come. Just one of many possibilities.
Just make sure not to make a new thread for every single chapter (new posts within the same thread is how it should be).

 

[RiceballWasTaken]

Like put in the author note 'These guys will storm the gates after chapter 80?'

they can but it breaks the immersion

 

[Story_Marc]

That sounds like the actions of an insecure writer.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

There was a movie that came out a while back, called 'stranger than fiction', and the piece of crap writer in that movie literally was every one of the WORST writer tropes in existence.

Wait - you are calling probably the best movie Will Farrel was ever in a "piece of crap"?
Fair.

 

[DireBadger]

Megamind.
As long as you don't actually have to LOOK at him, he's okay.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Megamind.
As long as you don't actually have to LOOK at him, he's okay.

Ah, forgot it was him. OK, the SECOND best movie he was ever in... :D With Elf being the only other one worth sitting through at least once

 

[Clo]

I wonder how the director of the movie Memento would react to this thread.

 

[Alski]

I will sometimes put in an author's note if a scene is too crunchy or juicy, where a reader can skip to the next chapter if they want without missing much overarching plot.
Guess that means Blue Moon will never read my books :)

Telling people they can ignore a paragraph or 2 and spoiling future plot are two completely different things.