Some authors like to include themselves in their stories at the beginning, to introduce themselves and their story or characters. Others actually have a minor role in their stories, some even appearing as background characters.
Some authors only appear at the end of the story to answer FAQ.
What is your opinion on this?
I personally don’t have a problem with authors appearing at the end to answer questions. But I don’t really care for the stories that have the author appear just to fight with the main character.
I think it can be done badly… or well. I love it when authors show up in the backgrounds of stories/as background characters. However I think it can break the story when the authors interact with the main characters. I don’t really like authors entering at the beginning, however I think it’s cool if they end up at the end to answer questions and stuff.
(And this all goes for Episode stories lol).
I like it when Kayla Sloans does it because it’s quite funny. I feel like it’s definitely a comedic thing. But I don’t like it when the author runs on screen to rant about some hate they got cause that just gets in the way of people who want to read the story especially when they are saying “I would make my chapters longer but blah blah blah” if you cut that out you could make your chapters longer also if you can’t handle hate or critisism of any kind then turn off your Q&A. Don’t completely derail your story over it.
I don’t mind them just trying to form a connection with their readers, Genevieve Marshall (author of Dripping Mascara) appeared at the start of every chapter but her chapters were long as hell which meant we weren’t losing any story just from her talking.
Meh, i don’t mind it. Although the one thing i can’t stand is the author intros!!
It just annoys me, i’m fine if the author is in the background just as a bg character but i don’t like when they’re actually apart of the story. Like If they have a main role in the story apart from “author” is what i don’t like.
I don’t like the FAQ or introductions, you can go to their page for that. However I love when they are background characters or have minor roles. I think it’s fun and sometimes I get too invested in the story and when the author appears it sets me back into reality that it’s just a story.
Main roles however come off as narcissistic, like they want to be the center of attention.
I remember in “Welcome to Wonderful Winston” (I think it’s called that) the authors were actually characters in the story, they broke fourth wall a few times by saying stuff like “the story has taken on a life of its own” and I didn’t mind that tbh! It was still a very good story, I think the authors went on hiatus.
Breaking the fourth wall where authors argue with their characters can still be funny if executed well. However, it’s cringeworthy as hell if done in non-comedy stories.
I think it depends on the story. Like others have said, it can be done well but also badly. I think that it’s easier to have the author showing up in comedies and sitcoms. I mean, inserting oneself in a Simpsons episode as a background character might be a fun easter egg and most probably won’t even know about it. I think it’s harder to do in an immersive high fantasy world where introducing the author could feel out of place. Maybe a character could be loosely based on the author. I don’t have a problem with it unless it distracts from the actual plot.
also if you can’t handle hate or critisism of any kind then turn off your Q&A. Don’t completely derail your story over it.
I don’t have a problem with it unless it distracts from the actual plot.