Writing Blog - The House Effect

When it comes to things I like, I’m usually that one guy who posts all his crazy theories online. I can’t help it. When I get into something, my brain keeps coming up with different ways in which the story could go.

One of the weirdest things about writing Ave Xia Rem Y is that now I’m on the other side of the speculation. I’m the guy who looks at all the comments while knowing how the story is going to turn out. It’s an interesting feeling.

There are times when I see someone theorize something in the comments, and I scratch my chin and go, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

I took a writing class once, and here’s where the title of this post comes in. The teacher compared writing a story with building a house. When you’re writing, you’re building a house. You’re up there, close and personal. That means you have no idea how your house looks from afar. 

The people who are outside the house, the readers, have a different perspective from you. I guess this goes double for a situation like this where the story is still “under construction.”

For example, I have seen people theorize that Xiao Fang is a girl who is disguised as a guy. 

I kid you not. When I first saw the idea, I immediately wondered if I could change the story to use it. It’s a pretty nice idea. If Xiao Fang were Xiao Zheng’s daughter in disguise and knows she’s going to be married to Liu Jin, well, that’d be a neat twist. It would go a long way towards explaining Xiao Fang’s antipathy towards Liu Jin.  

However, it wasn’t in the cards. Xiao Fang has his own role to play in the story. I couldn’t find a way to fit the idea without changing way too many things. A pity.

Still, it is a good example of how readers sometimes come up with things that make a lot of sense based on the information they have available that you’re surprised you didn’t come up with.