It seems like, I've had an epiphany. I am very sorry, if this comes across as pretty random - because it is - but it feels like the penny has finally dropped for me, in regards to people's impressions of my story. I think, I finally get, why so many people I talk and listen to, and also who I write/wrote to, don't seem to understand where I am coming from with my writing, i.e. what I am trying to do with my story. I have always been aware, that this was founded on a difference in perspective.
My perspective on stories is pretty unique. While most stories, either in the blurb, or in the introduction of the story (=the first couple of pages/the first chapter) try to give the readers an impression of what they can expect from the story as a whole, mine is just different. Yes, I did write a very basic blurb, but as anyone can plainly see, it is revealing almost nothing about the actual scope of and direction of the story. Why? My personal life experience is the reason for this. Over the years, I have come across countless stories that seemed pretty weird, childish, boring or some other way of unappealing, only to find out - after having given them a chance anyway - that they are actually completely different from what my initial impression of them was. And this ended up adding to my enjoyment of these stories to a considerable degree. I LOVE IT, when stories turn out very different than you expected them to be. If my first impression of a story is the exact way the story turns out to be in the end, that is just boring, primarily because it is extremely predictable. If I already know what's going to happen, why read the story in the first place? In that case just give me a summary and leave! So, first impressions can be very misleading. What I learned from this was, to not judge a book by its cover. This personal stance of mine has led me to discover a number of literary gems over the years (though some of them, strictly speaking, weren't even works of literature...).
Therefore, I always go into books with the number of expectations, that are inevitable (I mean, if for example you pick up a sci-fi novel, you are going to have at least some preconceived notion of what it will be about), but I try my hardest not letting that influence my judgment of the story, until I reach its end (or a certain point where it has become 100% clear what the story is doing and whether I am actually interested in that). There are stories, that only get really good at the end. Thus, reading the first chapter and saying, "This is boring. I won't continue this bland snore-fest!", will result in me missing out on the parts of the story, that are actually the ones I would have appreciated. And I don't want to miss out on that. I don't want to be prematurely judgemental.
In my opinion THE BEST KINDS OF STORIES are the ones, that have a proper buildup and and a HUGE narrative payoff at the end. And, yes, I am aware, that people need to stay entertained by a story, so having nothing happen in your story for the first 3/4 of it is not an option for a writer. My stories, therefore, try to always have something happen, that will keep the reader's attention, while the bigger narrative setpieces are gradually put into place by the narrative. This is a difficult task. But I believe it to be rewarding.
However, most people do not share my perspective on this. Up until now, I assumed, that people would at least to some degree understand, that you can't expect the story to already tell you what EXACTLY it is about or maybe even how it ends (!!!) at the beginning, because that would RUIN the big reveals and plottwists. (Just imagine someone already knowing that Viktoria would kill herself towards the end of book 2, or that Wenzel would turn into Melgar. That would basically ruin it for you!) Apparently, that's not the case. I've had several people tell me, that they want to know what my story is about, and that my blurb basically is too vague and general. Just for your information: I WILL NOT CHANGE THE BLURB! I don't think that my story even needs a blurb in the first place. The blurb of volume 1 is essentially just the summary of the initial premise of the story and of the first big questions you ask yourself when you "stick your nose" into the prologue and chapter 1. Everything beyond that would already SPOIL the plot. That's why you won't get more than that from me.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
If you want to know more, you'll have to read the story. That's how it is. Whether you like my story, or ANY OTHER story for that matter, cannot.... SHOULD NOT depend on your initial impressions of it, but should be an opinion formed after you've either read the whole story, or at least a substantial part of it. The latter, however, should only be the case with extremely lengthy stories, where you're in, let's say volume 8 out of, idk, 12 or something like that; when you realize, that you've dedicated copious amounts of time to that story, but you don't like it and it's not getting any better. Only in that case can you actually judge a story before reading it to the very end.
It seems like most people have too short of an attention span to give a story a chance if it doesn't entertain them (by which they mostly mean having action scenes) from the get-go. That is very sad, but it is a reality. I am not really sure, how I should deal with people like this, but I do know what I want to do. My story is what I want it to be. If some people, even if a lot of people don't like it, SO BE IT! I will write the story the way I want to. If you don't pick up my story, because you don't know whether it will have enough "epic battles" over the course of it in order to keep you entertained, or if you drop my story, because in a certain part something which you don't like happens, that is okay. I will not be angry. I already know, that this is how most people nowadays are: impatient. Nonetheless, from my point of view the concept of narrative payoff means nothing without the proper set-up. And just to remind you, my story isn't even very long. Compared to behemoths like "The Stormlight Archive" for example, it is positively miniscule.
My story is VERY unpredictable, and that is by design. If at some point of the story, you find yourself lost as to where this will all end up, rest assured that this is precisely my intention. You are not meant to always know where things are going. If you place your trust in me, the author, that I know what I'm doing, you'll get through it. There is a reason, why I'm not telling you everything. There are reveals and plottwist, that would not work, if I already told you everything from the start. If it feels like, I'm dropping certain plot points or characters, rest assured, I AM NOT. Everything in my story has a purpose, otherwise I would not even have included it.
And with that, I think, I've reached the end of my rant. I hope, whoever reads this will not feel personally attacked by this. It is fine for people to be picky in what they read. I also am picky. It 's just that my life experience has taught me the lesson of not jumping to conclusions about stories prematurely, which has resulted in my discovery of a number of great stories, that I NEVER would even have considered reading otherwise. Listen, all I'm saying is: Don't judge a book by its cover/blurb. Be patient. And be open to new ideas.
Wenzel will be very unhappy, if you leave before the story is over, thinking, that it wasn't actually his story......
