Perceptions

As an author, I always do my best to communicate my characters in as clear a way as possible. This can be a difficult thing, especially with complex characters.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m successful or not.

This week The Heir received a review that suggested it came across as sexist. That comment took me by surprise, if only because in the past nearly two years since it’s been released it’s never been called that before, but also because that was definitely not something I intended. I had to think back to what I had written about Sarah in The Heir. While I can see some things that might suggest that the way she loves Dan is intense, I wouldn’t have thought it drifted into the I-am-too-dependent-on-my-boyfriend category, although, from what I’ve seen with other books, opinions on how much it takes before a book drifts into those waters seem divided.

That’s the crux of the matter. So much is down to an individual’s perception. The way I perceive things as an author may be vastly different from the way a reader perceives them. We all interpret things differently based on our own experiences and how we are wired as people.

Is this a problem? I don’t know. If it is, I don’t think there’s anything I can do about it; everyone is so unique that someone’s always going to see the things I write in a different way from the way I itended. Maybe I just have to embrace these different opinions while trying not to let them affect the way I write. After all, it’s true that you can’t please all the people all the time.

Are you a reader? Have you sometimes seen books in a vastly different way from your friends? What about you as an author? Have you struck this problem before when you’ve written something? Let me know in the comments.