How do I get people to avoid prematurely critiqueing something?

I have a fanfic and I've gotten plenty of good reviews, some bad ones, but what is bugging me to no end is that whatever they hate is going to be addressed in the next chapter.

For example, I say so and so does this or that, and the reviews say "He doesn't have the authority to do that!". He does, I just haven't gotten around to discussing it in depth yet since it would be "off topic" for the chapter.

Is there anyway to handle this without shoving everything into one chapter?

Either ignore it or, if it starts becoming a serious problem, lay on the foreshadowing heavier.

Okay. It's confusing me, because I'm either setting something up and I'm actually pretty good at it or I'm not foreshadowing enough.

One guy I just ignore because he never does anything but bash the fic while another guy gave good advice which I tried to follow.

It just annoys me when this happens.

Is it idle criticism like "Omg how can he do that, he has no authority :O" or more vitriolic like "this is stupid he has no authority to do that this makes no sense!"

You could try telling someone that's in the pipe.

However in general the idea of avoiding this sort of thing with an episodic release seems...rather misguided, because it does demonstrate a problem.

You think that someone having the authority to issue an order is offtopic from their actually issuing the order. It's not. (How could it be? I seriously don't understand the logic behind that pronouncement.) If you didn't deal with it at that moment, you should have dealt with it before. Otherwise you're headed to Ass Pull territory.

Maybe you can address the issue before it happens? For example, if the guy has no authority, establish his authority a chapter or two ahead of time, and THEN have him do something like that. Maybe. I don't know the context of your fic, so I can't give you specifics.

This, in all respects. Trying to avoid potential not-plotholes before they ever show up is usually a good idea, but it's impossible to offer specific advice without specific details.

I thought that I did do that, which is what worries me. How am I supposed to fix the problem before I publish if I don't know it's there? How much can I assume the fandom knows?

Here: http://www.fanfiction.net/r/8128248/

See, I can't give some of that stuff away without spoiling parts of the story. Am I doing it wrong?

edited 5th Jun '12 12:18:43 AM by TheProffesor

So this happens to you from time to time? Not knowing the situation in more detail, I would guess you have a problem in executing suspense. Anything sudden can seem like an Ass Pull if its explanation is only seen in the next chapter.

Let's have an example. You wrote a chapter where Gandalf and co. end up on the top of a huge tower with no means to get away. (This is just an example so lay down the plot detail reminder hammer please.) Gandalf calls his giant eagle friends and everyone gets away. End chapter. Now, while you meant to have Gandalf explain the whole eagle deal in the next chapter, before you get it published, you get flooded by comments like "what's up with the eagles man, they make no sense!", basically calling you out for an Ass Pull. Is this something like your situation?

In a book or in a full-release net fic it would work to explain things in the next chapter, but not if you release your fic chapter by chapter. Unless your audience consists solely of people who have great trust in your writing (and on the Net this, I can guarantee, will never happen unless you hand-pick your readers), they will think you made a booboo.

So what can you do to help it?

• do some justifying/explaining in the chapter where the eagles first happen (A word of warning: if there is no connection to earlier (foreshadowing) or later elements in the story, an Ass Pull explained out is still just a polished Ass Pull. But this doesn't seem to be a problem in your writing.)
• merely promise that an explanation exist, such as in: "Gandalf, I didn't know you can command beasts." "This gift of flight is not of my power but a token of gratitude. One day once our journey has ended I shall tell you the tale of the Eagle Lord of Ush Khar." (Okay, this is something of a cheap trick, but it's better than just pulling eagles and leaving the audience wondering. Of course, if your style in the story is to, ahem, ramble and digress like Tolkien did in Lot R, your audience will expect Gandalf to tell the story while they fly to safety, or at least at their next camp. But if your style doesn't call for that... then great. Prepare for requests of releasing the eagle story as a spin-off though.)
• foreshadow the eagles earlier in the story (perhaps introduce Gandalf's connection to fantastic beasts at some point, preferably by example rather than expo speak) — if there is some sort of precedent to creatures helping G-man out, your readers won't be so eager to pick on your eagles
• make characters notice the hole (perhaps a villain flies into a rage when hearing of the eagle trick: "What is this? Gandalf has no power over beasts!" or even "You shall die for your cowardly lies! Such birds have not existed for centuries in any land known to man or elvenkind!" Or, in your authority example, "Why does she think she can boss me around?") And then later justify. Optimately, your audience will wonder "yeah, what is up with those eagles" with your characters and your narration, not outside them, and get the feeling the question is part of the story rather than a plot hole.

edited 6th Jun '12 8:36:47 AM by peccantis

Thank you so much. The problem was driving me crazy and since I've never written in an episodic format I didn't know how to handle it.

Thanks so much.

Man, I can't believe I didn't think of that before. You guys are helpful.