Sergeant Sargent
(?)Community Member
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- Posted: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 07:31:37 +0000
Have you ever been surfing the Writer’s Forum and felt as though you were being tricked into trading your prized cow for a handful of magic beans? Are the magic beans called Originality, Criticism, Anti-Sue, and Rules? Oh sure, they look shiny now, but put them under the microscope of common sense before you let these tactless bean-mongers steal your prize bovine. I doubt they’ll lead to a castle in the clouds.
Originality: Also known as the avoidance of clichés. They’re both such pretty names, but what do they really mean? Does this bean-monger expect you to know and avoid every cliché in the book? In fact they’ve only declined to explain the truth. Originality does not, has not, will never mean the die hard avoidance of all clichés. It simply means that you take the time to sit down and think about your story, that you sort through your hundreds upon hundreds of ideas and, based on the story you want to tell, you choose the one that will best convey your ideas and surprise your reader, usually by giving them a fun ride.
There are many ways to come up with an original story. You can start with a character, choose one of their traits, go on an adventure to explore that trait, question and challenge their beliefs, and conclude with the character’s integrity in tact or shattered to pieces depending on where their journey leads. Notice anything? I never said it had to be a specific trait. Another way to write an original story is to come up with a world, find a problem for a specific person or group in that world, look at both sides of the issue, and decide how you want to tell that story. Once again, I have given you no specific criteria. Your world can have any combination of fantasy, sci-fi, and realistic fiction. It can have ninja vampires and pirate elves as long as you take the time to think it through and make sure everything makes sense for the story you want to tell. The third way to come up with an original story is to start with a theme. The theme can be a moral, an emotion, it can be philosophical, and there can be more than one (in fact, more than one is preferable). Decide how you want to convey this theme, which characters and setting would be best, and how you can write it in a fun and interesting way. The details are interchangeable, like Legos.
If you’re still not sure what originality is, view a bunch of classic books and films and take note of their over-all plot and most dramatic scenes. If you find that your story is following these too closely (and it might, even if you do put in a lot of thought) then consider making changes.
The bottom line: Lack of originality comes from lack of thought. If you blindly follow well known clichés for the simple reason that it worked before, I guarantee that your story will be boring and contrived. I reiterate: If you think deeply about your stories, they stand a better chance of being original.
Criticism: If there's one bean-monger you should trust, it's the one who sells Criticism. Being able to take criticism is a fundamental trait of any artist, yet in the Writer's Form, few know how.
There are two bits of advice that are being thrown around the Writer's Forum. The first one is, “Write for yourself and don’t care what other people say; only you know your true story.” The second one is, “Stop being such an egotistical, selfish a** and take some criticism.”
Wait, what? Did the fabric of the universe just split in two? How can these two pieces of advice exist simultaneously in the same universe? Is it possible?!
Yes. Writing is a balance; it’s Yin and Yang.
The Yin of it is that you are not Stephen King, nor J. R. R. Tolkin, nor Annie Rice (at least I hope not) and your first piece of work will not be received with undying praise. Your second and third pieces will also receive less than favorable reviews. You may not hear the response you’re looking for until your tenth story. Or your twentieth. Even if you do publish a book it may not be appreciated until after you’re dead, if at all. Yes, sadly, most of us are destined to be no more than a flicker in the world of literature, shining for a moment and gone the next. However, listening to the criticism you receive—and this I guarantee—will increase your chances of accomplishing your dream.
The Yang of it is that you have a story you want to tell and, with any luck, it comes from the heart. You know why it’s important to kill your lonesome farm boy’s aunt and uncle, you understand the emotions he’ll have and know that at the end of the story, when he confronts the man he learns to be his father, the audience will have sobbed and cheered and laughed enough with him to care when Darth Vader throws the evil emperor into that conveniently placed bottomless pit and… well, you know this story, don’t you? Whatever your story is, you know it frontwards and backwards. If this is not the case then I feel terribly sorry for you, because that’s the only advantage you have over how much you will really, really suck in the beginning.
When you put the two together, you’ll find that maybe that scene you poured your blood and sweat into doesn’t make as much sense or affect the reader as deeply as you thought it would, because that’s what your reader is TELLING you. If you love your story and know it as intimately as I hope you do then you’ll realize that in order to make it as good as it can possibly be you need to take what this person is telling you to heart. Then again maybe you didn’t plan for that part to make sense anyway, you might have been foreshadowing or adding a twist, or maybe the person whose reading it just isn’t the type of person who would typically be reading your genre (it happens, but I beg of you, take their comments into consideration before you go throwing a fit about how they don’t know what the s**t they’re talking about). If you think the advice they’ve given you would move the story in the wrong direction, then instead of flaming them, just thank them kindly and take to heart the advice that did make sense for the story.
The bottom line: Write whatever you want, however you want, but always keep in mind that you intended it to be read by other people and be courteous to the ones who take time out of their day to read and review. With their help and your common sense, you’re one step closer to having your words on a bookshelf.
Anti-Sue: Chances are that the Writer’s Forum has left you deeply confused about the identity of this Miss Mary Sue. First of all, let us define our enemy.
This is the only true brand of Mary Sue. Some bean-mongers may have told you that all vampire characters are Sues, or that all elves are Sues, or all princesses or half-breeds or beautiful, popular, wealthy cheerleaders. The latter is simply an egotistical b***h and should be written as such.
I’m only going to use fantasy races as an example, since they’re the most common scape goat for our bean-mongers. Writing a story for wish-fulfillment isn’t a bad thing, sometimes you become truly passionate about a subject and this can help you create a brilliant story, but only if you abide by the guidelines laid out in Originality. Usually characters and stories that turn out to be Mary Sues are written with the Sue in question as the main character and their only purpose is to allow the author to “get back” at their parents or their school or some other force in their life that for some reason they can’t defeat on their own. Stories such as this may also be preachy, they may give they reader the impression that the author is trying to force them to believe the main character is right without giving any dimension to the problem, partly because the main character(s) is immune to consequences and logic much in the way your school yard playmates refused to play by the rules of tag (see Originality). “You’re dead Billy, I got you with my sword!”
“Nuh-uh!” Billy screams, even though you know damn well he should be dead. “Cuz I have the armor of invincibility and it’s way stronger than your dumb sword, so I win, haha!”
Wait a minute, Sarge, what about my elves? Weren’t you going to tell me why everyone keeps telling me they’re Mary Sues?
I’m sorry to say that it’s not the elves, dear reader, it is in fact you. You are the one who gave Kal'eld'ond Roth'at the fabled Sword of the Phoenix, you are the one who made the villain gullible enough to believe his rant on what is “ultimately good”, you are the one who gave him such a desperate, goody-two shoes for a girlfriend, you are Billy, and if you don’t take off your damnable armor of invincibility I’m telling mom!
The bottom line: Fantasy characters are more susceptible to becoming Sues because they have the potential to be far more powerful than we could ever be. Be wary of your inner Billy, shun him, and you’re free to continue writing.
Rules: Know them, take them to heart, but don’t let them get in your way. To quote Barbossa (PotC), “They’re more like guidelines, really.”
Countless times the bean-mongers have tried to sell you a hand-full of dos and don’ts: they tell you never to use half-breeds, they tell you never to write about vampires or elves, they say romance should never be used as the main plot of a story, they tell you to avoid clichés and Mary Sues, ect. Not that any of this is bad advice, it might help to caution a beginner. When a thematic element is written poorly 90% of the time in professional literature then it’s just a sign that that particular theme is difficult to write well, although that is no reason to believe there’s not a good story waiting to be discovered or that it shouldn’t be attempted.
The bottom line: There is only one golden rule for writing. Here it is:
Originality: Also known as the avoidance of clichés. They’re both such pretty names, but what do they really mean? Does this bean-monger expect you to know and avoid every cliché in the book? In fact they’ve only declined to explain the truth. Originality does not, has not, will never mean the die hard avoidance of all clichés. It simply means that you take the time to sit down and think about your story, that you sort through your hundreds upon hundreds of ideas and, based on the story you want to tell, you choose the one that will best convey your ideas and surprise your reader, usually by giving them a fun ride.
There are many ways to come up with an original story. You can start with a character, choose one of their traits, go on an adventure to explore that trait, question and challenge their beliefs, and conclude with the character’s integrity in tact or shattered to pieces depending on where their journey leads. Notice anything? I never said it had to be a specific trait. Another way to write an original story is to come up with a world, find a problem for a specific person or group in that world, look at both sides of the issue, and decide how you want to tell that story. Once again, I have given you no specific criteria. Your world can have any combination of fantasy, sci-fi, and realistic fiction. It can have ninja vampires and pirate elves as long as you take the time to think it through and make sure everything makes sense for the story you want to tell. The third way to come up with an original story is to start with a theme. The theme can be a moral, an emotion, it can be philosophical, and there can be more than one (in fact, more than one is preferable). Decide how you want to convey this theme, which characters and setting would be best, and how you can write it in a fun and interesting way. The details are interchangeable, like Legos.
If you’re still not sure what originality is, view a bunch of classic books and films and take note of their over-all plot and most dramatic scenes. If you find that your story is following these too closely (and it might, even if you do put in a lot of thought) then consider making changes.
The bottom line: Lack of originality comes from lack of thought. If you blindly follow well known clichés for the simple reason that it worked before, I guarantee that your story will be boring and contrived. I reiterate: If you think deeply about your stories, they stand a better chance of being original.
Criticism: If there's one bean-monger you should trust, it's the one who sells Criticism. Being able to take criticism is a fundamental trait of any artist, yet in the Writer's Form, few know how.
There are two bits of advice that are being thrown around the Writer's Forum. The first one is, “Write for yourself and don’t care what other people say; only you know your true story.” The second one is, “Stop being such an egotistical, selfish a** and take some criticism.”
Wait, what? Did the fabric of the universe just split in two? How can these two pieces of advice exist simultaneously in the same universe? Is it possible?!
Yes. Writing is a balance; it’s Yin and Yang.
The Yin of it is that you are not Stephen King, nor J. R. R. Tolkin, nor Annie Rice (at least I hope not) and your first piece of work will not be received with undying praise. Your second and third pieces will also receive less than favorable reviews. You may not hear the response you’re looking for until your tenth story. Or your twentieth. Even if you do publish a book it may not be appreciated until after you’re dead, if at all. Yes, sadly, most of us are destined to be no more than a flicker in the world of literature, shining for a moment and gone the next. However, listening to the criticism you receive—and this I guarantee—will increase your chances of accomplishing your dream.
The Yang of it is that you have a story you want to tell and, with any luck, it comes from the heart. You know why it’s important to kill your lonesome farm boy’s aunt and uncle, you understand the emotions he’ll have and know that at the end of the story, when he confronts the man he learns to be his father, the audience will have sobbed and cheered and laughed enough with him to care when Darth Vader throws the evil emperor into that conveniently placed bottomless pit and… well, you know this story, don’t you? Whatever your story is, you know it frontwards and backwards. If this is not the case then I feel terribly sorry for you, because that’s the only advantage you have over how much you will really, really suck in the beginning.
When you put the two together, you’ll find that maybe that scene you poured your blood and sweat into doesn’t make as much sense or affect the reader as deeply as you thought it would, because that’s what your reader is TELLING you. If you love your story and know it as intimately as I hope you do then you’ll realize that in order to make it as good as it can possibly be you need to take what this person is telling you to heart. Then again maybe you didn’t plan for that part to make sense anyway, you might have been foreshadowing or adding a twist, or maybe the person whose reading it just isn’t the type of person who would typically be reading your genre (it happens, but I beg of you, take their comments into consideration before you go throwing a fit about how they don’t know what the s**t they’re talking about). If you think the advice they’ve given you would move the story in the wrong direction, then instead of flaming them, just thank them kindly and take to heart the advice that did make sense for the story.
The bottom line: Write whatever you want, however you want, but always keep in mind that you intended it to be read by other people and be courteous to the ones who take time out of their day to read and review. With their help and your common sense, you’re one step closer to having your words on a bookshelf.
Anti-Sue: Chances are that the Writer’s Forum has left you deeply confused about the identity of this Miss Mary Sue. First of all, let us define our enemy.
Wikipedia
Mary Sue (sometimes shorted to Sue) is a pejorative term for a fictional character who is portrayed in an overly idealized way and lacks note-worthy flaws, or has unreasonably romanticized flaws. Characters labeled Mary Sues, as well as the stories they appear in, are generally seen as wish-fulfillment fantasies of the author.
This is the only true brand of Mary Sue. Some bean-mongers may have told you that all vampire characters are Sues, or that all elves are Sues, or all princesses or half-breeds or beautiful, popular, wealthy cheerleaders. The latter is simply an egotistical b***h and should be written as such.
I’m only going to use fantasy races as an example, since they’re the most common scape goat for our bean-mongers. Writing a story for wish-fulfillment isn’t a bad thing, sometimes you become truly passionate about a subject and this can help you create a brilliant story, but only if you abide by the guidelines laid out in Originality. Usually characters and stories that turn out to be Mary Sues are written with the Sue in question as the main character and their only purpose is to allow the author to “get back” at their parents or their school or some other force in their life that for some reason they can’t defeat on their own. Stories such as this may also be preachy, they may give they reader the impression that the author is trying to force them to believe the main character is right without giving any dimension to the problem, partly because the main character(s) is immune to consequences and logic much in the way your school yard playmates refused to play by the rules of tag (see Originality). “You’re dead Billy, I got you with my sword!”
“Nuh-uh!” Billy screams, even though you know damn well he should be dead. “Cuz I have the armor of invincibility and it’s way stronger than your dumb sword, so I win, haha!”
Wait a minute, Sarge, what about my elves? Weren’t you going to tell me why everyone keeps telling me they’re Mary Sues?
I’m sorry to say that it’s not the elves, dear reader, it is in fact you. You are the one who gave Kal'eld'ond Roth'at the fabled Sword of the Phoenix, you are the one who made the villain gullible enough to believe his rant on what is “ultimately good”, you are the one who gave him such a desperate, goody-two shoes for a girlfriend, you are Billy, and if you don’t take off your damnable armor of invincibility I’m telling mom!
The bottom line: Fantasy characters are more susceptible to becoming Sues because they have the potential to be far more powerful than we could ever be. Be wary of your inner Billy, shun him, and you’re free to continue writing.
Rules: Know them, take them to heart, but don’t let them get in your way. To quote Barbossa (PotC), “They’re more like guidelines, really.”
Countless times the bean-mongers have tried to sell you a hand-full of dos and don’ts: they tell you never to use half-breeds, they tell you never to write about vampires or elves, they say romance should never be used as the main plot of a story, they tell you to avoid clichés and Mary Sues, ect. Not that any of this is bad advice, it might help to caution a beginner. When a thematic element is written poorly 90% of the time in professional literature then it’s just a sign that that particular theme is difficult to write well, although that is no reason to believe there’s not a good story waiting to be discovered or that it shouldn’t be attempted.
The bottom line: There is only one golden rule for writing. Here it is:
STOP
wahmbulance
LOOK
ninja
THINK
idea
WRITE
pirate
wahmbulance
LOOK
ninja
THINK
idea
WRITE
pirate
