Writing Discussion 4

[kriadydragon]

Sick of these, yet? ;) Although I do apologize if you are. I've been having such a blast with them and every time I think I'm going to take a little break, topics start popping into my head - both mentioned in the lists and other topics not mentioned - that I so badly want to discuss.

The first of today's topics is geared more toward original fiction, though it could also be geared toward fanfic.

Ways to make a story as unique as you can even if it's a trope that's been done nearly to death. For example, you have this great idea for a story about a boy wizard and a magic school but you can't bring yourself to write it in fear of accusations that it's just another Harry Potter knock-off.

The second, inspired by previous discussions...

Giving your characters flaws, but without hitting the pitfall of making them too perfect or so flawed you want to strangle them with your bare hands.

Comments

[black-raven135.livejournal.com]

Sick of these, yet? ;) Although I do apologize if you are.

Hey, no worries. I am delighted and I am glad that you hit on two that I
asked for..............

I can relate to both of these in discussion four
There seems to be a tendency when it comes to Sheppard for part 1......ie
'been done nearly to death'............
and also the part about a flawed/perfect personality which pushes the limit
almost to camp level........

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I often run into the issue of one of my ideas coming off as too much like the thing that inspired it. For example, I have this one story that was inspired by a video game. I haven't written the story yet, but I worry that when I do, people who know the video game will read my story and cry knock-off.

And I hate knock-offs, I really do. I get tired of the same ideas being rehashed over and over again *cough*SyFy movies!*cough* That said I know that some of my ideas will probably smack a little of being like other ideas that already exist. That can't be helped since we don't know everything that's been done. But an effort should be made to at least try to do things as differently as possible. That is, if you have a scene 9or character, or setting) in your head that you know has been done and done a lot in other stories or media, and the plot allows it, it may be a scene you want to rethink.

It also helps to do the opposite of what's been done. I like to avoid the "chosen one" trope if at all possible. I've never been a fan of "the chosen one" as I feel it takes too much agency away from the character, and I can't stand stories where the protagonist is little more than a tool for the greater good, never allowed to make decisions on his or her own, to learn on his or her own, bossed around by their mentor/care-taker/teacher who always knows better and never makes mistakes.

But that said, that doesn't mean I will never use the chosen one trope, because by toying with the possibilities I can come up with something that steers away from what I dislike about the trope (the character never knew they were "chosen" but when they find out they become overwhelmed by the stress of responsibility and falter. Even better, the character wasn't meant to know they were the chosen one for this very reason. But the villain finds out and uses it against them, or a jealous friend finds out, or someone who only meant well). In fact I love taking cliche tropes, picking them apart and putting them together as something else.

For example, instead of monster terrorizing space explorers, the space explorers have to save the monsters. And I'll keep picking until I come up with a working plot - the humans save the creature, the creature helps them survive the alien planet.

Instead of the barbarian saving the day, it's the street beggar. The dragon slayers aren't the good guys, they're the bad guys. Instead of a kid finding the cute, fluffy mythical creature, an adult finds it. The butler didn't do it, the victim's personal masseuse did. And so on. I think the majority of my stories started off with me pondering B instead of A or C instead of B and going from there.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

My problem with making a character flawed is I have to make them flawed and I don't want to! *whines* You think "flawed" and what comes to mind is "must make character unlikable" for some reason. Or maybe it's more flaws = character ending up unlikeable? Either way, it actually scares me because we all read a situation differently and what I might see as a minor flaw someone else might see as a reason to hate that character.

But the thing I've come to learn about giving a character flaws is that it isn't so much about establishing their flaws when you establish who they are. It's more... finding their flaws as you send them on their little adventure, if that makes sense. Flaws are definitely a matter of show rather than tell. As mentioned in the previous discussion about characterization and avoiding Mary sues, every action has a consequence, good or bad, and it's through those consequences we see that the character's aren't Mr/Mrs. Perfect.

But you also have to be able to allow them to fall and not have their mess cleaned up as quickly as possible. You have to allow them to be wrong, to "not get it," to be a little annoying, or incapable, or clumsy or afraid or allow the wool to be pulled over their eyes from time to time.

That said, you also need to be careful not to give a character a fault for the sake of giving them a fault. I mean, if your characters are about to step into a trap that, really, they should have seen coming a mile away, you don't want them falling for that trap hoping the readers will just chalk it up to the characters having an off day. The consequences still need to make sense according to the characters and situation.

First your character needs to be well-established enough for you to be able to pick out what about them could be considered a flaw. As was mentioned in the discussion on characterization, even a character's strengths could harbor opportunities to show their less-than-perfect side. A brilliant scientist, for example, gets so frustrated with the people who don't know what he's talking about he ends up insulting them more than once. The fearless leader who is unable to hand control over to someone else. The skilled warrior who makes the mistake of underestimating their opponent.

Going back to consequences; making a character grouchy or sarcastic or deceitful isn't a fault unless it has some kind of negative consequence to back it up as a fault. It doesn't have to be anything big and world-shattering. It could be as simple as someone losing patience with the crotchety old wizard who expects everyone to trust him despite that he's never forth-coming. Or that crotchety old wizard, so sure that he's always right, being wrong at the worst possible time.

Which brings up another point - being used to the crotchety old wizard's crotchety ways doesn't mean the other characters are going to put up with it forever. Everyone has their breaking point, something they won't tolerate, or maybe they're just having a bad day. And each moment that breaking point is reached it shouldn't be immediately followed every single time by a mad scramble by one or the other party, or even both parties, to make things right. Sometimes there needs to be an apology, sometimes a character needs to be put in their place, but neither one should be a constant.

[swanpride.livejournal.com]

Actually, one of the original stories I have in "to write list" is basically about someone going to a magic school. But should I delve into this, I'm not too worried about the parallels to Harry Potter, simply because my world is totally different, my protagonist is not some kind of chosen one and has in fact still both of his parents and a brother, there is no war going on and the whole theme of story is totally different.

The thing is, you can't really avoid parallels to earlier works - there will be always something which is similiar to something somebody else did.

[crashbarrier.livejournal.com]

I don't think I can get sick of any active discussion. I was brought up to discuss things to get the broader picture.

From a readers perspective I have to say that I find it hard to define "Original fiction" because storytelling relies on tropes and convention for it to work properly. When it boils down to it, its all in the excecution of the story telling. I find that writers who have any instinct for what they do are able to recognise when it is getting cliche and so can then spin a new angle makign it new and unique. But still in teh spirit of teh story trope.

Take Harry P as a good example. The idea of a boy/man, who lives with extended family but has largely unknown parentage but has powers he is largely or vaguely unaware of and an epic destiny is nothing new.. see Star wars and nearly all mythic Hero epics.. The fact that he is in school is a new excecution of the idea making the trope new and more interesting. Which in turn keeps us readers interested:D.