Hello everyone!
No spoilers here for any of the series, but I´ll mark it as spoilers just in case reading this forces any expectations on any reader that didn´t watch the finale.
Maybe this post could go in a narrative subreddit, but I´ve been reading this word especially on this sub lately.
Cliché! This is so cliché. Maybe this post complaining about clichés is a bit cliché in itself. Isn´t it?
Well, well, well... It is. But only because there are only so many possibilities or reactions to a "that´s cliché":
a) You agree with it
b) You disagree with it
c) You don´t care about whatever the other person said
Maybe there is some other option, but there is a stipulated reaction, a stipulated path to follow, certainly there are limited combinations. And that especially happens with narrative. You establish a path, and diverging from that path requires very coherent reasons to diverge from what appears to be happening. The fact that something follows your expectations is not necessarily a bad thing. It is natural. The difference, in narrative, is how it is handled. Does this make sense? Does this pathing work? Is it coherent with itself?
Not trying to tell anyone to like whatever they don´t like. Not at all. Please, love what you love, dislike what you dislike. It makes you you. But cliché does not have to be a bad thing. Embrace clichés. Embrace the expected patterns. Break them. Build them up again. Evolve.
Oh, and before I finish I want to say: thank you, Steven. And thank the Crystal Gems. We won´t be the same, but we will still be us. Even more of us.
Thank you.
Happy toking my buds!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Ae1xvkQGZ2T7LxCxWbktH?si=dEuLb_fGRQSDoZKbBKFzxQ
I'm planning a backup character of which i'm planning to be a Oath of Vengeance Paladin. Problem i've got is that i can't think of a backstory that isn't stereotypical solider wanting to avenge a fallen comrade/commander or avenge a dead loved one (Edge)
Any help would be great
So I wanted to make this one fic, with a planned out plot, but the problem is that it's kind of cliché. I've heard you could make cliché ideas work, but how can you do that without making it sound really boring, predictable and overdone?
She added giggling: you will take ages to log off.
Hey, lately I've been struggling with something, namely that my story isn't unique enough and that people will put down my novel simply because they think they already know the story.
I started writing it during my internship three years ago. I was listening to Stephen Fry's audio book of Harry Potter while working and suddenly had the realization the story wasn't as amazing as I thought it was. (not attacking HP or Rowling, it is, in it's own way, still a masterpiece) During the hours I was bored I told myself, I can do this better, so just for fun I started writing a Harry Potterlike story: Boy goes to magic school.
during the past few years however, this grew out to something so much more. I created an engaging fantasy world (think Middle Earth), a language, races, interesting history, great characters and backstories amazing plot twists and I'm even planning to write a trilogy. It turned into something I haven't seen before
the problem is that the base or backbone of the first book is still a Harry Potter like story. I tried steering into the storm, playing on the fact that people suspect a Harry Potter story while it's in fact much more grown up, hitting them with surprising twists that change the entire mood and feel to what I want for book 2 and 3. the others books are completely different from Harry Potter but I worry people put down my book after 1,2 or 4 chapters, thinking is just gonna be another unoriginal ripoff.
behind what the readers reads is so much more going on, plots, conspiracies and schemes which, around two third of the story, change the feel and mood of the book entirely. though I have used a lot of foreshadowing I'm afraid people put down the book before it gets interesting.
since the climax sets the mood for the others books I'm planning to write but I still want this mood change to come as a shock, what can I do to tell people it's not going to be another HP but still keep the flow of surprise and not spoil too much?
in short: How do I show the reader my story is more deep and interesting than how it initially looks (a Harry Potter ripoff), without spoiling too much or change the feel of the plot twists?
I've often thought that part of Elton John's signature style is down to his use of inversions. Obviously, many songwriters use inversions, but Elton uses them with a particularly high frequency; it's hard to find a song of his which doesn't feature them! I've just put together a video looking at some examples including Candle In The Wind, Rocketman, Tiny Dancer and Your Song: https://youtu.be/JSoJlw0Fgtg
One of the reasons I think Elton uses inversions so often is that he is a piano player and, relativity speaking, inversions are a lot more accessible on the piano than they are on the guitar.
I'd love to know your thoughts or if you know of any particularly good examples of inversions in classic songs ('God Only Knows' instantly comes to mind for me!) Thanks!
So im stuck half point in my novel, to the point of have no idea what to do next.
I know the first novel you write isn't supposed to be the best one, that your style evolve around time, but im still stuck to my ideas, a sci-fi post apocalyptic setting (got the general idea while watching Stargate), with a character à la Artemis Fowl.
Obviously i had that idea when i was younger (count 7-8+ years), more immature, and i feel like my ideas haven't evolve along with me despite still wanting to write the story.
What i want to write is something i would had loved reading when i was younger.
So i had an idea about a sarcastic narrator, one that isn't a character but learn about stuff at the same time as the characters. I wanted to change from a mystery book to a somewhat funny novel. But that sound incredibly cliché still. Howerver, if i do try that, that would mean rewriting everything from the start.
Or maybe i haven't mature enough and i still write like shite.
I was thinking about having a wall around the human countries that keeps out anything magical - witches (the few that there are), sprites, nymphs, and a whole slew of other things - to further the plot of a story I’m working on. I made a different post about keeping the problems scaled to my increasingly more powerful MC and thought, by having the wall there, the MC, after being ousted, would have to spend time figuring out how to get through to the High Council that runs said countries after being hunted as she tries to learn more about her magic. What do you think? I can give more context if you’d like. There’s more context in the other post I was talking about, as well.
I keep seeing memes about the tweet making fun of a British person's accent. Then the reply goes to far and goes straight to the overused remark.
Only thing is I can't come up with anything good. It's like a 12 year old telling me "Haha I did your mom." There's really no good comeback to it.
I have this instinct of sabotaging myself while writing. When I have an idea I think “nah, that’s not original all”. But, really, I don’t know. It could be. And even if it is a trope or something like that, if it’s done right, it could still be good. Still, it stops me from writing. I feel it’s a fine line between a cheap cliché and something that is widely used, but can still be good. Do you ever feel like that? How do you tell the difference?
Title’s pretty self-explanatory. For me, it’d be Paddington when he and the Brown family get into a taxi. In typical fish-out-of-water fashion, Paddington is awestruck at seeing all the sights of London in this one taxi ride. Turns out, the taxi driver deliberately took the scenic route just to make more money on the fare, much to the displeasure of Mr. Brown.
