I want to interview you!

[Dju]

Hey there! Thanks for stopping by,

We're a forum of mainly story-tellers, right? Writers, artists, musicians...we all have something to share. I've been having some questions about how these stories should be told and how people like to listen and experience them, and as usual, I turn to you for help. XD

It's just some little questions I’ve prepared that I was hoping you could answer and help me to understand audiences better. You might have a wonderful story in hand, but it can go down the drain if you don’t tell it properly, correct?


Okay dokey let’s get this started. :3
At first I was going for a multiple choice answer where you could simply pick from options a,b,c and so on, but it feels awfully restrictive. So, I’d like you to let it go and express your opinion freely! Answer as you please, use as many words as you’d like – trust me, I’ll read and study each answer with lots of love and care and so will others.
You don't need to answer all of them, as I said, let it go!


1. What mostly grabs you in a story?

2. What makes you care for a character?

3. How do stay interested in a plot line?

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?

8. What are your favorite stories and why?

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?

11. What bores/excites you?


Once again, thank you for your time! It's real sweet of you. :3

SPOILER: Click to show

[Breakingchains]

Okey doke, I'll start off!

1. Originality is a biggie. If I've seen a scenario a million times, then even if it's really well-written, reading the story is going to feel like a chore to me. I don't like feeling like I'm having to sit through the obligatory cliches to get to the good parts. And of course, I need a solid conflict.

2. I care the most about characters who are actively trying to alter their situation. An obsessive beating his head against the wall on a problem, even out of sheer hubris, is more sympathetic to me than a perfect Cinderella who is very sad but does absolutely nothing about it.

3. The plot has to be coherent, and has to stay on topic. If there are a bunch of asides then the writer tends to lose me, even if they're interesting on their own.

4. I know a lot of people dislike this but it doesn't bother me unless they are straining to skip all around the information in places where it would make sense to include it, or it's pointless to hide it/not worth hiding it in the first place. Otherwise it's fine.

5. Flashbacks can get distracting for me, unless the book's deliberately done something to build up curiosity first. If I'm just yanked straight into a flashback when I was interested in the main plot, I'm likely to skim it. You can't just toss it in there. Dialogue is fine as long as it's reasonably condensed and isn't "As you know, Bob..."

6. Both are important. The conclusion is the lasting impression that you are going to leave the reader with, but at the same time, you can have the best ending ever and fail to set it up properly or wander around too much getting there.

7. As a writer, what I would take from this sentence is "When you run out of interesting things to say, stop talking." There are soooo many ways a piece of writing can become bloated and boring--not enough story, too much backstory, you reached the end and kept going, you never started in the first place and our MC is wistfully angsting about her man over a ham sandwich and tea or something. You have to know what is interesting to the reader, and know when you've hit the end of that material because once it's finished you are very quickly going to start overstaying your welcome.

8. The ones that make me think or offer a unique perspective on things. The ones that demand active attention to be fully grasped. The ones that present a dilemma or issue without necessarily spelling out what the author thinks about it.

10. Don't make me choose, there's too many things I hate. xD; Um, the biggest thing is when the author tips his or her hand too much. They become like this uninvited dinner guest, sitting there awkwardly commentating on the book instead of just telling the story and letting themselves disappear. That's pretty much the umbrella under which most of my pet peeves fall, such as a contrived conflict obviously meant only to illustrate a point, characters whose deaths you see coming miles and miles away, and preachy characters giving preachy speeches.

11. 90% of romance, 100% of romantic angst, and most coming-of-age stuff bores me. Stuff with high psychological realism but novel speculative concepts--that's what I'm likely to pick up.

[Liou]

<_<
>_>

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?
Characters. :3

2. What makes you care for a character?
Perseverance, confidence (even if just a little), effort, flaws and the will to overcome them.

3. How do stay interested in a plot line?
I just take a quick look at the other options I have to occupy my attention - chores, work, the Outdoors, Other Humans - and the plot line seems like the most interesting thing in the world! \o/
Hmm, I need there to be some kind of goal to reach, and for it not to seem too hopeless.
I don't mind a lull or a break for quieter things as long as there's some kind of development to keep me entertained and it's still relevant to the main plot.

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?
Depends how subtly it's done. If they're obviously withholding something for the sake of mystery and with no good excuse, it makes me feel like I paid too much for this impairs my suspension of disbelief.
If I discover it at the same time as the characters, or if it's an element that was present all along, but that they simply had not pointed out, and its reveal suddenly changes the way we saw the entire story, it makes me feel... smug by proxy and satisfied, like after completing a jigsaw puzzle.

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)
From the way it affects the present; their relationships in dialogue, and the skills (or lack thereof) shown in their actions.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?
The way there. If I'm in a hurry to reach the end, it's not a good sign. Then again I'm also a sucker for suspense and WHAT HAPPENS NEXT I MUST KNOW. x3

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage” What do you understand from this sentence?
Wrap it up cleanly and tie your loose ends, even when you can think of so much more to develop. Otherwise everything can go downhill.

8. What are your favorite stories and why?
Those that make me not want any sequels because they were satisfactory enough; all the things happened, everything that I wanted to get developed got developed and there's nothing to add. That's easy right? =D Even better if a sequel is totally infeasible (because of a great big change) (like DEATH).
Those that make me want to visit their world, too, because enough of it was shown for me to visualise it.

(9. How did you come across your favorite stories?
I have no idea, I don't even pick favorites, and by the time I've reached them, I'm too distracted to remember how I got there. ^.^; )

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?
I don't hate things D: but um... predictability.

11. What bores/excites you?
The mundane, worlds exactly similar to ours. / Danger!

*waves, hides under desk and crab-scuttles out*

[Shinko]

Alright I'll bite, why not? Note my opinions are exclusively my own and you are all free to disagree.

1) Absolutely the characters. My biggest gripe when it comes to stories I don't like is characters that are stale, static, inconsistent, or too perfect. I can't relate to them, and thus I don't care about them. If I don't care about the characters I'm not invested in what happens to them, ergo I'm not invested in the story. But if I do like the characters, if I can related to them and identify with their struggle then I want to watch them so I can see them succeed- or fail, and feel horrible along with them in that failure.

2) As I already said I like characters who feel like real, three dimensional people with strengths and weaknesses. Characters who suffer and get held back because of their flaws and have to overcome those flaws. Ultimately, I am drawn to their struggle as individuals over any world shattering conflict going on outside (though world shattering conflicts are a nice bonus and an excellent impetus for dramatic development).

3) Tension and stakes. In a story tension is the sense that there is a threat, internal or external, that the characters desperately need to overcome. A sincere threat that they aren't sure they can overcome, which makes me want to keep watching to see how they pull it off. Stakes, on the other hand, are what could potentially be lost if the threat isn't overcome. If you have no stakes there's nothing to be gained by fighting, and thus no reason to care about the fighting. If you have no tension, no sense the characters might possibly lose, then you can see exactly where the story is going and thus there is no reason to care about it. Same is true in reverse- if the situation is so hopeless there's no way the good guys could win, you have no investment because you know they are either going to lose, the villain is suddenly going be become inexplicably stupid to even the odds, or they're going to pull a Deus Ex Machina out of their bums.

4) Um... not sure what you mean here? Disparity of knowledge and plot twists are a literary device as old as time. Of course you won't know all the important stuff up front, where's the fun in that?

5) Depends on the context. Flashbacks are preferable in visual mediums, where otherwise you'd have a bunch of characters standing around statically expositing at each other. In a written medium though, I would rather see the characters past come out in conversational dialog, which is a lot more natural.

6) Journey > Destination. Every time. I'm way more interested in seeing how the characters grow and adapt as people while trying to achieve their goals than actually seeing those goals achieved. Besides the conclusion means the story is over, which is sad. D=

7) I would probably interpret that to mean that you should know when enough is enough and you need to stop. It's easy to get carried away in your own enthusiasm and forget not everyone has the same enthusiasm as you.

8) I am a sucker for stories which espouse Aesops about the Power of Friendship, Love and Family. Digimon, Tiger and Bunny, Fruits Basket, Lilo and Stitch, Harry Potter, Bioshock 2 and .Hack//GU are among my favorites for this reason. Despite it being retcon central and a little bit plotless, I even liked the live action Maleficent movie for it's message about the redeeming power of love- and that maternal love is just as valid and powerful as romantic love, something popular culture tends to neglect.

9) Buh... I 'unno? XD Usually because people forced me to watch them or recommended them to me.

10) What I hate the most... Hrm, that's a tough one. I've already mentioned characters needing to be believable and the narrative needing effective tension... Don't wanna just shrug and say "I already answered this" so third choice, third choice... Gonna have to go with stories that are way too pretentious for their own good. I tend not to care for things where the work is loaded down with so much symbolism and subtext that it gets stuck in a mire of it's own self-importance and loses track of the story it's trying to tell. A bit of symbolism and an underlying message aren't in and of themselves bad things, but when you have a story that is literally sitting down to read to you out of a philosophy textbook A La Evangelion, or where the author literally states "I am not explaining what's happening, if you don't get it you're just an idiot" A La The Son of the Philosopher, that's a pretty good way to alienate me.

Though I will admit such things can fun to watch ironically if they don't take themselves too seriously. Utena is an anime that has more random nonsense symbolism then either of the previous two works I named, but lampshades itself all over the place and is just entertaining in it's ridiculousness.

11) Bores: Romantic comedy, since it all tends to be the same, be stupid, and not really understand how actual relationships work. Mainstream romance in general, because it all tends to be the same, be stupid, and not really understand how actual relationships work.

Excites: Big triumphant Power of Friendship moments a la the "You're Not Alone" trope. ; ) As previously stated, I'm a sucker for that stuff.

[Dju]

I was really excited when I logged in and found all these wonderful responses! Thank you guys, I owe you. And I just realized the NTWF was the best place to do this because it’s full of smart people with varying and solid opinions! ^_^


Do you mind if I save your posts to my computer? I’d like to keep them on a safe spot where I can find and consult whenever I need to. : )

Once again, thank you guys. Truly. It means a lot to me!


Oh, and if you haven’t answered yet, don’t be shy! Keep ‘em opinions coming! <3

[Shinko]

Dec 10, 2014 11:59:13 GMT -5 Breakingchains said:

Dialogue is fine as long as it's reasonably condensed and isn't "As you know, Bob..."

Oh good lord, I hate that trope too. x.X Speechifying at people who should already know the information you're giving them is the laziest way to give exposition. I keep wanting someone to interrupt the speaker and say "Um, we already know all this, why are you telling us again?"

Dec 10, 2014 16:15:27 GMT -5 Dju said:

I was really excited when I logged in and found all these wonderful responses! Thank you guys, I owe you. And I just realized the NTWF was the best place to do this because it’s full of smart people with varying and solid opinions! ^_^


Do you mind if I save your posts to my computer? I’d like to keep them on a safe spot where I can find and consult whenever I need to. : )

Sure, go ahead. ^^ Glad you found the answers useful.

[Breakingchains]

That's fine, Dju ^^ You're welcome!

Shinko: Agreed. Y'know what's even worse? When somebody does say that, and the speaker continues anyway. I've seen that. xD; I think it was an attempt at a lampshade hanging but it just made it worse.

[Deleted]

Hooray, questions!

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?

SPOILER: Click to show

Interesting and unusual plotlines that defy conventions and subvert cliches. I don't care for the stuff that's been done to death (swords-and-sorcery epic quest to save the world, angsty teens fighting against a dystopian government, etc.) unless there's a sufficiently interesting twist to it, one that's unconventional and/or caters to my interests. For a hypothetical example, a swords-and-sorcery epic quest where the villain is the hero's mother is not a sufficiently interesting twist for my tastes, but the hero being an orc is.

For a real example, I know someone who's excellent at combining several unlikely elements into fantastically creative plotlines. One novel of hers dealt with a frustrated high schooler, time travel, ghost hunters in Victorian London, dinosaurs, and cheese. And it was great. (I was privileged to read a second manuscript-in-progress from her that involved sapient, talking dinosaurs living alongside humans, on a desert planet where the culture resembled that of medieval Persia with a bit of Zen Buddhism mixed in.)

(Okay, maybe all you really need to hook me is dinosaurs. <.<)

Although, as a caveat, I can enjoy nearly any plotline regardless of level of cliche if it's written well enough. I'd take a well-written first hypothetical example from up there over a shallowly-written second example any day. For instance, a lot of Tolkien's work is a huge pastiche of European folkloric and epic traditions, but he does it so well that it being a pastiche is a total non-issue for me.

Well-thought-out worlds are also a huge grabber for me. Whether a story takes place in a more realistic setting or is largely a product of the author's imagination, I appreciate worlds that are internally consistent, make sense according to the reality of the story (i.e. don't break my suspension of disbelief), and are interesting without being arbitrary, while also not taking too many cues from cliches.

For a negative example of this, I read a high fantasy novel once where I disliked the creatures (which can make or break a book for me) because I felt like they weren't very plausible from a creature design perspective (i.e. they were aesthetically and mechanically awkward, and broke my suspension of disbelief, even allowing for the use of magic in their creation--although to be fair the magic in this story broke my suspension of disbelief a lot), and they felt like so much of a bizarre mash-up of Disney-gone-wrong and a child's doodles that I couldn't take them as seriously as the author wanted me to.

For a positive example, I love Diana Wynne Jones's worlds because she seemed to know how to strike the perfect balance between realism and magic, creating internal logic that makes sense and flows so naturally with her worlds and stories that it seems effortless (which I'm sure means she put a lot of effort into it). Her ideas are subtle yet compelling, and never feel jarring within their own setting. (If a worldbuilding element does feel jarring within its own setting, that to me is a sure sign that the author needs to work more on crafting plausible, coherent, cohesive worlds.)

Humor's a big plus, too. (Although by that I mean intelligent humor, not crude humor.) I like stories (and by extension, writers) that don't take themselves entirely seriously.

2. What makes you care for a character?

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If they're well-written, multi-dimensional, balanced, and realistic enough, I think I can care for nearly any character. As long as I can find something to identify with or sympathize with in them, I'm good.

I have a hard time with characters who are unrealistically imbalanced (or their imbalance is treated in an unrealistic manner). Characters who are either too flawed or too perfect irk me greatly, especially if they are nothing more than the sum of their flaws or strengths.

That's why I generally don't care for anti-heroes, because they are by and large just dumping vehicles for angst and darkness and edginess, and give me nothing to actually like about them unless the author throws in some cliche token redeeming trait, like a sarcastic sense of humor or nice hair. (And even then, that's usually not enough for me to care for them.) Same goes for characters who seem to exist primarily to have the most tragic past and unfortunate life the author could concoct, because drama sells (but not to me).

On the other hand, I love anti-heroes (or, at least, flawed and unconventional heroes) if they're done right. My co-author on The Bidelek Trail (a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic novel we've been working on for the past few years) writes awesome characters whom I absolutely love and fangirl frequently. One of her main characters has a lot of anti-hero traits in the beginning (he's a pragmatic survivalist who initially comes off as cold-hearted, domineering, and acting in self-interest, and he belongs to a race of monstrous mutants who oppress humans), but it's balanced so well by his explanatory backstory and multi-dimensional personality - and his capacity for change - that I find him a thoroughly fascinating character. Many of her characters are much the same way, flawed but trying, and receptive to those brave and persistent enough to reach out to them with light and love, and I really enjoy this positive, hopeful message.

On the other end of the spectrum, I can't stand overly strong characters who I can't identify with in any way. I read a novel once (I know I have told this story before on the We Will Write thread, but bear with me) where the two main leads were impossibly attractive, had no character flaws except when the author wanted to add some drama and tension (i.e. they felt forced instead of a cohesive, consistent part of the character's personality and development) and one of them had godly, reality-altering superpowers while the other was superhuman in every aspect of his physical ability. And really their only personality traits were that they were dramatic teenagers. They were not fun for me to read about and I became annoyed every time they showed up in the story. Unfortunately, since they were the two main characters, I had to read about them a lot.

A good example of an overly strong character who I actually enjoy and think works well is Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa. If you look at the bare facts, she looks suspiciously like a Mary Sue: a princess skilled in combat, aviation, and botany, with an empathic connection to animals, beloved by her people, who is orphaned and her kingdom overrun by a malevolent empire, until she saves the day in a noble act of self-sacrifice and is then resurrected in a fulfillment of prophecy.

In the hands of, say, a high school student, yeah, that could have gone wrong. But I think Miyazaki did a great job of making Nausicaa a truly likeable and relateable character--perhaps in spite of her strengths, rather than because of them. I don't feel forced to care about her because she's the heroine or because she can do all these cool and brave and strong things. I care about her because she feels like a real person, with real hopes and motivations, concerns and fears. She perseveres in pursuing her goals, even when faced with very real struggles. And it helps that the world she inhabits is cohesive and elaborately-crafted, and the rest of the cast complements her well. To me, she feels less like a Strong Heroine, and more like a heroine who just happens to be strong.

That's why I have a hard time with Star Wars fiction, because almost every main character in every story is too strong, and if they have flaws, they're more for dramatic effect than anything else. Some franchise authors are better at balanced characters than others, but I feel like for every average Joe, there's a dozen Mara Jades running around beating all the bad guys, angsting when the plot needs a lull in the action, and looking flawless the entire time.

Actually, come to think of it, describing a character as attractive is a pretty much surefire way to make me dislike them. (And by "attractive" I mean "the author wants you to either be attracted to this character or wish you looked like them", not "this person just happens to possess aesthetic qualities that many people find pleasant". "He was a handsome, well-dressed gentleman in his fifties" is far removed from "waves of golden hair cascaded down her shoulders and framed her face perfectly, accentuating her unblemished skin and her eyes which were as blue and deep as the sea".)

Conversely, I become much more interested in a character if they're specifically described as plain or unattractive, because I then expect the author to not use a character's desirable appearance as a shortcut to get readers to stay interested in them. ("Well, their personality's flat, their character arc is aimless, and they're a walking bundle of cliches, but they're gorgeous so that's okay." No.)

3. How do you stay interested in a plot line?

SPOILER: Click to show

I find I'm not usually interested in plots so much as I am characters and worlds. If those are interesting enough, the plot itself doesn't even have to be anything mindblowing, because I'm just having so much fun reading about the characters and the world they inhabit. Lord of the Rings is a great example of this--yes, the epic-quest, clash-between-good-and-evil is nothing new, but I find Middle-Earth such a beautiful and compelling place with such a rich history, and the characters resonate so strongly, that Tolkien can take his sweet time describing geographical or historical details and I'm just like "yes, tell me more, never mind the army marching on Helm's Deep". Another great example of this is Dinotopia, where the plot is not much more than a vehicle to allow the reader to tour one of the most magnificent fictional worlds I've ever daydreamed I was in. And that is fine by me.

I guess The Bidelek Trail is another good example of this. Boiled down to its essence, the plot sounds pretty old-hat: a group of rebels plotting to overthrow a dystopian regime. But the dynamic, sympathetic characters; their growing and changing relationships with each other; and the innovation, beauty, and sometimes terror of the world, make it so much more than that, and I feel that those are the things that drive the plot.

Conversely, this means that I can't stand it when an author tries to purposely force interest in a plot, whether that be through breakneck pacing, a deluge of plot twists and cliffhangers, or through inserting content to generate shock value. In fact, the latter two make me instantly disinterested in a plotline. I once read a fantasy novel because the author was a favorite of a friend of mine and I trusted her taste in literature. I was actually enjoying it and could tell the writer was skilled--and then she inserted some stuff that I found entirely unnecessary and distasteful, and I put the book down and never looked at it, or any of her other work, again. I still don't know how that story ends, and I don't care. I stopped caring as soon as I learned the author was going to cheapen her work like that.

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?

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It depends on the reason why. I have no problem with it if the author wants to allow the reader to explore and discover the world alongside the main character(s), if the fact that information is withheld or hidden is part of the plot (for example, the entire mystery genre), or simply if the information is not relevant until a certain point in the story. On the other hand, I am annoyed when an author withholds information purely to try to add intrigue, and it ends up making the entire story frustratingly confusing.

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)

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I think any way could work as long as it's written well. I think it's something that has to be taken on a case-by-case basis--different characters will probably reveal their pasts in different ways, for example. In The Bidelek Trail, one of my co-author's characters talks a lot about his past when he opens up to people, but another of her characters is very closed about his past to the point of having blocked out a lot of it, so I learn more about it through flashbacks (or other characters talking about him).

Methods of revealing backstory also have to take technical processes into consideration. In The Bidelek Trail, we decided to skip a day with a set of characters because we wanted to write the reunion between two groups, so we've been covering any important events in that day via flashbacks. I would much rather do that than torture ourselves by forcing ourselves to slog through a bunch of minutiae we don't really want to write.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?

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I'd say both matter to me equally--they're both important. The path to a conclusion could be great, but if the conclusion itself falls flat, the entire story crumbles. And I don't think an excellent conclusion has ever fully redeemed a terrible rest of the story. They need to work together in order to work at all.

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?

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The value of being concise. In writing, I think it's important to say what you need to say and then move on. That doesn't necessarily mean it has to be short, or cater to people with tiny attention spans. I happen to enjoy long-winded authors who are skillfully long-winded (like Tolkien).

But it also means that an author should know how not to bog down a story with stuff the reader won't care about. However, "stuff the reader won't care about" does not necessarily have to mean "stuff that has no direct bearing on the plot". Again, using Tolkien as an example: I don't care that he rambles at length about geography, history, and culture in the middle of his plots because I enjoy that. He created an incredible world and I soak in every bit of information he throws at me about it, whether that be how Bullroarer Took invented golf or how Frodo and Sam got into Mordor.

In fact, I would argue that all of that information is necessary to the story, because it makes Lord of the Rings what it is. If you took out all of the history and geography, you'd have a relatively cut-and-dry tale about guys with swords, and that just doesn't capture my imagination as much as the sweeping richness of Middle-Earth in all its glory.

So I guess the kind of stuff I take as unnecessary padding is the stuff I don't care about, like prolonged angst and awkward romance. 

Taking it in a bit of a different direction, I think it could also mean that it's important to know when to end a story. I can't stand unnecessary sequels, and I think authors should think long and hard, when they want to write a sequel, about whether or not that's a good idea.

I'm not saying all sequels are bad, nor that all of the reasons for writing them are bad reasons. I wrote two sequels this year, one because I noticed some tantalizing unresolved plot points in something I had written, and one because I enjoyed writing a cast of characters so much that I began to concoct a new adventure for them to play around in.

But I don't like when sequels are created to take advantage of a title's popularity, or because an author can't think of any new ideas for characters, settings, and plots so they recycle old ones. Jumping the shark is one of the worst things that can happen to a story.

That's why I have no plans for a sequel to my first novel, Skydwellers. I honestly feel that I wrapped up everyone's character arcs and resolved the plot satisfactorily, and they just don't need anything more to be said about them. I was ready to move on to other projects.

8. What are your favorite stories and why?

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I've discussed most of them above, and I'll try to list some of them here, but this is anything but comprehensive.

- Almost anything by Tolkien, especially things pertaining to Middle-Earth, because that man's imagination fascinates me and I'm utterly in love with the masterpiece of a world he built.
- The Chronicles of Narnia, because C. S. Lewis was an incredibly intelligent and perceptive individual and a tireless warrior for Christendom, and his writings reflect that and give me hope and strength.
- The Chrestomanci series, because I love Diana Wynne Jones's creativity, stylish worldbuilding, and tongue-in-cheek humor.
- The Dinotopia books, because the concept is just plain awesome and the art is just plain gorgeous.
- A lot of Miyazaki's films, because he has a serious gift for creating rich worlds, lovable characters (and machines!) to inhabit them, and stories that can make me cry with their sheer beauty.
- The Bidelek Trail--maybe that's a little biased, but I'm mostly referring to my co-author's incredible writing. I love that this story is about people in conditions that seemed hopeless, but they persevered in spite of all odds, in spite of society telling them they would never amount to anything. I love that it deals over and over with the ability of people to change and soften and let love into their lives. And I also love that it turns a lot of cliches on their heads, such as having an antagonistic race of monstrously unattractive non-humans who end up taking a heroic role, and helping and befriending their human counterparts.
- A Wrinkle in Time, because I could identify strongly with the main character when I was younger, and I love the book's message about defeating evil through love and courage.
- Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, because they reminded me of my younger sister and I when I was a kid, and I would frequently read them to her.

 

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?

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Box sets of The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia were childhood gifts from my uncle, who is an avid fantasy reader; I discovered Chrestomanci while I was house-sitting for a friend; Dinotopia was a gift from my grandma when I was a kid; I discovered Miyazaki as a teenager when I was super into anime; I suggested the premise for The Bidelek Trail to my co-author and she made it the awesomeness that it is; A Wrinkle in Time was among the many books on classroom bookshelves that I voraciously went through in my spare time in elementary school; and the Ramona books were found on my grandparents' bookshelf (which, of course, I also voraciously went through in my spare time).

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?

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Oh, lots! xD Aside from the stuff I mentioned above, even. Swearing, excessive/gratuitous violence and gore, suggestive themes, and crude/immature humor are my big turn-offs. Depressing, gritty, edgy, tragic, angsty, grim stuff is also something I try to avoid. Anything about a battle royale is a big no (no Hunger Games, thanks). I also dislike romance unless it's done really, really well (and by that I mean it's tasteful, makes sense for the characters and plot, and isn't overemphasized and/or stupidly corny). I also have a really hard time with abuse, especially child abuse and violence toward children.

I also really dislike the archetype of the femme fatale because it reduces a woman's value to how good she can look and how bad she can be, and I don't find that empowering at all. Of course, I also hate the archetype of the damsel-in-distress whose only role is to be in distress and provide, at best, a tangible conflict for the plot, and at worst a prize for the male hero. I like women who, y'know, are written realistically and respectfully and are just as well-rounded as the men, with an even and sensible spread of skills, strengths, and weaknesses.

I also dislike drinking, smoking, and other drug use. (I never understood why people in my D&D group got such a kick out of their characters having drinking contests every ten minutes.)

Also love triangles. I hate love triangles so much. And relationship drama in general. Also drama in general. I am not a teenager and I couldn't stand drama even when I was a teenager.

11. What bores/excites you?

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Things that bore me (there may be some overlap here with things I hate, because if something bores me it usually means I dislike it, and vice versa):

- Cliches for the sake of cliches

- Plots that don't at least try to set themselves apart from every other story in their genre

- Flat characters

- Too much focus on characters' appearances (I'm talking about spending paragraphs describing someone's hairstyle and outfit, yes, I've seen it happen)

- "Chick lit"

- Most young adult fiction (especially contemporary YA fiction)

- Zombies, vampires, and most supernatural/horror-themed content (I may make an exception for werewolves if they're more like my Werelupes than Twilight or Teen Wolf)

- Survival plots

- Characters and narration that take themselves too seriously

- Attractive fantasy races (elves, fairies, etc.) (There are exceptions to this, but I'm talking about when authors just want an excuse to make a character inhumanly pretty)

- Cliffhangers (well, I wouldn't say they bore me as much as they annoy me and I find them unnecessary)

- Plot twists for the sake of plot twists

- Shiny pretty people saving the day with their perfectness (now, I'm not talking about good people doing heroic things, I'm talking about The Effortless Adventures of Super-Magical Princess Barbie and Ken Whose Teeth Are as Shiny as His Armor... yes, I've read something like that before)

- Sassy, headstrong, snappily-dressed ladies who are always the first to jump into a fight and always get the last laugh

- When humans (or pretty races) are automatically, subconsciously treated as the dominant or superior race

- Characters who are always morally black or white, either flawless bastions of righteousness or depraved monstrosities, and for the latter there is no mercy from the former (I read a book like this, I did not enjoy it)

- Monsters/creatures as arbitrary antagonists (both sapient and non; okay seriously guys just because you live on an island with dinosaurs on it does not mean all the dinosaurs are trying to kill you, now go hug a Hypsilophodon)

Things that excite me:

- Orcs, goblins, aliens, and other "bad guy" races; bonus points if they're monstrous/unattractive/unmistakeably non-human (I want to hug them)

- "Bad guy" races producing good guy characters

- Said good guy characters becoming friends with intelligent and kindhearted human heroines

- I pretty much just described the plot of The Bidelek Trail

- Female characters who save the day with their kindness, compassion, and courage rather than necessarily by swinging a sword around (although Eowyn is an okay exception to this)

- Plots that deal more with disparate forces learning to get along and live in peace and harmony rather than the solution being for one to wipe out the other

- Healthy, strong relationships of all kinds (that aren't awkward if they're romantic, I cannot stress this enough)

- Characters who are redeemed, both through their own decisions and through the love and support of others; bonus points if they're epically awesome bad guys who now get to be epically awesome good guys

- Super bonus points if said characters do not die in a heroic sacrifice immediately after their redemption (I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN TOO MANY TIMES IT IS NOT COOL; seriously though, I hate that it enforces the conception that once someone becomes a good guy, the only thing left for them to do is die; it probably also just speaks of lazy writing because the writers apparently couldn't come up with any good ideas for a character's development past "they are good now okay")

- Main characters who are geeks; bonus points if they wear glasses because then we are bros; super bonus points if they are female

- Ultra bonus points if the entire cast are geeks

- Quirky characters

- Big fluffy things, dinosaurs, dragons, cool creatures in general (I want to hug them too)

- Robots, especially intelligent and funny ones (here's looking at you, GLaDOS), attentiveness to machinery and vehicles (a la Miyazaki), and an overall appreciation for engineering and science

- Unconventional cultural cues (I've seen a billion fantasy stories that take place in somewhere based off of Middle Ages Europe--why not throw in some ancient Sumerian, or maybe Shang Dynasty China, or Aboriginal Australia?)

- Intelligent children

- Intelligent adults

- Okay, intelligent characters in general, who are written as realistically intelligent people and aren't just used as the token "guy with glasses who provides plot exposition"


- Worldbuilding downtime outside of immediate plot happenings; I love that Tolkien took the time to fully entrench me in the warmth and coziness of Bag End before flinging me out the door to go march across mountains and meet a dragon

Oh my, I seem to have really let it go. xD You guys, I think I might have a problem.

By the way, is it okay if I post these questions, and my answers to them, on my blog?

[Deleted]

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?
—Plot plot plot plot PLOT PLOT plot PLOT plot
—In video games I also like to see a lot of world-building and in-game myths and histories
—In TV series I like learning about the characters and seeing them interact
—In general I like world-building and characters reflecting on their past or discussing current events from multiple perspectives

2. What makes you care for a character?
—I care if they are interesting, it's hard to describe
—Being able to feel like I could converse with them seems to help

3. How do stay interested in a plot line?
—It needs to actually move. (I've found this to be a lesson learned the hard way in collaborative writing, but it holds for anything.)
—In collaborative writing, it needs to be something that my characters would actually have an opinion on and a vested interest in.


4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?
—Well it's been a while since I've read book series that do that between books. I can't really recall something for one of those where I /know/ I don't know.
—With TV series I get pretty antsy, but I don't mind as long as there's enough other things for me to think on/reflect about.
—In collab writing, this drives me nuts. PFA is really good at it and it drives me up the wall (IN A GOOD WAY THO) because I'm just so intensely curious at times.
—Unfortunately, I'm not very good at this myself. Keeping secrets too long has driven one character mentally unstable and tends to have negative effects on other characters. It feels uncomfortable for me because I empathize really well, so it feels like how I feel when I have to keep a secret/not talk about about a fundamental aspect of myself. There have been times I've tried, only for me to end up making collaborators feel nervous and uncomfortable about what might be coming, rather than serve as a plot hook…

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)
—Mostly through dialogue, though flashbacks after the fact are cool too.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?
—Probably the way to get there, because that's where most of the story part of the story happens.

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?

—Um. I interpret it to mean that you need to know when to shut up/back down.

8. What are your favorite stories and why?
—I don't know. I like character dramas. Stories with honor and loss and self-sacrifice and bravery and all those good values, because those are the ones that matter.

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?
—Either at the library, recommended by a friend, recommended by my Mom, or on accident.

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?
–Attitudes, plotlines, etc. that make fun of/scorn/belittle/are hateful of: values, morality, etc.
—Space Whale Aseops


11. What bores/excites you?
—EXCITING: ~shenanigans~

[Dju]

Dec 11, 2014 19:39:01 GMT -5 @surfersquid said:

Hooray, questions!

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?

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Interesting and unusual plotlines that defy conventions and subvert cliches. I don't care for the stuff that's been done to death (swords-and-sorcery epic quest to save the world, angsty teens fighting against a dystopian government, etc.) unless there's a sufficiently interesting twist to it, one that's unconventional and/or caters to my interests. For a hypothetical example, a swords-and-sorcery epic quest where the villain is the hero's mother is not a sufficiently interesting twist for my tastes, but the hero being an orc is.

For a real example, I know someone who's excellent at combining several unlikely elements into fantastically creative plotlines. One novel of hers dealt with a frustrated high schooler, time travel, ghost hunters in Victorian London, dinosaurs, and cheese. And it was great. (I was privileged to read a second manuscript-in-progress from her that involved sapient, talking dinosaurs living alongside humans, on a desert planet where the culture resembled that of medieval Persia with a bit of Zen Buddhism mixed in.)

(Okay, maybe all you really need to hook me is dinosaurs. <.<)

Although, as a caveat, I can enjoy nearly any plotline regardless of level of cliche if it's written well enough. I'd take a well-written first hypothetical example from up there over a shallowly-written second example any day. For instance, a lot of Tolkien's work is a huge pastiche of European folkloric and epic traditions, but he does it so well that it being a pastiche is a total non-issue for me.

Well-thought-out worlds are also a huge grabber for me. Whether a story takes place in a more realistic setting or is largely a product of the author's imagination, I appreciate worlds that are internally consistent, make sense according to the reality of the story (i.e. don't break my suspension of disbelief), and are interesting without being arbitrary, while also not taking too many cues from cliches.

For a negative example of this, I read a high fantasy novel once where I disliked the creatures (which can make or break a book for me) because I felt like they weren't very plausible from a creature design perspective (i.e. they were aesthetically and mechanically awkward, and broke my suspension of disbelief, even allowing for the use of magic in their creation--although to be fair the magic in this story broke my suspension of disbelief a lot), and they felt like so much of a bizarre mash-up of Disney-gone-wrong and a child's doodles that I couldn't take them as seriously as the author wanted me to.

For a positive example, I love Diana Wynne Jones's worlds because she seemed to know how to strike the perfect balance between realism and magic, creating internal logic that makes sense and flows so naturally with her worlds and stories that it seems effortless (which I'm sure means she put a lot of effort into it). Her ideas are subtle yet compelling, and never feel jarring within their own setting. (If a worldbuilding element does feel jarring within its own setting, that to me is a sure sign that the author needs to work more on crafting plausible, coherent, cohesive worlds.)

Humor's a big plus, too. (Although by that I mean intelligent humor, not crude humor.) I like stories (and by extension, writers) that don't take themselves entirely seriously.

2. What makes you care for a character?

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If they're well-written, multi-dimensional, balanced, and realistic enough, I think I can care for nearly any character. As long as I can find something to identify with or sympathize with in them, I'm good.

I have a hard time with characters who are unrealistically imbalanced (or their imbalance is treated in an unrealistic manner). Characters who are either too flawed or too perfect irk me greatly, especially if they are nothing more than the sum of their flaws or strengths.

That's why I generally don't care for anti-heroes, because they are by and large just dumping vehicles for angst and darkness and edginess, and give me nothing to actually like about them unless the author throws in some cliche token redeeming trait, like a sarcastic sense of humor or nice hair. (And even then, that's usually not enough for me to care for them.) Same goes for characters who seem to exist primarily to have the most tragic past and unfortunate life the author could concoct, because drama sells (but not to me).

On the other hand, I love anti-heroes (or, at least, flawed and unconventional heroes) if they're done right. My co-author on The Bidelek Trail (a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic novel we've been working on for the past few years) writes awesome characters whom I absolutely love and fangirl frequently. One of her main characters has a lot of anti-hero traits in the beginning (he's a pragmatic survivalist who initially comes off as cold-hearted, domineering, and acting in self-interest, and he belongs to a race of monstrous mutants who oppress humans), but it's balanced so well by his explanatory backstory and multi-dimensional personality - and his capacity for change - that I find him a thoroughly fascinating character. Many of her characters are much the same way, flawed but trying, and receptive to those brave and persistent enough to reach out to them with light and love, and I really enjoy this positive, hopeful message.

On the other end of the spectrum, I can't stand overly strong characters who I can't identify with in any way. I read a novel once (I know I have told this story before on the We Will Write thread, but bear with me) where the two main leads were impossibly attractive, had no character flaws except when the author wanted to add some drama and tension (i.e. they felt forced instead of a cohesive, consistent part of the character's personality and development) and one of them had godly, reality-altering superpowers while the other was superhuman in every aspect of his physical ability. And really their only personality traits were that they were dramatic teenagers. They were not fun for me to read about and I became annoyed every time they showed up in the story. Unfortunately, since they were the two main characters, I had to read about them a lot.

A good example of an overly strong character who I actually enjoy and think works well is Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa. If you look at the bare facts, she looks suspiciously like a Mary Sue: a princess skilled in combat, aviation, and botany, with an empathic connection to animals, beloved by her people, who is orphaned and her kingdom overrun by a malevolent empire, until she saves the day in a noble act of self-sacrifice and is then resurrected in a fulfillment of prophecy.

In the hands of, say, a high school student, yeah, that could have gone wrong. But I think Miyazaki did a great job of making Nausicaa a truly likeable and relateable character--perhaps in spite of her strengths, rather than because of them. I don't feel forced to care about her because she's the heroine or because she can do all these cool and brave and strong things. I care about her because she feels like a real person, with real hopes and motivations, concerns and fears. She perseveres in pursuing her goals, even when faced with very real struggles. And it helps that the world she inhabits is cohesive and elaborately-crafted, and the rest of the cast complements her well. To me, she feels less like a Strong Heroine, and more like a heroine who just happens to be strong.

That's why I have a hard time with Star Wars fiction, because almost every main character in every story is too strong, and if they have flaws, they're more for dramatic effect than anything else. Some franchise authors are better at balanced characters than others, but I feel like for every average Joe, there's a dozen Mara Jades running around beating all the bad guys, angsting when the plot needs a lull in the action, and looking flawless the entire time.

Actually, come to think of it, describing a character as attractive is a pretty much surefire way to make me dislike them. (And by "attractive" I mean "the author wants you to either be attracted to this character or wish you looked like them", not "this person just happens to possess aesthetic qualities that many people find pleasant". "He was a handsome, well-dressed gentleman in his fifties" is far removed from "waves of golden hair cascaded down her shoulders and framed her face perfectly, accentuating her unblemished skin and her eyes which were as blue and deep as the sea".)

Conversely, I become much more interested in a character if they're specifically described as plain or unattractive, because I then expect the author to not use a character's desirable appearance as a shortcut to get readers to stay interested in them. ("Well, their personality's flat, their character arc is aimless, and they're a walking bundle of cliches, but they're gorgeous so that's okay." No.)

3. How do you stay interested in a plot line?

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I find I'm not usually interested in plots so much as I am characters and worlds. If those are interesting enough, the plot itself doesn't even have to be anything mindblowing, because I'm just having so much fun reading about the characters and the world they inhabit. Lord of the Rings is a great example of this--yes, the epic-quest, clash-between-good-and-evil is nothing new, but I find Middle-Earth such a beautiful and compelling place with such a rich history, and the characters resonate so strongly, that Tolkien can take his sweet time describing geographical or historical details and I'm just like "yes, tell me more, never mind the army marching on Helm's Deep". Another great example of this is Dinotopia, where the plot is not much more than a vehicle to allow the reader to tour one of the most magnificent fictional worlds I've ever daydreamed I was in. And that is fine by me.

I guess The Bidelek Trail is another good example of this. Boiled down to its essence, the plot sounds pretty old-hat: a group of rebels plotting to overthrow a dystopian regime. But the dynamic, sympathetic characters; their growing and changing relationships with each other; and the innovation, beauty, and sometimes terror of the world, make it so much more than that, and I feel that those are the things that drive the plot.

Conversely, this means that I can't stand it when an author tries to purposely force interest in a plot, whether that be through breakneck pacing, a deluge of plot twists and cliffhangers, or through inserting content to generate shock value. In fact, the latter two make me instantly disinterested in a plotline. I once read a fantasy novel because the author was a favorite of a friend of mine and I trusted her taste in literature. I was actually enjoying it and could tell the writer was skilled--and then she inserted some stuff that I found entirely unnecessary and distasteful, and I put the book down and never looked at it, or any of her other work, again. I still don't know how that story ends, and I don't care. I stopped caring as soon as I learned the author was going to cheapen her work like that.

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?

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It depends on the reason why. I have no problem with it if the author wants to allow the reader to explore and discover the world alongside the main character(s), if the fact that information is withheld or hidden is part of the plot (for example, the entire mystery genre), or simply if the information is not relevant until a certain point in the story. On the other hand, I am annoyed when an author withholds information purely to try to add intrigue, and it ends up making the entire story frustratingly confusing.

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)

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I think any way could work as long as it's written well. I think it's something that has to be taken on a case-by-case basis--different characters will probably reveal their pasts in different ways, for example. In The Bidelek Trail, one of my co-author's characters talks a lot about his past when he opens up to people, but another of her characters is very closed about his past to the point of having blocked out a lot of it, so I learn more about it through flashbacks (or other characters talking about him).

Methods of revealing backstory also have to take technical processes into consideration. In The Bidelek Trail, we decided to skip a day with a set of characters because we wanted to write the reunion between two groups, so we've been covering any important events in that day via flashbacks. I would much rather do that than torture ourselves by forcing ourselves to slog through a bunch of minutiae we don't really want to write.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?

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I'd say both matter to me equally--they're both important. The path to a conclusion could be great, but if the conclusion itself falls flat, the entire story crumbles. And I don't think an excellent conclusion has ever fully redeemed a terrible rest of the story. They need to work together in order to work at all.

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?

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The value of being concise. In writing, I think it's important to say what you need to say and then move on. That doesn't necessarily mean it has to be short, or cater to people with tiny attention spans. I happen to enjoy long-winded authors who are skillfully long-winded (like Tolkien).

But it also means that an author should know how not to bog down a story with stuff the reader won't care about. However, "stuff the reader won't care about" does not necessarily have to mean "stuff that has no direct bearing on the plot". Again, using Tolkien as an example: I don't care that he rambles at length about geography, history, and culture in the middle of his plots because I enjoy that. He created an incredible world and I soak in every bit of information he throws at me about it, whether that be how Bullroarer Took invented golf or how Frodo and Sam got into Mordor.

In fact, I would argue that all of that information is necessary to the story, because it makes Lord of the Rings what it is. If you took out all of the history and geography, you'd have a relatively cut-and-dry tale about guys with swords, and that just doesn't capture my imagination as much as the sweeping richness of Middle-Earth in all its glory.

So I guess the kind of stuff I take as unnecessary padding is the stuff I don't care about, like prolonged angst and awkward romance. 

Taking it in a bit of a different direction, I think it could also mean that it's important to know when to end a story. I can't stand unnecessary sequels, and I think authors should think long and hard, when they want to write a sequel, about whether or not that's a good idea.

I'm not saying all sequels are bad, nor that all of the reasons for writing them are bad reasons. I wrote two sequels this year, one because I noticed some tantalizing unresolved plot points in something I had written, and one because I enjoyed writing a cast of characters so much that I began to concoct a new adventure for them to play around in.

But I don't like when sequels are created to take advantage of a title's popularity, or because an author can't think of any new ideas for characters, settings, and plots so they recycle old ones. Jumping the shark is one of the worst things that can happen to a story.

That's why I have no plans for a sequel to my first novel, Skydwellers. I honestly feel that I wrapped up everyone's character arcs and resolved the plot satisfactorily, and they just don't need anything more to be said about them. I was ready to move on to other projects.

8. What are your favorite stories and why?

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I've discussed most of them above, and I'll try to list some of them here, but this is anything but comprehensive.

- Almost anything by Tolkien, especially things pertaining to Middle-Earth, because that man's imagination fascinates me and I'm utterly in love with the masterpiece of a world he built.
- The Chronicles of Narnia, because C. S. Lewis was an incredibly intelligent and perceptive individual and a tireless warrior for Christendom, and his writings reflect that and give me hope and strength.
- The Chrestomanci series, because I love Diana Wynne Jones's creativity, stylish worldbuilding, and tongue-in-cheek humor.
- The Dinotopia books, because the concept is just plain awesome and the art is just plain gorgeous.
- A lot of Miyazaki's films, because he has a serious gift for creating rich worlds, lovable characters (and machines!) to inhabit them, and stories that can make me cry with their sheer beauty.
- The Bidelek Trail--maybe that's a little biased, but I'm mostly referring to my co-author's incredible writing. I love that this story is about people in conditions that seemed hopeless, but they persevered in spite of all odds, in spite of society telling them they would never amount to anything. I love that it deals over and over with the ability of people to change and soften and let love into their lives. And I also love that it turns a lot of cliches on their heads, such as having an antagonistic race of monstrously unattractive non-humans who end up taking a heroic role, and helping and befriending their human counterparts.
- A Wrinkle in Time, because I could identify strongly with the main character when I was younger, and I love the book's message about defeating evil through love and courage.
- Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, because they reminded me of my younger sister and I when I was a kid, and I would frequently read them to her.

 

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?

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Box sets of The Hobbit + Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia were childhood gifts from my uncle, who is an avid fantasy reader; I discovered Chrestomanci while I was house-sitting for a friend; Dinotopia was a gift from my grandma when I was a kid; I discovered Miyazaki as a teenager when I was super into anime; I suggested the premise for The Bidelek Trail to my co-author and she made it the awesomeness that it is; A Wrinkle in Time was among the many books on classroom bookshelves that I voraciously went through in my spare time in elementary school; and the Ramona books were found on my grandparents' bookshelf (which, of course, I also voraciously went through in my spare time).

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?

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Oh, lots! xD Aside from the stuff I mentioned above, even. Swearing, excessive/gratuitous violence and gore, suggestive themes, and crude/immature humor are my big turn-offs. Depressing, gritty, edgy, tragic, angsty, grim stuff is also something I try to avoid. Anything about a battle royale is a big no (no Hunger Games, thanks). I also dislike romance unless it's done really, really well (and by that I mean it's tasteful, makes sense for the characters and plot, and isn't overemphasized and/or stupidly corny). I also have a really hard time with abuse, especially child abuse and violence toward children.

I also really dislike the archetype of the femme fatale because it reduces a woman's value to how good she can look and how bad she can be, and I don't find that empowering at all. Of course, I also hate the archetype of the damsel-in-distress whose only role is to be in distress and provide, at best, a tangible conflict for the plot, and at worst a prize for the male hero. I like women who, y'know, are written realistically and respectfully and are just as well-rounded as the men, with an even and sensible spread of skills, strengths, and weaknesses.

I also dislike drinking, smoking, and other drug use. (I never understood why people in my D&D group got such a kick out of their characters having drinking contests every ten minutes.)

Also love triangles. I hate love triangles so much. And relationship drama in general. Also drama in general. I am not a teenager and I couldn't stand drama even when I was a teenager.

11. What bores/excites you?

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Things that bore me (there may be some overlap here with things I hate, because if something bores me it usually means I dislike it, and vice versa):

- Cliches for the sake of cliches

- Plots that don't at least try to set themselves apart from every other story in their genre

- Flat characters

- Too much focus on characters' appearances (I'm talking about spending paragraphs describing someone's hairstyle and outfit, yes, I've seen it happen)

- "Chick lit"

- Most young adult fiction (especially contemporary YA fiction)

- Zombies, vampires, and most supernatural/horror-themed content (I may make an exception for werewolves if they're more like my Werelupes than Twilight or Teen Wolf)

- Survival plots

- Characters and narration that take themselves too seriously

- Attractive fantasy races (elves, fairies, etc.) (There are exceptions to this, but I'm talking about when authors just want an excuse to make a character inhumanly pretty)

- Cliffhangers (well, I wouldn't say they bore me as much as they annoy me and I find them unnecessary)

- Plot twists for the sake of plot twists

- Shiny pretty people saving the day with their perfectness (now, I'm not talking about good people doing heroic things, I'm talking about The Effortless Adventures of Super-Magical Princess Barbie and Ken Whose Teeth Are as Shiny as His Armor... yes, I've read something like that before)

- Sassy, headstrong, snappily-dressed ladies who are always the first to jump into a fight and always get the last laugh

- When humans (or pretty races) are automatically, subconsciously treated as the dominant or superior race

- Characters who are always morally black or white, either flawless bastions of righteousness or depraved monstrosities, and for the latter there is no mercy from the former (I read a book like this, I did not enjoy it)

- Monsters/creatures as arbitrary antagonists (both sapient and non; okay seriously guys just because you live on an island with dinosaurs on it does not mean all the dinosaurs are trying to kill you, now go hug a Hypsilophodon)

Things that excite me:

- Orcs, goblins, aliens, and other "bad guy" races; bonus points if they're monstrous/unattractive/unmistakeably non-human (I want to hug them)

- "Bad guy" races producing good guy characters

- Said good guy characters becoming friends with intelligent and kindhearted human heroines

- I pretty much just described the plot of The Bidelek Trail

- Female characters who save the day with their kindness, compassion, and courage rather than necessarily by swinging a sword around (although Eowyn is an okay exception to this)

- Plots that deal more with disparate forces learning to get along and live in peace and harmony rather than the solution being for one to wipe out the other

- Healthy, strong relationships of all kinds (that aren't awkward if they're romantic, I cannot stress this enough)

- Characters who are redeemed, both through their own decisions and through the love and support of others; bonus points if they're epically awesome bad guys who now get to be epically awesome good guys

- Super bonus points if said characters do not die in a heroic sacrifice immediately after their redemption (I HAVE SEEN THIS HAPPEN TOO MANY TIMES IT IS NOT COOL; seriously though, I hate that it enforces the conception that once someone becomes a good guy, the only thing left for them to do is die; it probably also just speaks of lazy writing because the writers apparently couldn't come up with any good ideas for a character's development past "they are good now okay")

- Main characters who are geeks; bonus points if they wear glasses because then we are bros; super bonus points if they are female

- Ultra bonus points if the entire cast are geeks

- Quirky characters

- Big fluffy things, dinosaurs, dragons, cool creatures in general (I want to hug them too)

- Robots, especially intelligent and funny ones (here's looking at you, GLaDOS), attentiveness to machinery and vehicles (a la Miyazaki), and an overall appreciation for engineering and science

- Unconventional cultural cues (I've seen a billion fantasy stories that take place in somewhere based off of Middle Ages Europe--why not throw in some ancient Sumerian, or maybe Shang Dynasty China, or Aboriginal Australia?)

- Intelligent children

- Intelligent adults

- Okay, intelligent characters in general, who are written as realistically intelligent people and aren't just used as the token "guy with glasses who provides plot exposition"


- Worldbuilding downtime outside of immediate plot happenings; I love that Tolkien took the time to fully entrench me in the warmth and coziness of Bag End before flinging me out the door to go march across mountains and meet a dragon

Oh my, I seem to have really let it go. xD You guys, I think I might have a problem.

By the way, is it okay if I post these questions, and my answers to them, on my blog?

Oh noes, I'm so sorry - I didn't catch that last sentence when I first read your post, and now that I was re-reading it I saw it - sure you can post these to your blog! In fact, I'd be really happy if you did! Sharin' the discoveries! <3 I'm so sorry I didn't see it before!


Once again, thank you so much your answers, guys! I've been reading them several times, and it seems each time I do I find something new. This is fantastic! ^_^

[M is for Morphine]

Sorry I've taken so long getting to this, I wanted to be able to sit down and take the time it deserves.

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?
Something I haven't seen before. A novel approach to something I have seen before. Really excellent prose (it has to be darn good to get me on prose alone. Hi, All the Pretty Horses). A puzzle that wants to be solved. A world I want to know more about.

2. What makes you care for a character?
Haha, this question actually started a dinner conversation. (That conversation was "What characters have I even cared about?", because the involved parties read a lot of books about terrible people. XD)

To actually answer the question: I'm not entirely sure. I don't appear to be consistent in what kind of characters I really become connected to or why I like them. I seem to care more about characters that are curious and engaged in their world, like Ax from Animorphs (and more bizarrely, Migi from Parasyte). Outsiders that are discovering how things work along with me. I like characters that are concerned with the welfare of others (without being an obnoxious, self-martyring sort about it), like Hazel-rah from Watership Down. I like characters that are clever and skilled but outnumbered or outmatched. But none of these are a bull's eye every time.

3. How do stay interested in a plot line?
There has to be something I'm enjoying in the present or something I'm looking forward to in the future. I need some sort of motivation to keep reading. Sometimes just enjoying what's going on as it's going on is enough, sometimes you hit a slow part and it's the promise of enjoyment to come that keeps you going. Maybe that's too vague?

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?
Honestly? It depends upon how and why, but when it's done right/for the right reasons, I LOVE it. If it is hidden where you can find it in the work, and the author trusts you to be able to work it out yourself, it is a great feeling when you DO work it out before they reveal it later on. If by hiding you mean 'omit entirely', that's a different story. It can still be good, though! I read a book with a very unreliable narrator, and you knew he was biased and omitting things to make himself look better. But at the end, when you find out just how much he'd been hiding from you, WOAH! It really worked because it was plausible and it fit, even if you didn't work it out beforehand. The worst is when you're reading a mystery and they get to the part where everyone gathers in the parlor to hear the detective tell them whodunit, and the whole case hinges on information that the reader did not have access to! The culprit can be a reveal, but the essential clues should not. If you can't play along at home, what's the point?

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)
I'm going to be mean and say if a backstory flashback isn't interesting in it's own right, or the dialogue is just exposition, I'd rather not hear about their past at all. But if it's interesting and relevant, how you do it hardly matters! I think some people have a tendency to do a ton of world building, and then feel like they need to show it all. You don't need to see the armature to enjoy a sculpture. I think learning what needs to be known and what should exist for the author only is an important skill.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?
Since the conclusion is such a small part of the story in the grand scheme of things, how you get there is more important. You could have the best ending ever, but if they give up halfway through, who would ever know? That said, an ending that just kinda... plops down at the back of the book resolving nothing is a huge buzzkill.

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?
It reads to me like, "Don't wear out your welcome". There is only so far you can stretch the contract between the reader and the author. There is only so far you can stretch an audience's patience. Know how much is too much (possibly easier said than done).

8. What are your favorite stories and why?
Oh boy. Well, Watership Down is a book I've read many times and love very much. I have a lot of affection for the characters and the world they inhabit, their culture and their folklore. I love the way that the actions of today turn into the myths of tomorrow. Also bunnies.

I love Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon, and it's hard to articulate why because I was actually sort of dissatisfied on the first reading, and a few weeks later something clicked. I think about it a lot, which I can't say for many other books. There was a passage that just hit me like a thunderclap, the implications of it to the rest of the story. Maybe I like it because I feel like there is more there to understand, like an epiphany waiting to happen.

Foucault's Pendelum by Umberto Eco. Aside from being a who's who of Western conspiracy theory and occultism, it's a great mystery with some moments that really reverberated with me. There's this part with a character that has made a symbol, a personal mythology, an item that sums up all of the longing and regret in his life... I don't know how to explain it. I found it beautiful. It also touches on a (really weird) pet subject that I love from other works, which is "fiction acting upon the real world and the line between them blurring". Like the Jorge Luis Borges short story "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius". There's this moment in Vladmir Nabokov's Invitation to a Beheading that just, oh man, I flipped when it happened. Pale Fire (also Nabokov) touches the right buttons in a similar way as well. It's my favorite thing, I love it.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. Wonderful characters, great emotional impact, giant talking cat. Just really well written and a joy from start to finish.

"With Delicate, Mad Hands" by James Tiptree, Jr. It's one of my favorite short stories ever. It's lovely but so sad, I cry every time I read it.

I could go on forever, I love a lot of things. It's hard to pick among them.

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?
Recommendations, either in person or internet people. Looking for things related to things I like. Good luck.

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?
Gonna Nth "superfluous romance". lol. "Cringe" comedy that depends on someone doing something embarrassing or something horrible happening to them for laughs. Action scenes where it's just fight, fight, fight forever (unless it's like, martial arts where you can enjoy a person's real physical prowess. CGI fights bore the pants off of me). Strawman characters created to make whoever the creator disagrees with look stupid (even when I align ideologically with the creator. Actually especially if I do).

11. What bores/excites you?
Really straight-forward story telling bores me. Stuff happens, more stuff happens. Fantasy fetch quests and "The Hero's Journey" version 1 million. Actually a lot of Tolkien-style high fantasy in general. Scifi where it's clear the author wanted to write a self insert dating a cat girl (why has this happened more than once). Ditto scifi where it's just a huge portion of military fetishism.

Stuff that excites me:
Constrained writing. I love to see what authors do when they can't use the tools they normally depend on. Right now I'm reading a Georges Perec's A Void, which was written without the letter 'e'. Both the french version AND the English translation, which is just crazy. It's not only extremely clever in it's premise, but it's really well-written and exciting. It's not just a device, the missing letter is actually causing people to dream and obsess about an absence in their life that is making true communication impossible. There is even a part where they completely rewrite "The Raven" to not contain it, which is 1) super hard to do when you can't say "raven" or "nevermore" and 2) exciting because the obsession with the absence creeps in to the poem, and 3) because there is a second major difference between the E-less version and the original and I think it might be a clue or significant in some other way. XD I'm super stoked to find out if it's true, or if I'm just jumping at shadows.

Really 'literary' tricks like that excite me. I'm always looking for a new experience when reading, and it often delivers. like Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, where it's written as a reader ("You", it's in the second person) keeps trying to start books but getting interrupted after the first chapter. Or Calvino's Castle of Crossed Destinies, which is made up out of tarot card spreads. I'm a pretty gimmicky reader, ha.

Mysteries to solve, puzzles to put together. A bolt from the blue when everything comes together. Slowly dawning realizations. The above mentioned blurring between reality and fiction. Unreliable narrators. Being tricked by a master trickster. When the plot starts barreling towards it's inevitable finish and "**** just got real", so I guess you could say a major upping of the stakes. Secret meanings and symbolism.


I think that's about it. Man, I really did spend a good chunk of afternoon on this. XD I had a whole lot of fun thinking about these things! Thanks Dju!

[Crystal]

Look at me answering interview questions from months ago! :3333

I'm somewhat unlike other posters on this thread in that I quite enjoy cliche, done-before, popular-with-the-masses stories. I'm into generic fantasy, high fantasy, fairy tale retellings and sci-fi, and I also quite like a good romance novel here and there (I guiltily confess to just eating up the paranormal romance stuff with the terrible covers, if I happen to like the author.) Although I don't avoid it altogether, I'm not terribly into literature that I have to actively think about while I'm reading it - I'm mainly just along for the ride.

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?
Characters, humour, and culture. I love books in which it's evident that the author is writing about a culture in which they have lived in for many years, or in the case of fantasy, where the author has sunk a lot of time and creativity into fleshing out their world. I find that many fantasy world-builders do so only perfunctorily, or with the assumption that everything is fairly Earth-like, when in reality there are all these incredibly interesting questions to be asked, like "How does the geography of this planet affect the biology of the animals on it?", or "What kinds of attitudes would have developed by people living in these situations?" I like it when authors show off their knowledge of an area, such as art, biology, physics, history, programming, what have you, to write intelligent, quirky characters, and I feel like an author who has lived in many places and experienced many things makes a better story.


2. What makes you care for a character?
In protagonists, I like intelligence, humour, and a certain amount of self-awareness/independence. Bad-assery helps, whether mental, emotional or physical. In general, I like characters as long as they have spunk - I thoroughly dislike limp, whiny characters.


3. How do you stay interested in a plot line?
*shrug* As long as things are happening and it seems like we're progressing, it's fine.


4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?
If done well, I don't mind. However, I like best the process in which you come to realizations not through the hiding of important information, but through previously-revealed information falling into place.


5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)
I don't particularly like flashbacks, although it can be done well. I prefer to learn about a past through bits and pieces given over time; casual stories, or maybe just a favourite belonging or a given attitude in life.


6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?
Both! I'm of the opinion that a stunning conclusion cannot be built without a really strong journey.


8. What are your favorite stories and why?
Oh my gosh I can't name them all. :3 I don't know if I'd say these are all my favourites, since a lot of my favourites tend toward the comfort-food end of the spectrum, but here are ones I'd recommend:

• Alif the Unseen, for a fab portrayal of Arabic culture, as well as a decent understanding of programming by a non-programmer. (Thorn, too, for an Arabic/Indian cross in the form of a fairy-tale retelling.)
• For fantasy world-building, Brandon Sanderson is unmatched, and The Emperor's Soul is a good, short introduction to his work.
• Soulless for awesome Victorian-steampunk-werewolf romance with a parasol-wielding heroine.
• For anime and manga, I'd go with Code Geass or Fullmetal Alchemist, but a lesser known classic is Basara. I'm also a big fan of the Asterix comic books.

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?
Goodness knows. I just read, and they come to me!


10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?
Weak, whinging protagonists who never grow up. It's even worse if they're preachy. Ready Player One got fantastic reviews, but I spent half the time wanting to punch the protagonist's lights out. And I'm going to second Teow on cringe comedy, makes me feel a bit ill.


11. What excites you?
Reading!

[Stephanie (swordlilly)]

As you can see, I am known for my punctuality. ;P


1. What mostly grabs you in a story?

I was going to say "character," but then I realized, that's not exactly true. I really enjoyed M. G. Vassanji's The Book of Secrets, for instance, and in that book, the entire first chapter is a kind of frame, narrated by a character that I don't care about. The characters who really hit my emotional chord don't come until later. So, what got me going through those first pages? Curiosity, I guess. The book is set in a geographic region that I know very little about, and that I probably won't be able to visit anytime in the near future. But a few of my current neighbours have ties to East Africa, and I guess I wanted to try and understand them better. I also wanted to learn more about the history of British colonization from a literary perspective. So when the character-that-I-don't-care-about began his research project, I was intrigued, and I wanted to tag along.

2. What makes you care for a character?

A combination of strong qualities that I admire, and vulnerabilities that I sympathize with. The characters that I really care for usually make me feel in awe of them, and also protective of them at the same time. It's weird because the story is already written and you can't do anything to actually "help" the character, but the feeling of protectiveness is still there.

3. How do you stay interested in a plot line?

It depends. Sometimes nothing much "happens." The entirety of James Joyce's Ulysses for instance takes place in a single day, and there are whole chapters when characters do nothing much other than eat, talk, and walk. So it's not just the plot. Sometimes, the reason why I stay interested is as simple as wanting to see. If what's being shown is beautiful and well-put-together, then it's worth the effort to see.

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?

Depends on why they hide it, and how well it is hidden.

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)

I prefer it to be done realistically. Typically, people don't have the luxury to indulge in long flashbacks, unless it's when they're lying awake at night, or sitting alone on a long commute or something like that. Most often, people experience little bits and pieces of memory, like walking past a cafe and smelling something that triggers a memory. So I'm not a fan of long flashbacks.

Same for dialogue - it has to be natural, not contrived. It's unusual for a person to sit down with another person and narrate his/her entire backstory. XD More often, people reveal bits and pieces from their past, over the course of several conversations.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?

The way to get there, I guess. Sometimes I spoil the ending for myself by reading the last 2 pages when I'm only halfway through the book. ;P But if it's a really good book, it doesn't feel "spoiled" to me, and when I get to those last 2 pages again, it feels different, and deeply satisfying, the second time.

8. What are your favorite stories and why?

Anime: Spirited Away. I've watched that movie at least five times. I suppose I just found it really easy to relate to the main character. It's basically a story of a girl growing up, having to deal with change, moving to a new place, becoming independent from her parents, getting her first job, experiencing her first romance, etc. It's also set in a fantastical Japanese setting, and the graphics and music are amazing. I've visited Japan three times and stayed for about a month each time, so I'm viewing it through the enchanted eyes of a foreigner. ^^;

Graphic novel(la): Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and The Moon's Forgetting by Taiwanese artist Ji Mi (my unofficial translation).

Children's book: The Velveteen Rabbit, Oh the Places You'll Go, Charlotte's Web, and Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window. Because of the minimalist, beautiful, and non-whiny ways they deal with the tough questions of love and loss, hope and fear.

Literary fiction: The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. That has actually stayed my favourite book in this genre for... four months? That must be a record. XD; I don't know if it will continue to be my favourite work of literary fiction, but I like it for its psychological realism. The main character is so flawed, and so human. And the book is also a window on American history.

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?

Predictability, and lack of meaning. I want to feel touched after I read/experience something. I don't want to feel like it was just for laughs and there was no point to it. I'm kind of an intense person though; not everyone is like me. In fact, paradoxically enough, I am often drawn to lighthearted people and find much to admire in them.

[The Wanderer]

1. What mostly grabs you in a story?

The stand-out feature in a good story is that it isn't boring. It has a point, but only drops little hints until the very end to keep you engaged with what is going on. There are many things, really. I could go on, but the most important thing is keeping the story consistent and entertaining. Strong, developed/developing characterization is a big one too.

2. What makes you care for a character?

Their strengths are amusing, or awe-inspiring. They should have positive traits like compassion, honor, and humor. Even with their vices, there should be some redeeming quality in them that makes you think twice before passing final judgment on them. It's more fun and interesting when they fall into a more realistic "gray area" in terms of morality and actions.

3. How do stay interested in a plot line?

Keep the plot consistent. Don't deviate to a bunch of side-stories that are unrelated to each other. You need to keep it simple if you're not prepared to think outside the box with a more complex one. If I cannot follow the plot, it either means my mental understanding needs some work, or the story isn't consistent.

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?

Referring back to question 1; when properly executed, it's a nice surprise to see something come together, and redeem an apparent mistake in the plot. Again, with the plot, it only works if you plan on making something unexpected happen.

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)

It depends on the context of the story. Dialogue can be more dramatic. It usually means a tight-lipped character is opening up for the first time. Flashbacks can provide a vivid recreation of what went down. I prefer flashbacks, just because they're more telling, and they actually take the reader there, rather than just being the third wheel in some conversation. I'm not interested in soap-opera confessionals. But that's just me.

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?

The conclusion is very important. Any Sopranos fan will vouch for the necessity for a solid ending. I don't believe in the open-ended interpretive endings as being a suitable way to finish a story. But referring to an earlier point, if properly executed, it can be a good way to go. But even so, getting there is more important. The conclusion sums up what you want people to think about in regards to the characters, or the plot, but everything happens before that. And everything that matters is what comes in to play during the body of the story. The conclusion is the coup de grace to your efforts.

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?

"Quit while you're ahead." "Brevity is the soul of wit." "Never use a big word, when a diminutive one will suffice." I got pages of these, I could go on.

8. What are your favorite stories and why?

George RR Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series is good because it has MANY strong characters, both good and bad. (That gray area of morals and actions I spoke of earlier? This series has them in spades.) It also steps away from the whole good vs. evil and just focuses on what happens if a fairy tale met the real world.

On the other hand, Star Wars movies (yeah not originally a book) have a good feel to them because it DOES focus on the good vs. evil thing. Plus there's lasers. And swords... made of lasers.

Shifting over to fanfics (which I am guilty of writing to my own shame), I recently took to reading the ones related to the popular MLP: FIM series, and the stand-out was Fallout: Equestria. Having played both the games, and watched the show, it stuck out, both because of the author's knowledge of both franchises. But this author honestly should have come up with an original idea, and worked with that, and I promise would make the result a best-seller. The story wasn't very linear, but the characters and their progress as they journeyed about made the story so good. And the fact that it is so vividly descriptive about the surroundings and the action is what makes it worth the read.

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?

Like my name implies, I wander about, and just stumble across them. Also, friends recommend them.

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?

Bad special effects for movies. Tedious, complex plots that need a side commentary to clarify things. Lack of character development (generally applies to movies, and some comics). Pages and pages of a conversation that ultimately has little impact on the story as a whole.

11. What bores/excites you?

Sitting in class is boring. Riding a rollercoaster is exciting.

[patriciagwen]

It's an old thread worth reviving

Questions (11) and my answers follow ...



1. What mostly grabs you in a story?

The topic. If it's something relevant to my life/current/interesting/I can relate to it - then I'm going to want to read it!!


2. What makes you care for a character?

I feel like I can empathize with any character over time ... Maybe not at first but when I begin understand where someone is going from, where and how they grew up, I begin to care of them - kinda like in real-life with real people haha

3. How do stay interested in a plot line?

Not necessarily constant action/explosions, but some kind of meaning/purpose that compels events/characters to some sort of solution

4. When authors hide important information to be revealed later on, how does it make you feel?

It's fine. I don't feel entitled to foreshadowing. Every author has the write to present and to not present things when and how they want. If you don't like it ... Just get out of the kitchen lol

5. How do you prefer to learn about a character’s past? (For example, flashbacks or dialogue?)

I like it when the narrator is omniscient and direct with the reader, and simply explains to me that a character is feeling this way because it reminds then of that time when ...

6. What matters most to you – the story’s conclusion or the way to get there?

Both. A satisfying conclusion taking planning that I admire, and the patience in getting there is also admirable

7. “In show business, it’s important to know when to get off stage”
What do you understand from this sentence?

Yup!! It's kind of like when you're on a date, and shouldn't drag out the time you have together for too long or else one of you might get kinda bored/want to do something else ... Less is more, leave the people wanting more so that they will miss you next time haha

8. What are your favorite stories and why?

I have mostly read/been exposed to American and British literature.

My favourite book of all time is "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett because it was so touching - a little girl lost everything she had and yet she still found it in her to be nice to others.

I think that non-fiction is great!! Real stories like that of Henry Kissinger: biographies ... Essays ... Just as exciting to me if not more than fiction.

I like stories told through music, film and live theatre as well.

9. How did you come across your favorite stories?

By chance. Browsing the shelves of a book store. Recommendation from a friend. A Google search about a topic that I was interested in ...

I like YouTube, and some of the most successful Youtuvers have written and published their own books at like 23!!

10. What do you hate most in movies/books/comics?

Great violence and scary suspense music. Oh man do I not appreciate nightmares.


11. What bores/excites you?

Depends on my mood haha, but in general any discussion on human nature, love and the grand scheme of things excited me. I have both high and low brow tastes. Cheesy music, characters and movies amuse me because they are so simple ... Gets me out of my head haha