[ SECRET POST #2812 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2812 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 047 secrets from Secret Submission Post #402.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[brooms]

i've come across and hated almost everything over @ https://twitter.com/WorstMuse

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[inkdust]

Oh my god, thank you for that, I am dying in my chair.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[brooms]

there's a rebloggable best-of on tumblr, ftr - http://jabletown.tumblr.com/post/91452614633/worstmuse

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[(Anonymous)]

I find that I hate the kind of person who runs that twitter, because they find fault with everything, and fly into a rage any time they come across anything that's been done before (and, really, at this point, everything's been done before, so you might as well just argue for doing away with fiction).

The thing that sticks out for me is the sarcastic tweet about "said" being boring. Yeah, some people use pretty ridiculous dialogue tags, but if you use "said" every time, then yes, you are fucking boring. There are other words in the language, and they exist for a reason. Repetition can be stylistically valuable, but sometimes, it's just repetitive.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[jaybie_jarrett]

I sort of agree. I mean some of the things on there are good points but others are just ludicrously broad.

When it comes to writing, a very big important thing is "why you're doing it" and "how you're doing it". If you make your character an orphan because "that's what popular fantasies do" then yes that's trite. If you write a story and the plot ends up costing the parents lives and "oops..the character is orphaned" that is just a trope, a concept.

also one of their things "white people" is like so broad its useless. What about white people? Pale skinned people do not inherently make a work bad but if you only ever write about people who look like you (white or otherwise) and have your background, there might be a big problem.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[(Anonymous)]

The thing for me is that I tried for years to write in such a way that the sort of person who runs that Twitter could not take issue with my work. I did this because I could relate to their criticisms, as can anyone who is an avid reader.

What I found is that it's impossible to write a story that's completely free from tropes without rendering it completely alien, and therefore unreadable. We keep coming back to many of the same themes and types because they resonate with us as human beings, and when we stray too far from them, we experience a disconnect that makes it difficult (if not impossible) to enjoy the narrative.

There are tiresome cliches, and there are overused constructions, and there's overly flowery prose, and there are problematic and bigoted characterizations. But there are some concepts that aren't going to go away, and that arguably shouldn't go away.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[jaybie_jarrett]

Ah yeah. That sounds horribly frustrating.

I have a writer magazine that has a quote from a famous author that I always try to remember: "set apart the constructive criticism from negative criticism, there are some people that are never going to like your work. Ignore them"

Like it's good to avoid things you don't want in your stories....but trying to avoid any and all tropes. It's hopeless. I feel like the person behind the Worst Muse twitter is targeting anything and everything that has been associated with bad writing and complaining about that. When you apply a trope, you just have to apply it with careful thought and not "just because". You should always ask "why am I doing this" and "is it to make a better story?" "what will this add."

I remember a writing site advising you to think about "can this be taken away and still make the story work" and that seemed like a horribly boring way to go about it. With a skilled resourceful writer you can take a LOT away and still make the story work somehow. But just because you can take something away from the story doesn't make it worthless. Sometimes it could add something that would make a different, possibly more interesting story.

Me, I write a lot of what appeals to me. Like I do my best to make it well written and dynamic , but there's still a lot in it that does appeal to me. That makes it fun and exciting to write. *shrug*

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[(Anonymous)]

Please not to be telling me how to write or why I'm writing, thank you very much.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[jaybie_jarrett]

Huh?

I think you misundersstood. What I was saying was that when it comes to tropes they aren't bad as long as you think about why you're adding them.

You can write whatever you want, really.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[(Anonymous)]

You are really reaching with this.

Re: Annoying things that writers do

[(Anonymous)]

OMG I need to go follow that Twitter stat.