[ SECRET POST #5788 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5788 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 12 secrets from Secret Submission Post #828.
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: Petty vent....

[(Anonymous)]

character (80%women) must speak to serial killer to get info on more victims and said sk said gross things to them and 50/50 gives them any info'

I completely agree, but more broadly, I honestly just kind of hate narratives that involve the protagonist being ineffective at actually accomplishing anything. Like, I'm NOT saying that every single time they try to accomplish something, they have to immediately succeed at exactly what they were aiming to accomplish--that tends to feel quite bland and uninspired, narratively speaking. But I hate when they seem to simply bumble and flounder along, being thwarted at almost every turn. A mix is kind of ideal, IMO. So like, sometimes they accomplish exactly what they wanted to, sometimes they can't accomplish what they wanted to but they still get something of value out of the attempt, sometimes they accomplish what they wanted to but they also have to pay an unforeseen price in order to do it, and occasionally the attempt goes completely tits up and they fail miserably. And obviously there are many more variants of ways that the Protagonist Pursues Objective equation can go.

But personally I feel like when it comes to scenes where the protagonist tries to accomplish something and fails, a little bit goes a long way. It can be extremely potent, if handled deftly, but the risk of making your protagonist seem a bit stupid is high if you haven't carefully thought through exactly why and how this situation/person they're facing is going to get the better of them.

Anyway, uh, sorry for the tldr. This is just one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to characterization and narrative structure, and your comment about a particular manifestation of this pet peeve stirred up all my ire over the broader peeve. XD

Re: Petty vent....

[tabaqui]

Heeeee!
No worries. And I totally agree. I hate it in particular when a character is SUDDENLY BAD at their job, and are thwarted at every turn (sometimes in the most ridiculous ways) because Plot.

That just grinds my gears.

But yes - when the character constantly fails, fails, fails, and only is victorious through some weird quirk or outside agency...that's just not good storytelling, or at least - interesting storytelling, for me.