Gosh, we're a hateful lot, us writers.
I've been floating around various writing sites these past few years, and one thing that never fails to bring on a full-blown attack of the self loathings than those 'what are you sick of in *insert genre / audience* here' threads. I've just read another one (I am a glutton for punishment) where people are whining about hating the theme of destiny in fantasy.
Okay, it is an overdone theme - yes, I'll give you that. It can be used as a crutch to get the protagonists where the author wants them to be... but what's the harm if it's well written?
So far, I've clocked up people claiming to be sick of the following things (bear in mind, I write fantasy, horror and sci fi, so my examples are derived from those genres): Destiny as a theme, vampires, werewolves, love triangles, love triangles involving werewolves and vampires (granted, that one has been done to death recently...), sex scenes, describing facial expression, quests, the 'violent beginning / swearing revenge' as a theme, anti heroes, stoic characters, damsel in distress (damsel can be male or female), dragons, faeries, cybertech, using jack points for cybertech, the Singularity, dystopian themes, too many female protagonists (mainly in urban fantasy), inter species romances, romance in general, hurt / comfort, dreams (especially prophetic ones, nightmares, waking up as a beginning, prologues in general, normal person finds out they aren't normal after all, normal person discovered secret world and gets involved...
And this is just what I can list off the top of my head!
I'm not saying I don't agree with some of them. I'm not saying people don't have the right to dislike certain themes. But, oi vay, the negativity that abounds! I'm surprised we get *anything* done, considering how much we supposedly hate! Absolutely everything and anything that has proven vaguely popular in the last X amount of years (where X stands for the amount of vitriolic bile people spew about it - in terms of Twilight, I think that's going to be for the next thousand years or so...) is hated upon with impunity, and what makes it even worse is that the validity of people even thinking about including these themes is often brought into question (often without the questioners ever reading the said story, or even a clip of it) - after all, how can you possibly construct a good story around such blatant hackneyed, tired crap?
It also makes me wonder: if they are hated so much, if they are so tired and so hackneyed, why do these themes keep reoccurring? And not just once, but over and over again?
Take writers out of the equation, and just stick to readers. That's readers who do not write. Ask those readers what they think of those themes, and they will almost universally say 'yeah, I really like that. That was good / fun / epic / disturbing' etc. The reason these themes keep reoccurring is because on the whole people like them.
As writers, we probably dissect what we're reading more than people who don't write, so I expect we recognise reoccurring themes and ideas more than someone who is, for example, just reading for fun. (And I do wonder if some of this 'I'm really sick of XYZ' is sometimes 'DAMN! I wish I thought of that...')
So, why the blog? Because I know my book is chock FULL of these 'I'm sick if it all' themes. I used to worry massively about this. I used to deliberately try to make sure I wasn't including themes that had been singled out by these people. And guess what? I stopped enjoying writing.
Now? Bugger it. Here comes the cliche train, and I am riding it all the way. Why? Because, my dear friends, despite my story including destiny, revenge, anti heroes, dragons, romance, a female protagonist, a 'normal person finds out she isn't normal after all', alternate realities and dreams all in one tidy packet (I'm sure that's enough to give some of the 'sick if it all' brigade an aneurysm of some kind), I'm *enjoying* creating my tale. I'm enjoying putting it all together and finding out what happens to these created people. If I get to share it with others and they enjoy it too, then, well, that's just an added bonus.
And isn't that what it's all about in the end?
*skips off merrily to write more nonsense about chips in a fantasy setting and socks on a swordsman... because she can. Who cares if it doesn't survive the editing process? Right now, it feels good! Ner ner de ner ner!!*
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12 Comments
Plus, technically every plotline is a cliche, because (for example) in one of my stories, if the protagonist gets with the good looking guy then it's "predictable" etc, but if she DOESN'T, then it's "disappointing."
You can't win! So we might as well write what makes us happy, I know for me personally I'm working on a vamp side project, because I know it's been overdone, but I realised that shouldn't stop me from writing about it! People are either such Twi-hards that they refuse to read any other vamp fiction or they hate Twilight and cut off their nose with any other remotely vamp-related fiction. It's a bugger really, but oh wellz.
x
A lot of the hate does come of as elitism - Wrathy will probably know what I mean by this, but it kind of reminds me when you get a bunch of people together (especially metalheads) who then go on this big old 'who likes the most obscure band' pissing contest. It seems to be the same with writing - who can be disdainful of the most popular themes in one go?
Shakespeare is a very good example, Gerry - after all, Romeo and Juliet was simply a rip off of an earlier poem, called Romeo and Juiletta - hell, he didn't even change the bloody title! And how many times did he essentially recylce the same plot, even within his own plays?
When it comes down to it, it's the execution, NOT the theme that sets a tale head and shoulders above the rest; conversely, you may have the most original ideas in the entire universe, but if you can't write, it's still going to be crap no matter how inventive you are...
I was reading through your list and mentally ticking off all I have included. I'd love to read a book that didn't include any of them...actually I wouldn't. They'd be no story left, especially in the genre we write in.
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