emotional scenes (Page 3 of 3)

If we take as a given there are only seven basic plots (yes, I know that is a subjective number and some say there is really only one and others will expand the number slightly) that still doesn't account for the myriad variations in those basic plots. And then within the plots you have another countless number of character variations, and then another universe full of descriptions. So, you take all that into consideration and no one really has to worry about repeating a story that's already been done; as a matter of fact I challenge you to repeat any story ever written without copying it directly. You couldn't if you set out to do it deliberately, let alone by chance or coincidence. In short, you can write till the universe ends in a last gasp of radiation and not duplicate what's already supposedly been done a bazillion times. Of course all bets are off if you write romance novels; they're all the same, lol. Take care. Vern

I generally don't like romance novels, but I read one that was sort of like a compilation of short stories and I quite liked it. Each section was about one of the sisters and when you put it together, it was pretty neat. Unfortunately for this discussion, it did not make me cry, but I was pretty saddened during a few scenes. It's fairly difficult for any book to make me cry, though it has happened a few times. (Where The Red Fern Grows... Every. Damn. Time.)

-Elisheva

You weren't surprised at the end of Atonement?

Dill, I never disagreed with my husband, I found a way to reconcile it is all. I didn't care if my work was compared to others. Most of the time the comparison would be a good thing. In the literary world, comparisons, particularly of those you admire, are a much sought after thing. Complimentary comparisons are the gold standard for authors tout to the hilt in terms of marketing.

I've never set out to write like authors I admire, or write music like artists I covet, but I do endeavor to evoke a similar feeling. It's that wonderful sense of soul satisfaction when something you've read, or listened to strikes a chord within you. If I can feel that way about one of my own finished works, it's a success, regardless of what others have to say. Selfish? Probably, but it's my most powerful motivator. I'll work tirelessly to come away feeling something genuine--and if I don't, it gets scrapped or reworked until I do.

All that said, [ahem vern], I'm also not opposed to dipping my nib in the formula ring. I've written several romantic leaning novels which are not only highly formulaic, they're quite limiting in terms of attaining selfish satisfaction. Yet, I'm no less proud to have completed them. Mainly because I found writing in a strict formula framework to be as challenging to pull off well as pantsing can be. In some ways I'm even more proud of those novels because not only did I find the challenge fun, I came away feeling humbled by how difficult disciplined writing can be.

The problem with this sort of comment is that it misjudges a typical audience as eager for something new, and that is untrue, but they would rather have rip-offs crafted originally, perhaps sophisticated, rather than creative original concepts. Few want to think about something heretofore unknown to them. I think the timeline for 'accepting audiences' for new ideas is in reverse as  current civilization advances, not as implied by the above comment, and that may be a hypothesis about why civilizations ossify and collapse.

Yes, yes.... I totally agree with your disagreement... and this is where I know I'm never going to be a writer, because I always seem to fail to convey what I mean.

Irrespective of however the situation really is or whatever is the reality or actual fact of the matter; I (me personally) feel like a fraud and that is what blocks my confidence within my own writing.

It is like someone with acrophobia, a height or risk of falling may be minimal, intangible or imperceptible to the average person but the vertigo, the sensations of spinning and dizziness, the fear that the sufferer feels are real and unstoppable even though the situation is imperceptible and the ailment inconceivable to the vast majority of the non-suffering population.

I’m not saying that ‘this is the way it actually is;’ I’m saying ‘I know it is irrational, but this is the way it is for me’.