#and there is some political weirdness around writing workshops and MFA creative writing degrees that I no longer trust

[sometimesrosy]

Hello! I don’t know if you’d be able to shed some light on this, but there’s a really famous fantasy book going around now called Fourth Wing. I read it, and I loved it. But, there’s basically nothing new about it. It’s a story full of cliches, with stereotypical characters, and an easy to predict plot. But, there’s not a dull moment in the book. From the beginning till the end, even all of the banter are important plot points. From a literacy point of view, what’s your take on it? Why does it work? What makes a story work? I assume it’s super famous from how easy it is to read, not only the accessible language in fantasy but also how smooth the entire story ties in, and maybe how familiar it feels.

Oh I’m dying to read that! From what I heard it’s kind of like a Pern book, and I grew up as a baby geek on the Pern books. And yes I heard it’s also derivative of another big series (I can’t remember which one.)

I actually love this question. 

HOW can a cliche ridden, predictable, stereotype filled story engage readers????

My unpopular opinion? 

Originality is over rated. Lol.

There are, what is it? Seven stories that humanity tells over and over again. Actually depending upon who you’re talking to, it could be 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 or 36. With different details and different characters and different settings and... that’s okay.

The human brain likes its stories. It likes them familiar so it can follow along. If we didn’t like familiar stories, then we wouldn’t keep telling the same stories. Boy meets Girl, Rags to Riches, The Fall of the Great Man, or whatever. Do we also like surprise? Why sure. Often we don’t know which format the story is until we get to the end, but our brain still gets to sort all that information and shape that story into something meaningful to us with resonance to all the stories that came before. 

It’s one of the reasons that our stories tend to fall into regular formats. We’re familiar with the 3/5/7 act structure. We know the Hero’s Journey kind of by heart even if we’re not consciously aware of it. It’s one of the reasons a story like the original Star Wars is so satisfying. It feels ‘right.’ Complete. In order.

I no longer complain of stories being unoriginal. I no longer worry about them following conventions or formats. I no longer worry about stories using tropes. I actually love tropes. Once I realized understanding the tropes in a story could help guide me to the kind of stories I wanted to read and increase my enjoyment, I surrendered to the tropes. 

But a good story is more than just good writing, or an original idea, or even a brilliant book. I realized this many years ago when I was reading Twilight-- which I HATED. I literally threw the book across the room. It was so poorly writen I couldn’t stand it. But then I ran after it and picked it up and kept reading because I HAD TO KEEP READING. 

And that bothered me. Why was I compelled to keep reading? That’s when I realized that story telling and writing aren’t the same thing. A book can be trite and have shallow characters and be super stereotypical and predictable but if it tells a good story in a way that keeps you turning the pages and engaged in what happens next and the relationships.

And you know what? I think that IS about hooking into the collective unconscious, connecting to the stories you already love, following along with the beloved plots. Jerking on our heartstrings and saving the cat and all that. 

Some books are experimental by nature and their point is to push what we expect. They can be l or they can be an incomprehensible pretentious mess. Some books are about lyrical language and poetic images. Some books are about the pain and suffering of meaningful events and the words carve themselves into your skin. You can totally be swept away in the mastery of the writing if that’s your thing. And maybe those are the books that are going to be nominated for awards and prizes. Maybe those are superlative books. I am not knocking that kind of literature.

But that’s not the only kind of literature there is. Genre stories-- fantasy, sci fi, romance, horror, mystery, comic books etc are also literature. I think it’s a con game based in classism and misogyny that says only literary fiction is worthy and genre fiction is a lesser form of literature. I don’t really agree with that. It might, however, have a different purpose for a different audience, and that’s okay. 

SOME books tell a story you already know and love in a different way and YOU ARE DOWN FOR IT. You want to see two idiots fall in love. You want to see the underdog overcome their challenges and win the contest. You want to see that damaged found family come together and be better than they were alone. You want to see the end of the world and the scrappy band of survivors trying to live just another day. Maybe you’re looking for a HEA. Maybe you’re looking for gore and trauma and a catharsis. Maybe you just want to live with dragons for a while.

There is nothing wrong with that. 

Genre stories for the win. 

#genre fiction #literature #literary analysis #tropes #i am biased y'all i've loved sff since I was a kid but my literary education tried to beat it out of me #and the truth is i prefer genre fiction to literary fiction and no longer agree that lit fic is superior #and there is some political weirdness around writing workshops and MFA creative writing degrees that I no longer trust