Am I Boring?

Cranky said:

In it, there's a question to the effect of: What is more painful? A well-written, but boring, idea? Or, a great idea, horribly executed?

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Oh that's easy! A great idea, horribly executed. I don;t care if I read about a character on a never ending question for a glass of water, if it's written well.

Cranky said:

That's the question I've been asking myself since reading this entry on Jennifer Jackson's blog.

In it, there's a question to the effect of: What is more painful? A well-written, but boring, idea? Or, a great idea, horribly executed?

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I always find these kinds of questions a bit odd. Boring ideas and horrible executions are both bad. It's obviously best to have neither, so why bother choosing which one is "more painful"?

Cranky said:

Personally, I think "frustrating" would be a better word. *wink*

For me, it's the latter. I find myself reading something that *could* have been really awesome, but gets bogged down by subpar writing. But the writing has to be REALLY bad before I get to the "throw it across the room" point.

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True. I kind of get what Blue might have been trying to say: in the hands of a good writer, even the most mundane situation can be made fascinating.

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "well-written." For me, that term encompasses something beyond grammar. It means the book is well-paced, the characters come alive, etc. Using that definition, the "bad idea" would be maybe an insufficiently engaging or novel plot?

Hm. I'm not sure how to choose here. I'm having trouble separating the idea from the writing because if you take away the writing, there's not much left.

I'll take a good idea poorly executed, because I can rewrite that over and over and over until it's decent, maybe even good. If I don't have much of an idea in the first place, there's not a lot I can do with it, however eloquently, you know?

Maryn, short on both fronts

Great idea, badly executed wins every time.

I've snagged up books with AMAZING ideas, only to be disappointed by inept writing.

Add in the frustration of knowing I could totally do the same idea so much BETTER.

Now, great idea, beautifully executed, would be The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher.

Wish I'd thought of it, but he beat me to it and did a much better job than I'd have ever been able to think up.

If he wasn't such an awesome writer and if I didn't like him so much I'd have to kill him. Instead, I'll hang in the bar with him and Shannon and hope they'll some day take me home.

zzzzzzzzz*snort!*zzzzzzz*cough* Hmm. What? Did you say something?



Plotting? I don't plot. I just write. I start with characters and I put them into situations and then I resolve them. Sounds simplistic, but that's how it works. The plot appears on it's own, I sure don't put any conscious thought into it.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. It's making characters that the readers care about and putting them into situations that make the readers concerned that counts.

Cranky said:

That said, I struggle...really struggle, with plotting. The creative side of me seems a bit stifled. Perhaps it's happening because I'm actually putting some pressure on myself to be productive, to behave like the serious writer I feel myself to be.

I've tried various approaches and methods for goosing my creative genie, and yet...nothing spectacular. Maybe because I'm critiquing the ideas themselves. "Oh, well, that's just STUPID!" Blah, blah, blah. Anyways, this blog entry made me think that perhaps I ought to try being a lot more silly, and a lot less concerned about whether or not an idea is stupid or not. (That can come later, I suppose).

What say you all? Both on either the question itself (see above), or on whether or not you think you may, in fact, be a boring writer? Am I all alone in that not-so-secret fear?

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I think you're thinking too much. Relax, enjoy yourself. Writing is work but it should also be fun and you sound like you're writing with your teeth clenched! Don't overthink your ideas, go with them. Selfcensorship is death to writers. It cramps them up in little boxes. Let your ideas come out on the page freely. Sometimes it helps to pretend someone else is writing and you're just reading over their shoulder. A sense of distance can help a person express themselves more easily. Good luck with your writing!
Linnea

One person's boring is another person's fireworks. You have to trust in yourself and do your very best in every conceivable manner. That's all you can do and that's all that works.

Seems as though great idea, poorly executed gets published more often than its bedfellow boring idea, well-executed. Look at John Grisham or Nicholas Sparks. Compelling plots (at least some would say) but sub-par writing, in my opinion.

Great idea is often what gets me to pick up a book. Not always, but often.

Bad writing is what makes me put it down again.

Personally, I'd rather write well about something that's not necessarily "gripping." I write both contemporary fiction and sci fi/fantasy... my sf/fantasy tends to weigh in more on plot and ideas, while the contemporary fiction is all about character conflict. Overall, I prefer writing the contemporary fiction... because I think people are fascinating all by themselves.

Cranky said:

.In it, there's a question to the effect of: What is more painful? A well-written, but boring, idea? Or, a great idea, horribly executed?

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That reminds me of the time I was at an information session for Harvard University, and someone in my class asked if it was better to take AP Calculus and get a B, or take a lower math class and get an A. The Harvard rep look at him like he was a bit of a dolt said, "Take AP Calculus and get an A. Next?"

As for being a boring writer, I don't worry about that. I'm nothing if not entertaining. I just sometimes wonder if it's more like sideshow-type entertainment.

As I read your post, you're satisfied with your writing craft, but worried that your story ideas are boring.

Perhaps you're making your characters and situations too real, in the sense that they're characters and situations that might occur in your own life. If so, remember that outlandish things DO happen in real life -- the old saw about truth being stranger than fiction is quite correct, but good fiction gives truth a run for its money. You just need to give your ideas wings.

For example, to me, nothing could have been more improbable than some dork climbing into a Cessna in Norway and flying it all the way to Red Square in Moscow. Actually, no one in the US or USSR could have imagined such a thing, and anyone would've told you it was impossible, until Mattias Rust did it, circa 1987.

What I'm getting at is that perhaps, in pursuit of verisimilitude (and yes, I had to look up the spelling), you're making your characters and situations "too real," and the result is that they're not as interesting as they could be.

We've all met outrageous, flamboyant characters in real life, and we generally don't make them close friends, but let's face it -- as nutty as they may be, their lives are awfully interesting. Try writing about a full-blown nutjob, or just throw one into the story you're working on, and see what kind of hell he raises.

Just a thought.

Cranky said:

Nobody else thinks they're boring? Oiy. That smarts. LOL

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I do in a way. I think I fall into the 'good idea poorly executed' category and I manage to make things boring by the way I write, or also at times I wonder if the sort of ideas I'm writing appeal to anyone else other than me (and so are boring to everyone else). Generally even if I love the idea, if I describe it to someone else I get the raised eyebrow of doom and a sort of 'oh well if it interests you' kind of comment.

You're not alone. When I'm reading though, I do prefer the well written option over a badly written good idea, but I agree with the other posters - better to have good writing and a good idea.

I am an idea machine. I can just sit at the computer... start typing, and an awesome idea is in motion, complete with a strong plot and compelling characters...

However.... when I go back to read my first drafts, I realize my 'voice' sucks all the life away from it.

I am an expository writer trying to break into the creative realm... and I am SO guilty of telling and not showing.