I've become nagged by "good writing."

Notice: If this thread isn't in the proper forum, if the administrators and mods please move it to the proper forum that would be appreciated.

*Listening to Hau Ruck(spezial K Remix) and Der Mussolini by KMFDM*

Okay now that that's done on to the subject at hand... There are times when I'm vexed by "good Writing" when it comes to comic books, television, cartoons, and movie scripts, along with novels... Now I'm aware that everyone here has different opinions on what they consider to be a "well written story." (I mean there were alot of people who loved The Dark Knight, and from what I saw from commercials, and a presentation on The History Channel concerning BatMan and his antagonists and their psychological motives behind they're actions, I'd have to say it looked like it would be a good watch. But there was one review that would've killed it for me. And that was this one dude found it so boring, he started falling asleep because to him all The Joker seemed to do was blow up stuff.) And I for was disappointed by SuperMan Returns Because I mean this is Lex Luthor they could've had him come up with a better scheme than luring SuperMan onto a Kryptonite made island, and then kicking him while he was down...

But in any case even though our taste in story arcs, I believe we can all agree that a good story is one that keeps your attention to where if they leave off at a cliffhanger you'll be left yearning for more.( Which mind you is what I hate because with tv shows you have to wait about a week. Where as with Graphic Novels, Literary Novels, Comic Books or Movies, you have to wait a few months or perhaps a few years with Novels and Movies.) And as an anime fan who was left disappointed by some of the western stories that were made in later years, I began to think that anime was the only thing left that would hold my interest after three years ago. Until I started looking at Marvel and DC's material as well as other big named Comic Book corporations like "Top Cow" and "Image Comics," and figured that the material from those corporations where the only things in my opinion that could rival the interest and intrigue of anime and manga. But I then took an even deep look as I was nagged by the ending of Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest and sought to see At World's End. And that's when I felt that I came to the epiphany that "Good Writing" isn't just found in anime and Manga, but practically everywhere, I just have to find it. But as I look at all of these interesting titles and authors, I often think to myself, "I've got alot to live up to. O_O"


And I'm sure there are many of you aspiring writers who feel the same as I do...

Shweta said:

First: !

Second: Don't worry about giving us permission to move threads around. We will whether you do or not

Third: Yes, good writing daunts me too. But we learn a lot from what we read, even unconsciously, so it gets us closer to that wonderful point of competence.

Fourth: I'm moving this to the Roundtable, which is a place for general writerly discussion

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*Listening to Stupify by Disturbed*

Sorry about that... old habit... I've done this with every messageboard I've been to where I'd start a thread in forum and come to find out later that it's been moved... So I later out of caution asked the mods and admin to move a thread that I start because there have been times when I've started threads that were meant to be in a specific forum, thus they were left in that forum. And there were times when I've placed a thread in a certain forum that it wasn't suppose to be in, so since I'm not quite familiar with where to place alot of the threads I start, I... started to ask the mods to move the threads if I wasn't certain that I placed the thread in the right forum. So again I'm sorry about that.

On another note you do have a point stating that we learn alot from what we read as aspiring writers...

blacbird said:

This issue, which is both interesting and relevant to writers, would be more addressable if you could define what you consider to be "good writing". Otherwise, I don't have a clue.

For me, "good writing" consists of, in fiction: James M. Cain, John D. Macdonald, Anthony Burgess, Kurt Vonnegut, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Graham Greene, Carson McCullers, J. G. Ballard, William Golding, Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Carver . . .

For you?

caw

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*Listening To Hau Ruck(Spezial K Remix) and Der Mussolini by KMFDM*

As I mentioned I'm an anime nut, but I have enjoyed my fair share of fiction and Sci-Fi as well...

A Few Manga titles I read:

Bleach
Inuyasha
Dragon Ball Z
Naruto
Fruit's Basket
Samurai Deeper Kyo

I love the unpredictability that alot of anime and manga have, as well as the mildly realistic persona for the characters.

As for the novels I've read, and enjoyed in the past:

Castle In The Air by Diana Wynne Jones

"A Murder for Her Majesty" by Beth Hilgartner

The Xanth series by Piers Anthony (Specifically speaking "The Dragon On A Pedestal," "Crewel Lye, Caustic Yarn," Centaur Isle, and Demons Don't Dream"(Which inspired the title of chapter four of Princess Of The Damned "Demons Do Dream" ) I also enjoyed "Chaos Mode" by Piers Anthony

NeuroFizz said:

Backing up what Blacbird said, do you mean good prose or good storytelling? It would be nice to get both, but really, some would argue that in the best writing, the prose is invisible so that the story shines through (the writing can get in the way of the story if it is too flambuoyant or obtuse). Others would agrue that poetic prose captivates a reader and adds immeasurably to the story. I don't expect there is a good answer to this since readers' preferences are so different, and it may even be genre-related. But, I would suggest that good storytelling is most important, and attention to the writing craft should be a minimal requirement--with the writer developing his/her own writing style.

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Well sadly enough I can't answer the first question because I know nothing about writing prose...(Even though I may have used it unknowingly...) But I'm mainly focusing on how characters tend to mirror certain aspects of people we know or ourselves, and how a writer slips in a plot twist that we either see or don't see coming... And how a writer tends to cut the reader off with a cliffhanger once they've lead the reader into an intriguing climax.

Phaeal said:

* Listening to my hard drive grumble. *

Welcome to the forums, Rasun. Have a cuppa.

Few if any novels end in cliffhangers, per se. A cliffhanger is just what it sounds like, someone left hanging off a cliff. Even novels in a close-knit series tend to avoid this kind of thing, though they will leave many questions unanswered.

One might think that the end of The Two Towers is a cliff-hanger (Frodo captured by Orcs), but one must remember that Tolkien wrote the "trilogy" as one novel, which was split up by the publisher due to its length. If I'm not mistaken, the whole trilogy was released at once.

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*Listening to Indestructible by Disturbed*

Wow what a way to save time and money... And it's a shame novels don't have cliffhangers, because I might be making a big mistake with mine...I have developed a cliff hanger for my story Princess Of The Damned( at least in the second story of which I have to rewrite.) And even though it may have some unanswered questions,( which I believe is in the ending for book one...) I'm sure it might not leave readers wondering what will happen next...