Imagine this: you're engaged in a story, rooting for the protagonist, eager to see how his journey will end. Then the climax comes. You're on the edge of your seat. But when the end credits roll or you turn the last page, you're disappointed. Maybe you spotted a massive plot hole, or your favorite character's arc was dropped abruptly, or the story just dragged on way too long until the excitement you felt at the beginning faded.
I've been there. I've felt the frustration when a story I love fails to deliver on its promise. But I don't let this frustration go to waste. I don't sit there, helpless. No... I get revenge! Not just any revenge, but authorly vengeance, the best kind. I take the elements I liked about that story-- the plots twists of The Last Jedi, or Princess Kushana's character from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind*, and I stow them away in the deep recesses of my brain. Then I began picking them apart and reforming them, combining disparate elements like pieces of Frankenstein's monster. Eventually something emerges: an outline for a completely new story that takes inspiration from the good parts of those tales that disappointed me. In telling this story, I have an opportunity to do better. One character is reborn as another, perhaps with elements of two or three other characters mixed in. A plot twist is recycled and given new thematic weight, and several unique settings combine in the background. In the end, I have something that is both inspired by the authors that influenced me, and wholly my own. Most of my inspiration as an author comes not from masterpieces of literature (although those have a great influence in the long run), but from good stories that could have been better. This is my revenge on stories that disappoint me: I write better ones. What kind of stories inspire you, my readers? How do you react to disappointing stories? -Zachary Holbrook *I'm not bashing Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind here. It's a really good story; I just wish Kushana's character had a larger role.
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Progress on Doombear, Rough draft:10%
Progress on The Lore of Yore, third draft:
100%
"In truth, by leaving, I was seeking only one thing. A journey."
-Oathbringer, pg 981 Types of blog posts:
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