![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Mar. 22nd, 2013 09:56 pm1.Book Meme from heck continues: Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Can't think of one? Can you think of one? Mind is a complete blank.
I guess...Agatha Christie's Curtain. See here's the thing...I have a tendency to read a head in a lot of books, so it is rare that I will be surprised. Kindle has admittedly changed that, so I was sort of surprised by a plot twist in the latest Harry Dresden novel - regarding Molly Carpenter, also somewhat surprised by a character development in the Rachel Morgan series. But nothing worth writing about.
Also not really a fan of surprising plot twists. The reason is - if they are surprising then they are often badly written. Because a well-plotted twist is often something you can see coming - if it's plotted well enough and built well enough it won't be shocking or surprising. And in many cases plot twists either are gimmicks or at the sake of the characters, the writer will often sacrifice the character arc they've been building for the twist. I prefer books without plot twists. Because the twist in most cases is anti-climatic or disappointing, and hurts the story. It's a comic book/pulp writer crutch. See it a lot in those genres...and most of the time, find it to be disappointing.
A good plot twist, in recent memory, was in a book that I despised and was principally about the plot twist - the whole book was based on the twist - this was Atonement. It did not work without the twist.
That's not to say they aren't fun. They are - lots of fun in soap operas, comic books, and genre novels. Just saw a great plot twist on General Hospital today. Best plot-twist that I saw in a long long time, and I didn't predict it. OUAT also does good plot twists. TV tends to be better at this sort of thing than books are...but like I said, I can't really remember any off-hand.
( Read more... )
2. And the end of the far more entertaining Tv Meme
Day 30 - Saddest character death.
Eh. I'm odd about character deaths. Most of the time I believe character deaths in tv series are necessary - they propel the plot forward. Also I've been watching daytime soap operas, fantasy shows, and sci-fi shows most of my life not to mention reading comic books off and on, you sort of get used to character deaths after a bit. Both mediums kill characters off right and left, with little remorse and often not much foreshadowing. Wait...they just killed off Cyclops? WTF? Or wait, you just killed off Buffy? The Lead? Seriously? Whoa. And after teasing me about it for five years. No less.
Not only do they kill characters off without flinching, they bring them back to life. I kid you not. So after a while, the audience gets tired of the whiplash, shrugs, and decides..eh, the character is only dead until the actor decides to reprise them or the writers change or they run out of ideas and decide to resurrect the character. Sort of takes the sting off of the whole thing.
That said, there are characters whose deaths...are more permanent and gut-wrenching. But they too fall into categories. 1)The death that is written in such a manner that regardless of how you felt about the character, you are sobbing during the episode. You might not even have liked them all that much - but you are sobbing watching that episode. 2) the actor dies so they have to kill off the character, often prematurely, with the episode becoming a sort of homage to the actor that played the character, and 3) the character you adored and they killed them off, damn them, and did it in a realistic and painful way - which worked with the character's arc but wasn't overly manipulative.
( spoilers for Buffy S5, Dallas, The West Wing, The Wire, and LOST )
Eh fun meme. Now I want another one. All I see are fanfic memes, and I can't do fanfic memes.
The other's are personnel memes about your personal life, and I hate those. Too bloody revealing - also half the answers are things you have to use as security questions - so hacker territory.
Can't think of one? Can you think of one? Mind is a complete blank.
I guess...Agatha Christie's Curtain. See here's the thing...I have a tendency to read a head in a lot of books, so it is rare that I will be surprised. Kindle has admittedly changed that, so I was sort of surprised by a plot twist in the latest Harry Dresden novel - regarding Molly Carpenter, also somewhat surprised by a character development in the Rachel Morgan series. But nothing worth writing about.
Also not really a fan of surprising plot twists. The reason is - if they are surprising then they are often badly written. Because a well-plotted twist is often something you can see coming - if it's plotted well enough and built well enough it won't be shocking or surprising. And in many cases plot twists either are gimmicks or at the sake of the characters, the writer will often sacrifice the character arc they've been building for the twist. I prefer books without plot twists. Because the twist in most cases is anti-climatic or disappointing, and hurts the story. It's a comic book/pulp writer crutch. See it a lot in those genres...and most of the time, find it to be disappointing.
A good plot twist, in recent memory, was in a book that I despised and was principally about the plot twist - the whole book was based on the twist - this was Atonement. It did not work without the twist.
That's not to say they aren't fun. They are - lots of fun in soap operas, comic books, and genre novels. Just saw a great plot twist on General Hospital today. Best plot-twist that I saw in a long long time, and I didn't predict it. OUAT also does good plot twists. TV tends to be better at this sort of thing than books are...but like I said, I can't really remember any off-hand.
( Read more... )
2. And the end of the far more entertaining Tv Meme
Day 30 - Saddest character death.
Eh. I'm odd about character deaths. Most of the time I believe character deaths in tv series are necessary - they propel the plot forward. Also I've been watching daytime soap operas, fantasy shows, and sci-fi shows most of my life not to mention reading comic books off and on, you sort of get used to character deaths after a bit. Both mediums kill characters off right and left, with little remorse and often not much foreshadowing. Wait...they just killed off Cyclops? WTF? Or wait, you just killed off Buffy? The Lead? Seriously? Whoa. And after teasing me about it for five years. No less.
Not only do they kill characters off without flinching, they bring them back to life. I kid you not. So after a while, the audience gets tired of the whiplash, shrugs, and decides..eh, the character is only dead until the actor decides to reprise them or the writers change or they run out of ideas and decide to resurrect the character. Sort of takes the sting off of the whole thing.
That said, there are characters whose deaths...are more permanent and gut-wrenching. But they too fall into categories. 1)The death that is written in such a manner that regardless of how you felt about the character, you are sobbing during the episode. You might not even have liked them all that much - but you are sobbing watching that episode. 2) the actor dies so they have to kill off the character, often prematurely, with the episode becoming a sort of homage to the actor that played the character, and 3) the character you adored and they killed them off, damn them, and did it in a realistic and painful way - which worked with the character's arc but wasn't overly manipulative.
( spoilers for Buffy S5, Dallas, The West Wing, The Wire, and LOST )
Eh fun meme. Now I want another one. All I see are fanfic memes, and I can't do fanfic memes.
The other's are personnel memes about your personal life, and I hate those. Too bloody revealing - also half the answers are things you have to use as security questions - so hacker territory.