Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Sick of Reading the Same Story...

I haven't posted in awhile because I and then my son got sick. I read a lot while I was trying to get better and realized how bored I am with certain fantasy novels. I remember being younger and willing to read everything that came out. But now that I'm older I am much more selective. Writers - and I'm one of them - need to continue to read, however, to ensure that we are not rehashing the same old story. This happens a lot - a quest, a boy, a sword (or ring or artifact), a companion, a hardship (or 2 or 3), a love interest, a big battle, and success. I've just told the plot of many, many stories I've read through the years.

It's easy as a writer to write the story I mentioned above. Sometimes our first fantasy novel love was a story just like that and of course we want to LIVE the story through writing it. I've been there and done it. It was never published - now that I'm older I can see why though at the time I thought I had written the book to end all books. ;-)

Writing something new is not easy. However, there is inspiration all around us. The news is ripe with story lines that could be translated into a fantasy realm. Heck, some public figures already act like characters out of a story. Seriously, though, to keep the genre alive we must come up with new topics, new ideas, new stories.

3 comments:

Glenna said...

Very true. I must say, the last good story to follow this structure was Lord of the Rings. And as far as I know, that was the first (but I could be wrong).

Christine Carey said...

Hi - Just linked here from your article on writing fantasy in Fiction Factor. I really enjoyed your previous post on who should live and who should die - made me think a bit more about one of the characters I'm struggling with right now. I hope to read more of yours. =)

Unknown said...

I am completely with you on the feeling of boredom with most fantasy novels; they feel like I have read them before. However, I have found much more originality and enjoyment in reading fantasy novels meant for children instead of adults. I have no clue why that is, but maybe it will help out other frustrated readers who are willing to delve into "younger" books.