Welcome back writers! As work continues getting Axtara – Magic and Mischief (I still miss Mayhem, but we’ll be getting a BaBW post on that next week) that hasn’t stopped Being a Better Writer from delivering!
Oh, but if you’re a fan of Axtara and weren’t around last Friday (or you’re brand new to the site), don’t neglect to check out Part One of A Trial For a Dragon, a free short story set in the Axtara universe starring Axtara’s older brother. A dragon becoming a banker is one thing, but what about a dragon becoming a wizard? You can check out the short here, and if you’ve stumbled across this post months (or even years) after the fact, read the rest of it by following the comment links!
That’s pretty much it as far as news is concerned. At this point Beta Reading/Editing is underway, and next up will be a cover … So you’re all caught up—
Wait, almost. Just a quick reminder to Patreon Supporters that you only have until the release of Axtara – Magic and Mischief to vote for the next book to come out! You can do that here!
Okay, that’s the news. Let’s talk writing. I’m sure a few of you writing vets have looked at the title and thought “Well, that seems pretty straightforward, but I must admit that today’s post is one that comes about due to a perceptive shift I’ve witnessed taking place over the last several years. A shift that, in the last six months especially I’ve seen on display more and more across various internet forums and even in reviews for books.
Because recently, one of the most common strikes I’ve seen leveled at characters in movies, books, and games, is that they’re failing. No, not as characters, but in their goals until the climax arrives.
Let me give you a direct example, one of the more memorable ones that, because it bugged me, stuck in my mind, and was one of the inspirations for this post: 2023’s Super Mario Bros. movie. Look, I’ll be the first to say the movie doesn’t shy from what it is: non-offensive child-friendly entertainment that’s greatest achievement, previously unmatched by Hollywood, was actually representing the property it was based on (which, for Hollywood, is like a lawyer refunding cash: a blank look followed by “I don’t know what those words mean).
But I was really interested in some of the criticism leveled against the movie, in particular the accusation that whole elements of the story were “a waste because the characters failed.”
In particular, if you’ve seen the film, the recruitment of the Kong army. Critics across the web will note that a good portion of the movie is spent on the recruitment of the Kong army, which includes Mario trying a training course—and failing, the critics either ignoring or forgetting that he does actually succeed at the course eventually—to show that he deserves to go along for the recruitment pitch, having to face a challenge to “prove” they can handle the army … and then the army is beaten anyway by the antagonist in a big battle sequence.
These critics argue that because the army failed, it’s a waste of storytelling time. That it shouldn’t have been in the story at all because due to the failure, the story didn’t move forward.
And these critics are not alone, nor are they just unhappy with Super Mario Bros. It seems any story that comes out these days—or even an older story—is increasingly being viewed with this lens. “Oh, the characters had this plan and it didn’t work out? That’s bad storytelling. It’s a waste of the audience’s time and attention. It’s padding to lengthen things out. It’s boring.”
Or my personal “favorite” accusation, that it’s “woke.” Which is about as empty and hollow a criticism as I’ve ever seen. And I’ve seen some doozies.
However, with this criticism becoming more and more frequent, it’s been leveled at books and written stories as much as anything else. I’ve seen people post about famous books decrying them because ‘So-and-so waffled around not being able to face the big bad for two-hundred pages and getting beat. What a waste of my time. No one should read this as it doesn’t respect the reader’s time.’
Worse, I’ve started to see newbie advice handed out by these critics that such scenes should be cut or removed from stories. Advice given on writing forums that young writers should not include scenes or story elements where the characters fail because “This doesn’t move the story forward, therefore it is bad” (and lest you think this is hyperbole, I’ve see variations of that exact statement several times in the last month).
And while I can see where that advice is coming from, and how that conclusion has been reached, I’ve just got to say it, in as straightforward a manner as I can: It’s just plain wrong.
So hit the jump, and let’s break down this new bit of “advice” that’s circling the writing circles.
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