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Question: What do you think of somewhat shocking or unconventional situations in the stories you read!?
Here are some very random examples (you may give your reaction to all of them collectively, or to individual situations):
The crush of a young girl in an otherwise typical coming-of-age story may very well be the unknown, illigitimate son of a serial killer!.
The main male character in a story (the hero; not the villain) is a convicted murderer on death row!.
A romantic tale that involves a human female and some sort of creature, ie, a Nosferatu-like vampire (not the typical dashing type you usually find in such stories)!.
A secret love affair between a teenaged student at an Episcopal school and the resident twenty-something priest (that does not end tragically)!.
A story that involves a sexual relationship between people with a large age gap (say, 16 and 45)!.
What I really want to ask is, are any of these "taking things too far"!? And if not, what, if any, variations thereof would be enough to make you want to stop reading because they were too disturbing!?
I don't really want to know if you think the ideas are good or bad, just whether or not they are unappealing due to their unconventionality!.
These are not stories I have written, but they ARE among the many ideas I've thought up, and I just wonder if I should ever put them on paper or just leave them in my mind!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I actually think you have some really good ideas in there!. Unconventional, to me, is usually the way to go!. Trite, overdone stories are just that!.
In general, I'd like to see any good writer work with any of these!. I don't think any of them are going too far!. Writers should be able to break taboos!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
unconventionality is the foundation upon which good books r built on!.think harry potter, think daddys girl, think discworld; all in all, if a book doesn't stand out it gets swallowed whole by the black hole we all refer to as AVERAGE!.
the situations which u have described;though not generally appealling or even palatable, leave the reader wondering,'Hows this gonna work out!?'
all in all one might say it eventually boils down to the audience being targeted by the author!.
hope i helped!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
!.!.!.hi!.
I actually don't find these ideas too unconventional!.
Regarding their appeal, depends what you do with them!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
PUT EVERYTHING IN YOUR MIND ON PAPER :)!. Anyway, all the idea's you gave are all books by now!. (Man in jail - Crime and punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky) is just one example!. But, you can expand the thought :)!. also, if the reader doesn't want to continue reading a story because he's too freaked out about it, he's only 1 person, and just doesn't like that kinda story!. But, in no way does it mean that you shouldn't write a story because people are gonna be freaked out about it!. Bottom line, write whatever you wanna write :)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
if you write it in an appealing manner (that being, powerful description), you can get plenty of people to read anything; and like it!. One of the greatest books I've ever read was the war between mice and rats and the undead evil cat that's trying to rule them!.
I think the main thing though is that, when doing twists, don't make sharp turns!. Leave plenty of foreshadowing (like a breadcrumb trail in reverse) for it to be obvious, but only when the secret it unveiled!. Basically, this means don't just, near the end of the book, say "oh, just kidding, the main, romantic guy in the story is actually a girl!. And the he-she's girlfriend is actually a dog!." Your readers may very well then be baffled and turned off of the story!.
See what I'm saying!? In literature, when done correctly, you can get away with anything; a book that I just read was about a teddy bear who wills himself to life except most of America thinks that he is a terrorist!. In recalling his memories, the reader learns that the teddy bear gave birth to a little teddy bear when he escaped to the wild!. Yes, when it is written in my own words, it's very strange and may seem unappealing, but the way that Winkie (the tittle) was written made me connect and feel sorry for the distraught little teddy bear as appose to unappealed!.
If you set it up right, and keep it flowing, in check, and with interesting description, I'd read just about all of those ideas listed!. They aren't too wild, anyways!.Www@QuestionHome@Com