1) Tropes:
Tropes are nothing more than that something on the page, is something, someone has noticed, is similar to something that happened in another story before...similar, but not exact.
This propensity to look for patterns is ingrained in the human machine, and so it is not surprising that many find it, and then think it meaningful.
While it is sometimes a fun activity to go through various lists of tropes, and talk them up or talk them down, the tropes themselves are nothing but empty vessels, standing in for things with more meaning, but themselves having none.
A more accurate position is that these things are nothing more than phantoms of the uninvestigated of our craft. The musings of those who want to seem to dig deeply, but never really break the surface. Stories are not made of tropes. They are made of greater elements like plot, theme, character, setting and so on. The meaning of the story comes from the creators vision of what they trying to tell, and their execution in telling it. That some things occur that seem like other things that occur in other works is only to be expected. It is the nature of things, that once conflicts are set in motion, and character choices begin to take hold, they will stumble into areas that others may have also stumbled into. That does not make them the same, because around those events and occurrences, is everything else about the story.
While tropes may seem a fun topic, they are more the exercise of mental masturbation, a pretending to have great insight into something, when there is nothing to have insight into. Story matters, tropes only lay upon them like leeches trying to be of worth.
More simply, to focus on tropes like they matter is to miss that they do not matter at all.
But, tropes have a second aspect to them, which for me, is why I think Authors ought to avoid and disavow them. And that is, it is belittling to the work and effort we put in. Many of us take years to write our stories, and the pieces of them were never pulled from some grab bag of 'tropes', but instead are the thought-out, anguished over, choices of the author to include the stuff that tells their story in the best way they can, and keeping out of the story all the stuff that is not helping it. To look at your own, or the work of others, and reduce them to 'tropes' is to remove the human art behind them. To, in effect, discard and dismiss them as not having a worthy voice, and not being anything more than something constructed from a grab bag anyone could have pulled from. That is wrong, and should not be the way serious writers approach other writers, or other works.
And so my hope is, as we mature, we will evolve and transcend, and leave all thoughts of what is a trope and what isn't behind. A trope is not what writing is about. In fact, it is just a lot of nothing.
What is better than thinking in terms of tropes?
Writing it true!!!
I doesn't matter what people think of it. You have to write the story and the characters as they are, and let them have their strong and weak moments. Is your girl a damsel? So what, let her be a damsel. Is your boy a farm boy suddenly on a heroes quest? so what, lets explore who he is.
The trouble in writing does not come from having or not having tropes, it comes from artificial efforts to write things that don't ring true. That may upset some people's wishful thinking about the world, but writing things false will become a harsh teacher. Write it true, and you are Golden
2) AI
Answer: Don't.
AI is surely a useful tool, and in many aspects of many people lives, will provide a great benefit.
But...we are here to be artists, and writers. There is no room in art for AI.
Art is the highest endeavor of one's spirit and calling. To put ourselves in our craft and to reach out across the eons of time, that we had something to say, and we said it. To remove that spirit, to invite a robot in to do it for you, is to kill what is best about our human quality. If this is your path, I will not go on it with you.
I do not care what shortcut you think AI helped you achieve. If you are using AI to do your writing for you (even a paragraph), you are taking the humanity, and yourself, out of the equation, and making dead your word on page. I have no interest in it, and if I know you are using AI, I will not help you.
I would instead challenge you, and everyone else who sees this, to aspire to something greater than regurgitated AI spew. Aspire to be the artist you really can be.
But...Goldie, what if I just used it for...X?
Don't come to me calling yourself a writer if AI is doing your writing, or planning, or organizing or whatever for you. Learn the craft, put in the effort, and be something worth following.
But AI Voice, and AI Book covers...
Honestly, I wont balk too much at these, other than, AI is probably stealing someone else's work to make them, and its an easy step from using it here, to using it everywhere. I want to matter because I matter. I want you to be the same.
AI makes you not matter.
But...But....
Make your own choices. Own what it makes you.
Goldie, what do you mean when you say, 'All human content, No AI'?
I mean that mostly for my writing. I do not use AI in any part of my fiction writing. I also ask that my editors and cover artists do not as well (and I do get their assurance). But, my forum posts are also Human content by me.
See also:
Goldie's Words of Wisdom
Goldie's Opinions of Stuff Writing
Goldie's Words to Live By
Goldie's Tips for Writing
Goldie's Lists of Cool Threads
Goldie's Guide to World Building
Goldie's Guide to Ships
Goldie's Publishing and Marketing Resources
Link to my website: www.pphersongreen.com
Read my stories: The Eye of Ebon <--for sale on Amazon!
Pmmg's Onsite Stories (Public)
Questions or comments? PM Box
Tropes are nothing more than that something on the page, is something, someone has noticed, is similar to something that happened in another story before...similar, but not exact.
This propensity to look for patterns is ingrained in the human machine, and so it is not surprising that many find it, and then think it meaningful.
While it is sometimes a fun activity to go through various lists of tropes, and talk them up or talk them down, the tropes themselves are nothing but empty vessels, standing in for things with more meaning, but themselves having none.
A more accurate position is that these things are nothing more than phantoms of the uninvestigated of our craft. The musings of those who want to seem to dig deeply, but never really break the surface. Stories are not made of tropes. They are made of greater elements like plot, theme, character, setting and so on. The meaning of the story comes from the creators vision of what they trying to tell, and their execution in telling it. That some things occur that seem like other things that occur in other works is only to be expected. It is the nature of things, that once conflicts are set in motion, and character choices begin to take hold, they will stumble into areas that others may have also stumbled into. That does not make them the same, because around those events and occurrences, is everything else about the story.
While tropes may seem a fun topic, they are more the exercise of mental masturbation, a pretending to have great insight into something, when there is nothing to have insight into. Story matters, tropes only lay upon them like leeches trying to be of worth.
More simply, to focus on tropes like they matter is to miss that they do not matter at all.
But, tropes have a second aspect to them, which for me, is why I think Authors ought to avoid and disavow them. And that is, it is belittling to the work and effort we put in. Many of us take years to write our stories, and the pieces of them were never pulled from some grab bag of 'tropes', but instead are the thought-out, anguished over, choices of the author to include the stuff that tells their story in the best way they can, and keeping out of the story all the stuff that is not helping it. To look at your own, or the work of others, and reduce them to 'tropes' is to remove the human art behind them. To, in effect, discard and dismiss them as not having a worthy voice, and not being anything more than something constructed from a grab bag anyone could have pulled from. That is wrong, and should not be the way serious writers approach other writers, or other works.
And so my hope is, as we mature, we will evolve and transcend, and leave all thoughts of what is a trope and what isn't behind. A trope is not what writing is about. In fact, it is just a lot of nothing.
What is better than thinking in terms of tropes?
Writing it true!!!
I doesn't matter what people think of it. You have to write the story and the characters as they are, and let them have their strong and weak moments. Is your girl a damsel? So what, let her be a damsel. Is your boy a farm boy suddenly on a heroes quest? so what, lets explore who he is.
The trouble in writing does not come from having or not having tropes, it comes from artificial efforts to write things that don't ring true. That may upset some people's wishful thinking about the world, but writing things false will become a harsh teacher. Write it true, and you are Golden
2) AI
Answer: Don't.
AI is surely a useful tool, and in many aspects of many people lives, will provide a great benefit.
But...we are here to be artists, and writers. There is no room in art for AI.
Art is the highest endeavor of one's spirit and calling. To put ourselves in our craft and to reach out across the eons of time, that we had something to say, and we said it. To remove that spirit, to invite a robot in to do it for you, is to kill what is best about our human quality. If this is your path, I will not go on it with you.
I do not care what shortcut you think AI helped you achieve. If you are using AI to do your writing for you (even a paragraph), you are taking the humanity, and yourself, out of the equation, and making dead your word on page. I have no interest in it, and if I know you are using AI, I will not help you.
I would instead challenge you, and everyone else who sees this, to aspire to something greater than regurgitated AI spew. Aspire to be the artist you really can be.
But...Goldie, what if I just used it for...X?
Don't come to me calling yourself a writer if AI is doing your writing, or planning, or organizing or whatever for you. Learn the craft, put in the effort, and be something worth following.
But AI Voice, and AI Book covers...
Honestly, I wont balk too much at these, other than, AI is probably stealing someone else's work to make them, and its an easy step from using it here, to using it everywhere. I want to matter because I matter. I want you to be the same.
AI makes you not matter.
But...But....
Make your own choices. Own what it makes you.
Goldie, what do you mean when you say, 'All human content, No AI'?
I mean that mostly for my writing. I do not use AI in any part of my fiction writing. I also ask that my editors and cover artists do not as well (and I do get their assurance). But, my forum posts are also Human content by me.
See also:
Goldie's Words of Wisdom
Goldie's Opinions of Stuff Writing
Goldie's Words to Live By
Goldie's Tips for Writing
Goldie's Lists of Cool Threads
Goldie's Guide to World Building
Goldie's Guide to Ships
Goldie's Publishing and Marketing Resources
Link to my website: www.pphersongreen.com
Read my stories: The Eye of Ebon <--for sale on Amazon!
Pmmg's Onsite Stories (Public)
Questions or comments? PM Box
