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Writing test, does your story suck?

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
Hmmm...most of the recent published fantasy works I've read include as many as a dozen of those points.

I'd have to answer yes to about three or four, myself.
 
I take lists like this with a grain of salt, but they do make some good points. Obviously generalizations, but definitely some things to keep in mind.
 

Alex97

Troubadour
I actualy read this a while ago. It's a bit generalised and not everything on that list is necessarily bad, but some good points made. Also laughed at a few of them
 

Chilari

Staff
Moderator
I've seen this before. It's a rather sarcastic and disparaging list of question which seems to be intended more to make the writer and some readers feel clever, and is thus not very useful.

There is another list somewhere with a better set of questions designed to make a writer consider their book in greater depth. I'll try and find it.
 
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Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
I only had one, the artifact that could destroy the world. But even that's iffy as to whether it meets the description. It's not one artifact but several different magics which are brought together, and it doesn't really "destroy" the world - but it does do damage world-wide.
 

Steerpike

Felis amatus
Moderator
I've seen this before. It's a rather sarcastic and disparaging list of question which seems to be intended more to make the writer and some readers feel clever, and is thus not very useful.

There is another list somewhere with a better set of questions designed to make a writer consider their book in greater depth. I'll try and find it.

The guy who wrote this list clearly isn't fit to give advice, and as such his urging to abandon your novel at once if you answer yes to any of the questions should be ignored.

According to this list, no one should ever again write a story with an elf, orc, dwarf, or halfling in it (even though a number of the other questions assume that you do have them and are therefore redundant with the prohibition against them). A lot of the other questions are equally lame. Maybe the whole thing is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but if so it isn't very well done.
 

Chilari

Staff
Moderator
I can't seem to find that list I mentioned. Maybe I imagined it. Perhaps we should make our own list of questions, designed to provoke an analytical approach to writing, bearing in mind certain cliches, rather than a scornful approach to reading. If we do, I think the question I would propose is this: "Are all the female main characters involved in romance arcs with male main characters?" I'm not saying a yes would necessarily be a bad thing, but it's certainly something you see a lot, and something I feel writers should think about when they're writing.
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I thought it was sort of funny. Someone has been reading a lot of Dragonlance books (which don't suck by the way :) )
 
The guy who wrote this list clearly isn't fit to give advice, and as such his urging to abandon your novel at once if you answer yes to any of the questions should be ignored.

According to this list, no one should ever again write a story with an elf, orc, dwarf, or halfling in it (even though a number of the other questions assume that you do have them and are therefore redundant with the prohibition against them). A lot of the other questions are equally lame. Maybe the whole thing is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, but if so it isn't very well done.

I dunno, it seems pretty obviously tongue-in-cheek to me. Mostly it's just listing a lot of the most cliché fantasy tropes that tend to show up in first-timer novels. I seriously doubt that they think that any book containing any of these things should be immediately abandoned (like "Is this the first book in a planned trilogy?").

Maybe you don't think it's funny, but I do :)
 
This list has been posted here a couple of times. Maybe if you have most of these things, you could reconsider your novel, but by no means is it to be taken seriously. I'm pretty sure it is impossible not to break at least a couple of the rules if you are writing fantasy.
 

JCFarnham

Auror
"Are you writing a work-for-hire for Wizards of The Coast?"

... And you're supposed to stop at once if you are? Frankly, good luck to you. For hire works can definitely bring in the moneys... Oh but don't forget the pre-packed fan base.

This list is both for a laugh, written by someone who has no clue what they're on about, and almost certainly one of those people who mistakes THEIR opinions, built from the context of THEIR reading past, for the word of God.

Battling cliche is pointless especially if you instead think of them as archetypes and tropes.
 
Was honestly able to say No to every question (although the list is obviously not to be taken seriously).

Mind you, I couldn't really tell you what my genre(s) are. One is definitely speculative fiction (although with some surreal/fantastical flavours), and another has a definite fantasy element but it's a subplot within a historical novel. I suspect that if you genuinely say No to every question there's every chance that you're not writing fantasy.
 

JonSnow

Troubadour
To be fair, its virtually impossible to write fantasy without having some of those elements in it. And just about every work of high fantasy is some sort of a LotR rip off, considering that is what spawned the entire modern fantasy genre. I got a good laugh, though, having read a lot of Dragonlance and Lord of the Rings back in the day. While it is cliche to have the conflicted half-elf leading the party of halfling and befriended dwarf and elf against the evil forces of a dark lord, you shouldn't necessarily scrap your book if you have one of those elements.

I have chosen to avoid grumpy dwarves, tormented half-elves, busy-fingered halflings, and dark lords altogether. HOWEVER, I am struggling finding another sort of powerful antagonistic force in addition to greedy, violent humans and corrupt lords and kings. Dragons, undead armies, demons and wraiths are always good candidates, but they have been overused as well. It is easy enough to create some race of evil, twisted beings. But who is leading them, if not some powerful necromancer or dark lord? Without some of those supernatural forces, you run the risk of losing the fantasy aspect altogether.
 

Amanita

Maester
I don't have any of this, or at least not much.
Still, I don't really like this test at all and I don't think it's really funny either. I'm not a big fan of most of those cliches myself but the idea that every novel written in a specific style is bad and every one that isn't is good, just doesn't work out. It's not as simple as that.
 

Agran Velion

Minstrel
Ah I love this quiz, always gave me a laugh. But it naturally isn't meant to be taken seriously, the website it's posted on is meant for humor. However, I do think that a handful of the questions do warrant some consideration.

Do you see nothing wrong with having two characters from the same small isolated village being named "Tim Umber" and "Belthusalanthalus al'Grinsok"? ((Unless of course, there's a specific reason))

Do you think that the only two uses for ships are fishing and piracy?

Does anybody in your novel stab anybody straight through plate armor? ((Naturally can be avoided, just, plate armor was top of the line for a reason))

The majority of it though, is just meant for comedy rather than an actual test. Like the Evil Overlord List (although it makes much better points).



Peter's Evil Overlord List
 

Mindfire

Istar
I plead guilty to #17, #28/#29, and #50, with a couple caveats. For #17, I do have a group of characters who you could call feminists, but you'd be using the term very loosely. They're a pro-female amazon style cult that routinely practices kidnapping. ceremonial castration, slavery, and human sacrifice, among other things. Obviously I didn't write them to champion a cause, but rather because: A: I thought they'd be cool one-off villains, and B: to ridicule extremism. As for #28/29, while I do already have plans for sequels, I think my first book will be a pretty decent stand-alone if it has to be. And for #50, what's wrong with fireballs and lightning bolts anyway? Besides, my fireballs and lightning bolts are quite distinct, I think.
 
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Ireth

Myth Weaver
Let's see how mine stack up:

Winter's Queen and Summer's Pawn

#8, kinda.
#35, yes.
#48... dunno if I'd call it "inordinate", as the journey is what Summer's Pawn is all about. There's no real destination, they're trying to find a specific person who is doing her best to hide from those who want to find her.
#49, yes. She doesn't tell them because it's in her own best interests not to.

Low Road and its backstory

#9... uhm? A goddess does act as a catalyst, but she doesn't disguise herself at all.
#10 more like great-times-nine-grandfather, and neither he nor the hero ever figure it out.
#28, guilty. XD
#32, yes. Though the prequels ARE the next books in the series. Hopefully.

Hm. Interesting.
 
Spirit of the Sword

#3 Kinda, but you could argue the villain has a stronger claim.
#4 Hell yeah!
#9 She doesn't make any secret of it, but she doesn't announce herself either.
#19 Well what do you expect, they don't have fire under water.
#29 Yup.
#39 Two of four.
#50 Yes.
 
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