Have we stagnated?

[acapes]

Not sure if I agree here but a valid opinion nonetheless. Isn't the point of sci-fi to imagine what could be?

By the way, love your signature!

Absolutely, yeah - that's what I was thinking


Thanks! I nearly cried with laughter when I first saw that sketch - not just because of Christopher but Will's enthusiasm

 

[Gurkhal]

I certainly don't think that we've stagnated but I do think that sometimes genres can be pushed intro certain set patterns where it might be harder to break out successfully. For example Tolkien did, to my knowledge, put such a great mark on Fantasy that everyone toiled in his shadows and emulated his works because it was the great brilliant ideal everyone strove towards, but successful stories that goes against the ideal can create new ideals to recreate the process again.

 

[Addison]

I think sometimes, depending on the kinds of books/stories a person reads they may feel like they've read it all. As certain stories, epics and such, kinda require a certain character. The warrior, the wise wizard etc. At first I thought it was true, but I was just in a reading rut.
I felt like I had read the books of a tree that had grown up, hit a ceiling and just stopped. That wasn't the case. I just had to read more. Not in quantity, but quality. When a person reads more than their core preference and favorite they'll discover more that they like, about the genre and literature as a whole. The tree doesn't stop, it bends, twists, swoops and bows and never stops growing. Every author brings something different to the world. My book shelves are mostly full of fantasy, but they're across the fantasy genre. I have horror- Stephen King- and thrillers- all hail Hitchcock! As a writer it's healthy to read something outside of your desired writing genre.

 

[Miskatonic]

The quality of the storytelling will always be the most important factor.

 

[kennyc]

There are archetypical stories. In terms of that, there may be a limited number. Yes, boy meets girl stories have been told and retold. OR Hero's Journey. But so what? That's painting things with very broad strokes.

I can say there are only three types of plot, man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. himself. Since those type of stories have been done at least once, there are no new stories to be told. HOGWASH.

Any one who knows there stuff will know it's not originality of plot, it's originality of presentation, and experience.
......

This!

Heinlein (and many others) have written about this .. the types of plots/stories .. It's not the tool, it's how you use it.

 

[Addison]

It's not the tool, it's how you use it.

This is true for every profession. In one person's hand a hammer is used to build a house, in another they shatter glass and clay to make art, in another they crack skulls.

The tools for authors are...everything. From the words to the very things that inspire us to what we write. Most stories, especially Epic Fantasy, has a mentor character. That character is a tool. Use it classically with your own dash of color or twist it completely around. The mentor can be a backstabber, a magic-university drop out, or both.
My kid brother recently read a passage of my story and asked why a side character was acting a certain way and not like a similar character from his favorite book. I looked him in the eye and said, "My story, my tools, my choice." He looked back and said, "You got that from me about my X-box". Which I did, the kid's nuts about the thing.