Musings - Good concept, poor execution
Hello, hello! Ever read a book or watch a movie and like the concept but hate the execution? I hear that sometimes in reviews, where the reviewer is disappointed because the idea was so cool and they were interested but then it didn’t live up to their expectations for various reasons. I think that’s why I’m not a fan of Anne Bishop because I don’t like her writing; she writes things I like or want to see explored (multiple worlds stuck under an oppressive thumb of two sorceress, an Earth mostly ruled by supernatural creatures) but her writing (I feel) hampers what interest I have for it (though she’s a better writer than Goodkind as her writing is consistent while he can’t be in a freaking paragraph).
It might be that the concept is unexplored in the reader/viewer/player’s mind, that the writing they don’t like is more prominent than the concept. Take the new Daredevil series (love it!) and the concept of a blind lawyer going out and kicking ass. That’s cool and interesting, but imagine the writing that made the show cool is now crap, like Wilson Fisk isn’t a socially-awkward man who believes he can change the city for the better, he’s now some moustache-twirling villain that cackles after every evil deed. Daredevil is now some dark and broody nineties anti-hero that gets pissed off at every little thing and is a terrible lawyer instead of a struggling but good one. Now isn’t the concept crap now?
Good writing, of course, is mostly subjective with a few objective rules (comma placement, proper grammar, etc.). Like I think Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson are great writers, but there are likely people who don’t like their writing for many reasons, who do prefer Anne Bishop and think her writing is superior. Hell, there’re people who like Fifty Shades for whatever reasons I can’t comprehend. It comes down to a matter of personal taste and what kind of writing we can stomach-that’s why we have fandom rivalries and differing opinions. In the end, good writing determines whether or not a person likes a work of fiction.
It might be that the concept is unexplored in the reader/viewer/player’s mind, that the writing they don’t like is more prominent than the concept. Take the new Daredevil series (love it!) and the concept of a blind lawyer going out and kicking ass. That’s cool and interesting, but imagine the writing that made the show cool is now crap, like Wilson Fisk isn’t a socially-awkward man who believes he can change the city for the better, he’s now some moustache-twirling villain that cackles after every evil deed. Daredevil is now some dark and broody nineties anti-hero that gets pissed off at every little thing and is a terrible lawyer instead of a struggling but good one. Now isn’t the concept crap now?
Good writing, of course, is mostly subjective with a few objective rules (comma placement, proper grammar, etc.). Like I think Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson are great writers, but there are likely people who don’t like their writing for many reasons, who do prefer Anne Bishop and think her writing is superior. Hell, there’re people who like Fifty Shades for whatever reasons I can’t comprehend. It comes down to a matter of personal taste and what kind of writing we can stomach-that’s why we have fandom rivalries and differing opinions. In the end, good writing determines whether or not a person likes a work of fiction.