101 things I like in fiction
Meme time! Stolen from 
schattenstern. Took me a while to come up with 101 things, but I will still have forgotten some things ... Never mind. Since I rarely read fanfiction these days, I mostly went by my favourite books / shows and what I put into my own stories. This might just have been what I needed to start writing again ...
1.) Consequences. When people act, they screw up. I like to see the aftermath.
2.) Open endings. The main plot should be resolved, but answering every question about every character with just one or two scenes is not the way to go.
3.) Should be a given: multi-dimensional secondary and tertiary characters.
4.) Another given: multi-layered stories. There’s the main plot and then there are characters and their relationships to each other. The more interconnections, the better. Even if it’s just a small detail.
5.) Unrelieable narrators, whether they (or the audience) are aware of it or not.
6.) Characters with a Past that’s clearly part of them, but doesn’t define them. Criminal Minds is very good at this.
7.) Doesn’t have to be Teh Dramatic Past, though. I prefer the kind of backstory that makes me believe the characters had a life before this particular story without being info-dumpy. Little details mentioned in passing.
8.) There can be time jumps, but they need to be done very well. What I don’t like are X Years Later appendices.
9.) Intertextuality adding actual layers to the story instead of just showing off the author’s being well-read.
10.) Enigmatic leader/mentor figures operating in the background. Bonus point if they’re still portrayed as human at some point.
11.) Relationships on equal terms. Slash, het, femmeslash, whatever.
12.) Snipers and people who can shoot exceptionally well in general. Think Roland of The Dark Tower.
13.) Structure. Any kind of recurring structure. Parallelisms or chiastic structures. Non-linear. Anything.
14.) 2nd person’s PoV. Not an I talking to a You, but the You being the acting person. I fell in love with that one reading LadyVaders Harry/Draco fanfic Friend Like Me.
15.) Recurring, transforming and interlinking themes, Milan Kundera being the master of these.
16.) Stories told in fragments (letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, etc.)
17.) Dialogue-only can be pretty cool, too.
18.) Distinct character voices.
19.) Correct usage of foreign language(s). Always a plus.
20.) Bonus points for accurate and sensible references to antiquity, of course.
21.) Appropriate language, word choice, syntax, ...
22.) Academics and hobby scholars. Experts on any field.
23.) Especially linguists. I’d like to see a real linguist somewhere, someplace. I squeed when Uhura was introduced as one in Star Trek XI, but as far as I could see, that amounted to her being able to speak several languages. Well. Might be different in other ST stuff, but that’s not really linguistics.
24.) Characters forced to (re-)examine their moral compass because good and evil aren’t easy like that.
25.) Hackers. Don’t know why, but I love them.
26.) Sarcasm makes the world go round!
27.) Secret underground organizations. Think Akatsuki or Torchwood.
28.) It’s okay if they work for the government, too. Specialized elite units. Think Criminal Minds.
29.) Team dynamics. Inside jokes. These people knew each other before we met them.
30.) Believable genius-level characters (because Dr. Spencer Reid knows that his IQ of 187 gives him just as many problems as advantages).
31.) I like tales of lies and betrayal, but somewhere, there should be some loyal people. Even if they appear not to be at first. Especially then.
32.) Little hints I might only get on second reading. Which is, among other things, what makes rereading good books like visiting old friends. Like when I reread CoS after HBP and stared at my book for a good five minutes after the second Vanishing Cabinet was mentioned within 50 pages of the first. OMG I should have known all along! Brilliant.
33.) Nets of manipulation in which the characters might (or might not) get all tangled up.
34.) I also have a certain weakness for military stuff. People with a background there, strategies, connected political scheming, anything. Think Fullmetal Alchemist.
35.) Unrequited love remaining unrequited. That’s life, after all.
36.) Characters understanding what character X in distress needs without showering them in “what can I do to help?!!” Characters taking “I don’t want to talk about it” as an answer.
37.) If there’s audio, give me accents. I love accents. Especially Russian accents. Superficial, me?
38.) Coffee. I love coffee-addicts!
39.) Dystopia. 1984, The Matrix, A Clockwork Orange, you name it.
40.) Speaking of 1984, realistic usage of new languages. The whole Newspeak idea? Fascinating.
41.) Well thought-out religious systems. Prime example would be A Song of Ice and Fire.
42.) Sensible world-building in general. It has to make sense, not be hell-bent on showing me omg teh creativity because everything is soooo different and cool.
43.) Open relationships that work. Think Brian and Justin.
44.) Come to think of it, I seem to like age gaps as well.
45.) Completely fucked-up love-hate relationships where they can’t live with each other, but neither can they live without each other so in the end, they always come back. It might not be sensible and it might not be healthy, there’s no special reason, they just are what they are.
46.) Urban life.
47.) Musicians, painters, authors, poets, what-have-you.
48.) Stories about stories. Hey there, Stephen King! And The Never-Ending Story, of course.
49.) Libraries. And books being important to the plot. I loved the Tenth Doctor from the moment he said “We’re in the library! Books! Best weapon you could have!”
50.) Fictional books within the book, like the Guide.
51.) Memorable, haunting creeds. I’m thinking mainly of the gunslingers’ creed in The Dark Tower. Still know that one off by heart.
52.) Characters getting mixed up in bigger events just because.
53.) If there has to be such a thing as Destiny and The Chosen One, I like characters who decide they don’t give a damn and they will shape their future by themselves. Think The Matrix. Or X/1999.
54.) People die. Sometimes, it’s the people you least expect. It's hard, but realistic. People might also die under completely different circumstances than the main plot. Another thing A Song of Ice and Fire does exceptionally well.
55.) Fancy technology. Within reason, though.
56.) Ravens. I love ravens. No idea why, but they make every story better.
57.) Intercultural exchange where characters are open to and learn new things while not forgetting where they themselves came from.
58.) Self-destructive characters. Links back to fucked-up relationships. Think Wuthering Heights.
59.) Things happening because of what the human mind can do. The good, the bad and the ugly. Especially the ugly.
60.) Other reasons might be natural forces or sheer coincidence. I’m not so big on the paranormal.
61.) I like telepathy, though. Like in Babylon 5. Mind control? Bring it on!
62.) Control is a good topic. Charismatic, influential characters. Authority. Commands. Power play. Trust. Characters kneeling. Anything along these lines.
63.) A character being pushed against a wall. Sexual elements welcome.
64.) Not much sex in here so far, is there? Oh well. I like sex scenes when they tell me something about the characters, other than that I’m perfectly content with hints, casual touches, uncheesy dialogue, etc.
65.) If there has to be magic or other paranormal stuff, there must be a price for usage. And it should make sense in itself. Like the ninja powers in Naruto. Weird, but explained very well within the world. And there’s a price. Oh yes.
66.) Characters being well aware of that price and doing it anyway. Probably links back to self-destructive characters. Itachi Uchiha, anyone?
67.) Speaking of self-destructive again, I like smoking in certain characters.
68.) Stories where you can’t determine the protagonist and the antagonist because every party has a damn good reason. Again, A Song of Ice and Fire is very good at this.
69.) Ruthless, manipulative characters who don’t miraculously redeem themselves. They can show glimpses of humanity (hell, they should), but I don’t buy 100% redemption arcs. DBZ is pretty good at this topic.
70.) Discussions. About anything. Show me that those are different people with different opinions without figuring out who's "right" in the end. What does that mean, anyway?
71.) More superficial stuff: characters with glasses.
72.) Women with their hair pinned up.
73.) Men in long coats. I said superficial, ok?
74.) Mirrors. Anywhere, for anything. I LOVE mirrors.
75.) Clocks. I loved that one in the PoA movie. And Watchmen, of course.
76.) Scars. Links back to the characters with A Past.
77.) Meta levels. Doesn’t have to be Breaking the Fourth Wall every second line, but it can be done exceptionally well. Think The Dark Tower.
78.) Characters hugging. Who needs words?
79.) Watching the snow fall and other such moments of peace.
80.) Generally, “a moment is the most you could ever expect from perfection.” (Fight Club)
81.) Guilty pleasure confession time: boarding school stories. I loved St Clare’s (Hanni und Nanni) when I was younger, it’s one of the main reasons I love Harry Potter, it was the only interesting part about Jane Eyre, etc.
82.) Characters who deeply and clearly love each other without having to constantly tell each other so, if at all. Small gestures, hints in the dialogue, anything. Their outside world might not even be aware.
83.) Travel and road trips. Show me new places.
84.) Make me rediscover places I know (I love stories set in Berlin and feel like Berlin).
85.) Characters without roots searching for anything they can hold on to.
86.) Characters randomly knowing something. There can never be too much random information.
87.) Nervous break-down and trauma. Ok, links to consequences, but mental health problems, sensibly portrayed, are of the especially long-term variation. People getting to terms with it, but not completely getting over it (major depressions, PTSD & co don’t just disappear).
88.) Sleeping problems. Waking up from and dealing with nightmares.
89.) Atmospheric stories that aren’t overloaded with description. Details.
90.) Characters who simply respect each other. Friendships. It’s not all about sex.
91.) Characters using each other and both being aware of it.
92.) Responsibility, guilt, apologies, forgiveness ... or lack thereof.
93.) Cooking. Characters eating together.
94.) Characters who don’t talk a lot and still manage to express their thoughts.
95.) Characters quoting.
96.) Characters running into each other in an unexpected situation and how they deal with it.
97.) Not overusing symbolism and metaphors and other fancy tricks. I like them few and far between, but if they’re appropriate, they’re really, really awesome.
98.) Family dynamics, especially dysfunctional. Every unhappy family is unhappy in their own way, right?
99.) Sudden emotional outbursts from characters you least expect to have one. Not much of a fan of The Villain Breakdown (see tvtropes), though.
100.) Present tense.
101.) Unpleasant truths, like brutally honest answers to a question, and dealing with them.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Leave a comment |
comment(s)
schattenstern. Took me a while to come up with 101 things, but I will still have forgotten some things ... Never mind. Since I rarely read fanfiction these days, I mostly went by my favourite books / shows and what I put into my own stories. This might just have been what I needed to start writing again ...
1.) Consequences. When people act, they screw up. I like to see the aftermath.
2.) Open endings. The main plot should be resolved, but answering every question about every character with just one or two scenes is not the way to go.
3.) Should be a given: multi-dimensional secondary and tertiary characters.
4.) Another given: multi-layered stories. There’s the main plot and then there are characters and their relationships to each other. The more interconnections, the better. Even if it’s just a small detail.
5.) Unrelieable narrators, whether they (or the audience) are aware of it or not.
6.) Characters with a Past that’s clearly part of them, but doesn’t define them. Criminal Minds is very good at this.
7.) Doesn’t have to be Teh Dramatic Past, though. I prefer the kind of backstory that makes me believe the characters had a life before this particular story without being info-dumpy. Little details mentioned in passing.
8.) There can be time jumps, but they need to be done very well. What I don’t like are X Years Later appendices.
9.) Intertextuality adding actual layers to the story instead of just showing off the author’s being well-read.
10.) Enigmatic leader/mentor figures operating in the background. Bonus point if they’re still portrayed as human at some point.
11.) Relationships on equal terms. Slash, het, femmeslash, whatever.
12.) Snipers and people who can shoot exceptionally well in general. Think Roland of The Dark Tower.
13.) Structure. Any kind of recurring structure. Parallelisms or chiastic structures. Non-linear. Anything.
14.) 2nd person’s PoV. Not an I talking to a You, but the You being the acting person. I fell in love with that one reading LadyVaders Harry/Draco fanfic Friend Like Me.
15.) Recurring, transforming and interlinking themes, Milan Kundera being the master of these.
16.) Stories told in fragments (letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, etc.)
17.) Dialogue-only can be pretty cool, too.
18.) Distinct character voices.
19.) Correct usage of foreign language(s). Always a plus.
20.) Bonus points for accurate and sensible references to antiquity, of course.
21.) Appropriate language, word choice, syntax, ...
22.) Academics and hobby scholars. Experts on any field.
23.) Especially linguists. I’d like to see a real linguist somewhere, someplace. I squeed when Uhura was introduced as one in Star Trek XI, but as far as I could see, that amounted to her being able to speak several languages. Well. Might be different in other ST stuff, but that’s not really linguistics.
24.) Characters forced to (re-)examine their moral compass because good and evil aren’t easy like that.
25.) Hackers. Don’t know why, but I love them.
26.) Sarcasm makes the world go round!
27.) Secret underground organizations. Think Akatsuki or Torchwood.
28.) It’s okay if they work for the government, too. Specialized elite units. Think Criminal Minds.
29.) Team dynamics. Inside jokes. These people knew each other before we met them.
30.) Believable genius-level characters (because Dr. Spencer Reid knows that his IQ of 187 gives him just as many problems as advantages).
31.) I like tales of lies and betrayal, but somewhere, there should be some loyal people. Even if they appear not to be at first. Especially then.
32.) Little hints I might only get on second reading. Which is, among other things, what makes rereading good books like visiting old friends. Like when I reread CoS after HBP and stared at my book for a good five minutes after the second Vanishing Cabinet was mentioned within 50 pages of the first. OMG I should have known all along! Brilliant.
33.) Nets of manipulation in which the characters might (or might not) get all tangled up.
34.) I also have a certain weakness for military stuff. People with a background there, strategies, connected political scheming, anything. Think Fullmetal Alchemist.
35.) Unrequited love remaining unrequited. That’s life, after all.
36.) Characters understanding what character X in distress needs without showering them in “what can I do to help?!!” Characters taking “I don’t want to talk about it” as an answer.
37.) If there’s audio, give me accents. I love accents. Especially Russian accents. Superficial, me?
38.) Coffee. I love coffee-addicts!
39.) Dystopia. 1984, The Matrix, A Clockwork Orange, you name it.
40.) Speaking of 1984, realistic usage of new languages. The whole Newspeak idea? Fascinating.
41.) Well thought-out religious systems. Prime example would be A Song of Ice and Fire.
42.) Sensible world-building in general. It has to make sense, not be hell-bent on showing me omg teh creativity because everything is soooo different and cool.
43.) Open relationships that work. Think Brian and Justin.
44.) Come to think of it, I seem to like age gaps as well.
45.) Completely fucked-up love-hate relationships where they can’t live with each other, but neither can they live without each other so in the end, they always come back. It might not be sensible and it might not be healthy, there’s no special reason, they just are what they are.
46.) Urban life.
47.) Musicians, painters, authors, poets, what-have-you.
48.) Stories about stories. Hey there, Stephen King! And The Never-Ending Story, of course.
49.) Libraries. And books being important to the plot. I loved the Tenth Doctor from the moment he said “We’re in the library! Books! Best weapon you could have!”
50.) Fictional books within the book, like the Guide.
51.) Memorable, haunting creeds. I’m thinking mainly of the gunslingers’ creed in The Dark Tower. Still know that one off by heart.
52.) Characters getting mixed up in bigger events just because.
53.) If there has to be such a thing as Destiny and The Chosen One, I like characters who decide they don’t give a damn and they will shape their future by themselves. Think The Matrix. Or X/1999.
54.) People die. Sometimes, it’s the people you least expect. It's hard, but realistic. People might also die under completely different circumstances than the main plot. Another thing A Song of Ice and Fire does exceptionally well.
55.) Fancy technology. Within reason, though.
56.) Ravens. I love ravens. No idea why, but they make every story better.
57.) Intercultural exchange where characters are open to and learn new things while not forgetting where they themselves came from.
58.) Self-destructive characters. Links back to fucked-up relationships. Think Wuthering Heights.
59.) Things happening because of what the human mind can do. The good, the bad and the ugly. Especially the ugly.
60.) Other reasons might be natural forces or sheer coincidence. I’m not so big on the paranormal.
61.) I like telepathy, though. Like in Babylon 5. Mind control? Bring it on!
62.) Control is a good topic. Charismatic, influential characters. Authority. Commands. Power play. Trust. Characters kneeling. Anything along these lines.
63.) A character being pushed against a wall. Sexual elements welcome.
64.) Not much sex in here so far, is there? Oh well. I like sex scenes when they tell me something about the characters, other than that I’m perfectly content with hints, casual touches, uncheesy dialogue, etc.
65.) If there has to be magic or other paranormal stuff, there must be a price for usage. And it should make sense in itself. Like the ninja powers in Naruto. Weird, but explained very well within the world. And there’s a price. Oh yes.
66.) Characters being well aware of that price and doing it anyway. Probably links back to self-destructive characters. Itachi Uchiha, anyone?
67.) Speaking of self-destructive again, I like smoking in certain characters.
68.) Stories where you can’t determine the protagonist and the antagonist because every party has a damn good reason. Again, A Song of Ice and Fire is very good at this.
69.) Ruthless, manipulative characters who don’t miraculously redeem themselves. They can show glimpses of humanity (hell, they should), but I don’t buy 100% redemption arcs. DBZ is pretty good at this topic.
70.) Discussions. About anything. Show me that those are different people with different opinions without figuring out who's "right" in the end. What does that mean, anyway?
71.) More superficial stuff: characters with glasses.
72.) Women with their hair pinned up.
73.) Men in long coats. I said superficial, ok?
74.) Mirrors. Anywhere, for anything. I LOVE mirrors.
75.) Clocks. I loved that one in the PoA movie. And Watchmen, of course.
76.) Scars. Links back to the characters with A Past.
77.) Meta levels. Doesn’t have to be Breaking the Fourth Wall every second line, but it can be done exceptionally well. Think The Dark Tower.
78.) Characters hugging. Who needs words?
79.) Watching the snow fall and other such moments of peace.
80.) Generally, “a moment is the most you could ever expect from perfection.” (Fight Club)
81.) Guilty pleasure confession time: boarding school stories. I loved St Clare’s (Hanni und Nanni) when I was younger, it’s one of the main reasons I love Harry Potter, it was the only interesting part about Jane Eyre, etc.
82.) Characters who deeply and clearly love each other without having to constantly tell each other so, if at all. Small gestures, hints in the dialogue, anything. Their outside world might not even be aware.
83.) Travel and road trips. Show me new places.
84.) Make me rediscover places I know (I love stories set in Berlin and feel like Berlin).
85.) Characters without roots searching for anything they can hold on to.
86.) Characters randomly knowing something. There can never be too much random information.
87.) Nervous break-down and trauma. Ok, links to consequences, but mental health problems, sensibly portrayed, are of the especially long-term variation. People getting to terms with it, but not completely getting over it (major depressions, PTSD & co don’t just disappear).
88.) Sleeping problems. Waking up from and dealing with nightmares.
89.) Atmospheric stories that aren’t overloaded with description. Details.
90.) Characters who simply respect each other. Friendships. It’s not all about sex.
91.) Characters using each other and both being aware of it.
92.) Responsibility, guilt, apologies, forgiveness ... or lack thereof.
93.) Cooking. Characters eating together.
94.) Characters who don’t talk a lot and still manage to express their thoughts.
95.) Characters quoting.
96.) Characters running into each other in an unexpected situation and how they deal with it.
97.) Not overusing symbolism and metaphors and other fancy tricks. I like them few and far between, but if they’re appropriate, they’re really, really awesome.
98.) Family dynamics, especially dysfunctional. Every unhappy family is unhappy in their own way, right?
99.) Sudden emotional outbursts from characters you least expect to have one. Not much of a fan of The Villain Breakdown (see tvtropes), though.
100.) Present tense.
101.) Unpleasant truths, like brutally honest answers to a question, and dealing with them.
Originally posted at Dreamwidth | Leave a comment |
comment(s)