![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Meta Writing Meta
November 13th, 2012 02:20 pmI just read 25 Ways to Unstick A Stuck Story.
One of the reasons I'm bad at coming up with plots is that I don't like giving characters the Idiot Ball.* It may also be the reason I find subplots much easier; I have no problem making a character make a stupid decision if it's a stupid decision they would actually make, but if they're prone to making stupid decisions about the Main Important Quest then they're probably not a competent character, and I love competent characters.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
westrider and I have talked at length about Competence Porn. One of the sure-fire ways to make me love a character is to have them be good at what they do (my characters tend to appreciate other competent characters, too. Turtles all the way down).
In aStSHB my two protagonists are in competence lust with each other (as well as in love, duh). They are not going to fuck up The Main Quest -- that's their job, and they're damn good at it; it's the foundation of both their relationship and their individual characters.
In the sequel there'll be a point where Rhi makes a Stupid Ass Decision with regard to relationship stuff, though -- part of her character is that she's not really done the long-term relationship thing before, and she's under a lot of stress. So, subplot tension comes from the character's failings. Since it doesn't come out of the blue, it doesn't feel like the Idiot Ball, and I still get my dose of competence porn.
You could perhaps say the competence thing is a bit of a foible and I should branch out, but I think it's really related to whether I'm interested in reading a story at all. If the hero doesn't have SOME area where they're competent, it's just an exercise in frustration. It leads too easily to being passive rather than proactive, which is one of the big things that makes me frustrated and/or depressed as a reader.
Maybe 'good in their area, but totally out of their depth' is the next logical step.
Now, to figure out how to be totally out of one's depth without having monstery booglie-boos from the far reaches of time and space threaten all of humanity, because I'm kind of worn out on All Stories Having To Be Epic.
*Warning: TV Tropes!
One of the reasons I'm bad at coming up with plots is that I don't like giving characters the Idiot Ball.* It may also be the reason I find subplots much easier; I have no problem making a character make a stupid decision if it's a stupid decision they would actually make, but if they're prone to making stupid decisions about the Main Important Quest then they're probably not a competent character, and I love competent characters.
westrider and I have talked at length about Competence Porn. One of the sure-fire ways to make me love a character is to have them be good at what they do (my characters tend to appreciate other competent characters, too. Turtles all the way down). In aStSHB my two protagonists are in competence lust with each other (as well as in love, duh). They are not going to fuck up The Main Quest -- that's their job, and they're damn good at it; it's the foundation of both their relationship and their individual characters.
In the sequel there'll be a point where Rhi makes a Stupid Ass Decision with regard to relationship stuff, though -- part of her character is that she's not really done the long-term relationship thing before, and she's under a lot of stress. So, subplot tension comes from the character's failings. Since it doesn't come out of the blue, it doesn't feel like the Idiot Ball, and I still get my dose of competence porn.
You could perhaps say the competence thing is a bit of a foible and I should branch out, but I think it's really related to whether I'm interested in reading a story at all. If the hero doesn't have SOME area where they're competent, it's just an exercise in frustration. It leads too easily to being passive rather than proactive, which is one of the big things that makes me frustrated and/or depressed as a reader.
Maybe 'good in their area, but totally out of their depth' is the next logical step.
Now, to figure out how to be totally out of one's depth without having monstery booglie-boos from the far reaches of time and space threaten all of humanity, because I'm kind of worn out on All Stories Having To Be Epic.
*Warning: TV Tropes!
