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Originality vs. Something Else
Wed, 11/25/2009 - 01:11 — moshpit
I received an interesting review for Echoes recently.
Reviewer: peregrin Signed Date: 2009.10.18 - 06:56AM Title: Chapter 30: Inquiring Minds, Part II
Really, really well written. I mean it. You are super duper. Top quality.
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However, there is this word on my tongue. It starts with c, ends with é, has six letters and it's actually second word of the name of one of your stories. I know this is getting old but I'll say it anyway: why is this trend everywhere where I look? Not only fanfictions, but also films, computer games and such. Either the product is perfect and unoriginal, or it's something really innovative but then people start complaining about quality. Yeah, it's sad... Note: I'm sorry I've decided to dump my sadness here. It was just the last straw.
Setting aside many obvious questions, such as what particular perceived cliché(s) has(have) set off the reader so thoroughly, there is a more interesting set of questions lurking herein.
What level of originality may be sustained while keeping any semblance of canon in place? I've found if you're willing to blow off canon completely, there are a wide range of original stories out there. For those that try to keep some ties to canon . . . are those who demonstrate the highest creativity the literary idiot-savants that have ideas but are incapable of developing them or mechanically expressing them?
I can point to a large set of shoddily written work in the JKR:HP sandbox that is novel by most measures, but is fundamentally flawed in profound ways. Inconsistent use/rules of magic, inconsistent characterization, gaping plot holes, distortion of facts/backgrounds, etc. While there may be a superficial correlation implied by the review, I've found the reason many of those stories are "novel" is because they are so inconsistent internally and/or externally, that no rational person would try to contort the writing to make it work. Perhaps that trait of inability to properly conceive of the ramifications of small choices is the correlation to the poor ability of expression along with the dubiously original work out there.
Lots of literature in the real sense has been in some way or another original, and was well written at the same time. Are those simply lucky accidents? Or proof points that a failure of comprehension is the limiting agent in the reaction of readers?
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Comments
A bit early in the day for
A bit early in the day for me to comment coherently, so I'll come back later today.....
I have completely failed to
I have completely failed to comprehend any of this. What is their problem and what are you talking about?
Truly I have read it three times, slowly and I don't understand a word of it beyond the fact I *think* this reviewer thinks your fic is clichéd? Has clichés? I have no idea.
Kezzabear wrote: I have
I have completely failed to comprehend any of this. What is their problem and what are you talking about?
Truly I have read it three times, slowly and I don't understand a word of it beyond the fact I *think* this reviewer thinks your fic is clichéd? Has clichés? I have no idea.
Somehow, that's exactly how I felt...
Loose translation
Here's a loose translation:
Your fic is full of cliches, and reads like one big one -- though it's well written. Why is it that I can only find really-well written fics like this one, which has no originality, or else really original fics that are quite poorly written? And why does this trend seem to exist everywhere, as with movies, games, etc?
My rambling is more of a query between the conjectured relationship in the review versus my conjecture on what might be the real cause of such a belief.
It's not a new dilemma
If you write a piece of fan-fiction which sticks closely to canon, you will be accused of cliché and lack of originality.
If you write another piece of fan-fiction which strikes out into new territory, leaving canon behind, you will be accused of writing something which is "no longer fan-fiction". I've seen the concept bandied about of "filing off the serial numbers" meaning that if the characters were simply renamed, the story would not be any different: the essential essence of the borrowed characters has been lost.
I guess the ideal course to steer would be somewhere between the two extremes. Some authors seem to be very good at this, some are not so good.
What…? You weren't expecting me to actually name names? ;-)
NotACat wrote: If you write
If you write a piece of fan-fiction which sticks closely to canon, you will be accused of cliché and lack of originality.
If you write another piece of fan-fiction which strikes out into new territory, leaving canon behind, you will be accused of writing something which is "no longer fan-fiction".
I don't think that was the whole point Josh was trying to make - but correct me if I'm wrong.
As far as I understand it, the devil is in the details.
Just to give an example of what - I think - the reviewer may have thought of when he was talking about clichés in Echoes: Super!Harry (including some Dumbledore bashing and Harry being a member of some sort of super society/group), the prank war involving Harry, Ginny and the Twins, Harry taking Ginny under his wing, and Remus rescuing Harry as a child.
So if I now consider any of the aforementioned clichés any further, I personally conclude that, while initially may sounding like a typical HPFF cliché, each of these sub-plots/themes is far too elaborate, detailed and simply has way too many ramifications to just be a cliché.
The inability to see all those details is what, I think, Josh also criticized in his initial post.
The whole playing (too) lose with canon issue is exactly as you already described it. Though criticizing Echoes for being too close to canon is total nonsense - in my opinion.
Still, correct me if I'm wrong.
To me none of those clichés
To me none of those clichés *are* canon. Clichés end up so because a lot of people put them in fics. HP fanfic has been around so long it is going to be very difficult to find a fic that is entirely cliché free and honestly that is not always the fault of the writer. What is a good fic though is that you make the cliché earn it's page time. Or put a slant on it that lifts it from mediocrity, or twist it so that it's not boring.
If you have a decent written fic that employs clichés and you are still unhappy with the fic there's not a lot of hope for you, really as they are going to be there. Especially as some of them sprang from fic challenges. There is a whole 'thing' around Snape/Hermione, for example that started with an LJ author having a challenge, likewise marriage contract fics and Snape as Harry's father fics.
Even Next Gen fics have established a few clichés already! Lily always behaves exactly like Ginny, Albus is identical to Harry and James is a mix of Ron and George. Rose is nerdy and bookish, Hugo is a mini-Ron and Teddy changes hair faster than the speed of light when he's agitated. Victoire is just like her mother ...
For some people, of course - by going outside these expected fandom made clichés it automatically makes it bad writing - so I don't think you can win.
In a predetermined universe
there will be certain laws of physics we all are subject to, even if we acknowledge them only to resist or escape them, or possibly explore less-conventional facets of them. The archetype Dumbledore represents, for example, that of the wise mentor, is even reimagined by Rowling herself as a deeply flawed man. If many writers respond negatively to this character because we find fault with him and write their stories to express this, then we are just being a part of the group mechanism that creates archetypes to begin with - and who's to say where the cliché crosses over into archetype?
I recently found another story called Phantom Limb that is about Harry losing his memory. Go figure.