1. AxleMAshcraft

    AxleMAshcraft New Member

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    Confusion

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by AxleMAshcraft, Dec 31, 2011.

    Hello! So if you've been playing along at home, that is, following the rest of the threads I've posted on here about my newest little bit of work, then you'll know, it's a bit of a project.

    It's my first time writing out of my normal genre of realistic fiction and historical fiction. I'm working on a plot line about a girl who can see "angels" but the story basically goes against everything everyone thinks about angels.

    And good news, folks, I finally have a plot line! (At first, the plot of this little idea was a bit of a haze, but I figured it out :) )

    Now, I can go a few ways with my plot here, in the way that I organize it.
    My question is: Do you like being confused when you're reading something?

    Now for the background. One of the angels (that is protecting my Main from "the Others" or 'bad angels' so to speak) gets killed, so he isn't around my main when he has really been in the picture her whole life. I have the sequence in which he's killed already written. And another scene from a few weeks later when my main, missing him, is questioning what really happened to him ect. but it's obvious in this section that he is gone.
    I was thinking of having the scene where she is talking about how much she misses him BEFORE I add in the bit about how he died, which could temporarily leave potential readers confused.

    Good for tension and suspense or annoying?
     
  2. highwaymanlee

    highwaymanlee Active Member

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    that really depends on how you write it.
     
  3. Cacian

    Cacian Banned

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    No I prefer a clear state of mind when reading a story.
    The less intricate or ambigeous the more enjoyable it is.
     
  4. Protar

    Protar Active Member

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    I disagree with this. I like to be a little bit confused, so long as the confusion isn't dragged on too long. Having to figure things out, and seeing the deeper meaning of the writing can be very fun if it's done right. Every good story has some mystery or ambiguity I think and fandoms love coming up with crazy theories for them. Having a story without these elements would be quite shallow, and I think that any true literature fan should revel in confusion and mystery. Reading is after all supposed to be an intellectual challenge.
     
  5. Cacian

    Cacian Banned

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    I understand that one needs a challenge and some kind of motivation to read but what if you get to the end of the book and you don't understand what the story is about.
    How would you feel then?
    But then again I think every reader is different but I know I tend to read for fun and read fast and if it starts to get tricky/ambigeous then I give up.
    It is because real life is already charged up with confusions and stress.
    I would like tyo think I go throught books like watching TV or going to Museum.
    Again I am thinking thrillers have that kind of suspense and it is usually easily solved because you are watching(visuals)listening and able to think and confer with someone else's watching with you.
    With a book it is different you only reading and to think as well is fairly limited in terms what I can manage.
    So this is me andhow I read.
     
  6. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    confused, no... which is not the same thing as 'misled' if it's a mystery and red herrings are tossed in here and there, as i don't mind that, for the sake of having a puzzle to solve...

    as to your second question, no one can tell if it'll be 'good or annoying' until it's written, since it could turn out to be either, depending on how well [or not] you can write it...
     

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