1. sprirj

    sprirj Senior Member

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    Is there anything you wouldn't write?

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by sprirj, Dec 7, 2009.

    I'm interested to know if there is a subject, theme or style of writing you as a writer would not dare touch? Maybe its terrifying, too much research? controversial? boring? hard work? or not commercial enough?


    I like to think I'd have a go at anything, but maybe someone can change my mind? :)
     
  2. Speedy

    Speedy Contributor Contributor

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    As a style i'll never touch first person POV. I hate it usually.

    As for content, there isnt much i wouldn't touch. Though where i go is only as far as my story allow it. i would never go out of my way to write troubled material.
     
  3. Agreen

    Agreen Faceless Man Contributor

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    I've had a story in mind which is in part about drug smuggling in a futuristic setting, and I'm not quite sure where to begin researching customs procedures, so I have never gotten around to it. Another is about the development of language, and again I've only barely started on the amount of research I'd need to make it convincing. I've also avoided writing about professional sports like hockey and football even though they're amongst my main interests, because I'm certain it would only be readable for people who share similar team loyalties as me.
     
  4. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    absolutely!

    such as:

    romance
    fantasy
    any fiction in present tense
    any fiction with violent content
    anything written for money
     
  5. Taylor Nicole

    Taylor Nicole New Member

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    i honestly would probably never try and write science fiction, ive tried to read it and cant usually get my head wrapped around it.......so yeah, ill probably be staying away from that! :]
     
  6. HorusEye

    HorusEye Contributor Contributor

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    Vampire-romances.
     
  7. Destin

    Destin New Member

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    Sodomy
     
  8. Evil Flamingo

    Evil Flamingo Banned Contributor

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    I would never try to write about politics. Ever. Period.
     
  9. hszmv

    hszmv New Member

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    Romance, straight up, mostly because my romantic secondary (sometimes tertiary) sub-plots are just horrible. Now, as for controversial topics, I tend to place them into my setting. Even though I want to write for Young Adults, I don't cheapen the real world by letting the fiction take over. I'm plenty cruel to my characters, so shying away from the hard lessons is not something I do.

    I also will not write a book with the goal of seeing it turned into a movie. I've known English teachers who have had to take perfectly good books off their Book Report List simply because of the movie, and I stopped a guy who almost embarassed himself in a Beowulf Report by saying Beowulf slept with Grendle's Mom.
     
  10. Speedy

    Speedy Contributor Contributor

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    Second that.
     
  11. Sir Rhosis

    Sir Rhosis New Member

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    I wouldn't either! I avoid reading either of these, or both combined into one story. Writing one would be even worse than reading it, IMO.

    Also, anything to do with King Arthur and Excalibur. It's so over done in nearly every genre it's best to avoid it altogether.
     
  12. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Of course there are. There are far more things I would not write that there are things I would.
     
  13. NaCl

    NaCl Contributor Contributor

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    I could never write porn...the research would kill me!
     
  14. Irish87

    Irish87 New Member

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    1. Romance: This is mostly due to me being terrible at all forms of it. While I don't think I would have an inability to write it, I think it would come out like a squirrel imitating a bird, that is to say it would only last for one try.
    2. Sexual Assault: I can write violence, but not this sort of violence.
    3. Kids Stories: I have friends who have children and they beg me to write their kids stories because they know I'm a writer. Nevertheless, my current fixation with Carl Jung, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and the end of the world has made me unable to write stories for children.

    Oh and yeah, anything to do with vampires. Well, for now. In forty years when they're no longer cool or hip I'm sure I'll publish a vampire romance where the main characters are either hopelessly in love or they just sparkle... not sure why, they just do.
     
  15. LadyLazarus

    LadyLazarus New Member

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    Sci-fi and romance.
     
  16. bruce

    bruce Active Member

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    This is a good idea. Why limit yourself? Explore and write about all subjects. You must have the courage to face your own fears and prejudices. :)
     
  17. Rei

    Rei Contributor Contributor

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    Anything that bores me.
     
  18. SayWhatNow?

    SayWhatNow? New Member

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    Any idea that I like will make it onto paper because if it's a good idea, it will eat my soul from the inside out until it gets made into a good story.
     
  19. CDRW

    CDRW Contributor Contributor

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    ROFL. Same here.
     
  20. Kas

    Kas New Member

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    There are myriad things I wouldn't write now, all subject to change as I mature, both as a writer and a person.

    When all's said and done, there's nothing I feel so strongly about that it would cause me to close a door forever.

    But I'd probably take too many breaks to get anything done if I tried writing porn.
     
  21. Unsavory

    Unsavory Active Member

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    It's difficult for me to point to any specific genre and say I will never write it. I have no plans to ever write straight romance because I find the subject painfully dull. I may touch into historical fiction at some point, but for now I consider it an intimidating beast of a genre.

    I do however hate the idea of writing something just because I think it will sell. I write for myself with the hope that what works for me will trickle down to other people.

    On that note I recently had a conversation with my wife about all the hugely popular young adult series (Twilight, Harry Potter, etc.) that have sprouted up in recent years. She follows all of them and we began discussing what the next big thing is going to be.

    My impulse answer was "space pirates." She thought I was nuts until I pitched a specific idea that I thought was stupid but marketable. She thought it was way better than most of the stuff I've ever attempted. So do I want to sit down and write this dumb but possibly marketable idea? I really don't know.
     
  22. Ecksvie

    Ecksvie New Member

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    I dont think there's anything I wouldn't write at all because you never know what the future is going to hold. In fact, the book I'm writing now, which deals with all kinds of social attitudes and taboos regarding sex is a book I never would have seen myself writing this time last year, and yet I absolutely love writing it.

    There are some genres I find it unlikely I'll ever write in. Historical fiction is one of them, because I find history so painfully dull and it would take so much research to make it realistic. It's so much easier to write from what I know. Having said that, it might be that there's no period of history that interests me at the moment. A few years down the line I might discover one, and find myself absolutely gagging to write some historical fiction, so never say never I guess.
     
  23. Goldie

    Goldie New Member

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    I got started in writing by doing the vampire thing ... back in 7th grade when the Interview with the Vampire movie first came out. I had to read the book since the movie was rated R!

    I wouldn't write sexual assault, either. I couldn't.

    Historical fiction is fun to read, but I couldn't do all of the research. I like to make some things up and have an awful memory!
     
  24. arron89

    arron89 Banned

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    I'm pretty sure I can confidently say I'll never write sci-fi/fantasy, or "genre" romance (as opposed to romantic stories), or whatever it is that Dan Brown writes. As for violence and those kinds of things, I'm up for anything. Those kinds of extreme violence make for interesting writing and reading, IMO, if handled well.
     
  25. Phantasmal Reality

    Phantasmal Reality New Member

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    I would never write anything that I wouldn't want to read, or that I felt had already been done ad nauseam. (Unless I could drastically improve on it. See below.) I don't think I'll ever write anything but fantasy and sci-fi. I like vampires, I like a little romance, and I think the two can go well together, although I have yet to see it done successfully in the West. (Give me time. I'm working on it.) There's no subject matter that I'm terribly adverse to writing, but unless the story really calls for it, I prefer to avoid graphic descriptions of sexual abuse and gore.
     

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