>talking to aspiring writer friend
>"I have so many ideas every day, I never know what to write about"
>that's cool, I'm not that creative to come up with so many, tell me one
>tells me some of the themes of the story
>"Cool, but give me more info, who are the main characters, what's the plot..."
>"I just told you"
>"No you just told me the theme of the story"
>talk it out with him, go through his other ideas
>he literally has never come up with a plot in his entire life, everything is either just a concept or incoherent theatrics that make no sense if you think why anyone is doing anything in the story
>>7435129
Really. For most wanna-be writers I've talked to, it's the other way around. They spend all day thinking about the most complex plot and setting and all these characters with varied personalities and backstories, but when you ask them about what themes they want to explore, they just come up with a blank.
Fuck you, Matt. I didn't expect to be attacked for being generous with my ideas. Don't call me.
>>7435157
Fuck off, fagtron. It's not my fault you can't come up with shit I'm lmao at your life.
>>7435129
you're friends with Tao? that's cool
>>7435151
No, he does the indepth characters and setting too, but there is just no plot. Like 30 characters for a book and he can't tell me what any of them are doing or why, and if they do do anything it makes no sense.
>>7435381
he's more of a writer than you'll ever be desu senpai
>exploring themes
I shiggy diggy, mfw
>>7437417
Get a better opinion pool.
>>7435129
I know people like this and it's fucking weird. Most people don't seem to realise how much is needed in a story for it to be effective. No matter how many films they see or books they read, a lot of people don't realise that most characters need to go on some sort of transformation journey; that they need backstories, motivations, values, ethics (or lack of), beliefs, etc and that they must act like they actually hold such ideas; that dialogue shouldn't really be expository (although I guess that's maybe more an issue in film writing than literature).
One of my friends back in college used to constantly tell me how interested he was in writing scripts, despite never reading in his own time, let alone a script. He told me he had the idea of a film about some ancient form of torture and that's it. No characters, no settings or set-ups, nothing. He also told me he wanted to make a film where people could only communicate exclusively through their phones and that verbal communication was punishable, which is an okay idea but it doesn't have much going for it, especially when programmes such as Black Mirror or books like 1984 already have that cynical perspective on modern society regarding how people should communicate in their societies - the mobile phone idea isn't much different. And even then, he had no characters, obstacles, conflict whatever. nothing.
>>7437489
>transformation journeys
>backstories
>motivations
>values
>ethics
>beliefs
>settings
>set-ups
>obstacles
>conflict
>good
>expository dialogue
>bad
>>7437496
Expository dialogue can serve a purpose, but most new writers who implement it really destroy any sense of authenticity and cohesion in their writing. It usually feels clunky and out of place.
>>7437496
Yes. Seems about right.
