thoughtfulA few of my preferences:
* Mermaids! I love mermaids. I've been thrilled by everyone enjoying the glimpse of the Undersea in One Salt Sea, because wow did those chapters feel self-indulgent. I could have written a whole book just explaining how the social structure of the Undersea functions. Someday, if I get a good enough excuse, maybe I will.
* Evil twins. Yeah, I know, it's a Patty Duke cliche, and I don't care. I love me some evil twin action. Blame my early exposure to All My Children and move on.
* Mathematicians and scientists in leading rolls. I think math is sexy. Science is basically my favorite thing that isn't the Great Pumpkin or my cats. It's pretty rare to find a book of mine that doesn't have at least one of these character types represented. (Ironically, Feed didn't need a scientist because I was the scientist, with all that delicious virology kicking around.)
* Alternate universes and timelines. Yes, I love breaking continuity and seeing what happens when it's put together in a new shape. Enough so that sometimes people have to hold me down and take the hammer away, since otherwise, I'll just keep smashing things. My one regret about prose as a primary medium is that it's hard to pull off alt-universes in most prose settings.
* The malleability of death. Look, I grew up on X-Men comics, soap operas, and horror movies. I enjoy playing with the elasticity of mortality, and finding ways around things that seem permanent. You can't cheat, but watching your dead girlfriend's robot replacement come to terms with the fact that she's really a brain in a jar delights me.
...there are more, but you get the idea.
One of the interesting things about knowing and being at peace with my narrative kinks is that I get much, much pickier about how they're used. You can't just raise the dead and expect me to be happy; I want it to make sense within the rules of your universe, hang together internally, and be fair to the character you've just brought back. If you're going to have a lead scientist, they'd better be a scientist, and not a magical knows-everything widget that can somehow apply every field of science KNOWN TO MAN to whatever situation they happen to be in (Winnifred Burkle, I'm sorry, but I'm looking at you).
If you're going to do an alternate universe, I expect you to think it all the way through. Yes, all the way through. One of my favorite shows rebooted their continuity two seasons ago, and while they made the usual assortment of flashy surface changes, they didn't consider all the ramifications of those changes. The fact that at least two of the characters involved didn't tear down heaven and earth looking for a way back to the original timeline was incredibly disappointing to me. (Shawn says this is because I over think these things. I point you, again, to my list of narrative kinks. These are the things I am programmed to over think!) Basically, I want stories that will give me what I want, but really commit to giving it, not tap-dance around going all the way.
Also, often, narrative kinks are a lot like salt or bacon: a little can go a long way. I adored Marvel's House of M alt-universe, but I would have been annoyed if it had replaced the main Marvel Universe completely (even though it was an awesome setting, and I want them to do more with it). I'm enjoying the current season of Fringe, with its re-imagined continuity...and at the same time, I find myself restlessly demanding the original timeline back, because I invested a lot of time and emotional attachment in those characters, those relationships, and every delighted "oh, it went like that over here" is followed by a "...wait, does that mean that this other thing didn't happen?" So sometimes, getting what you think you want out of a story isn't ideal.
And this is why I have proofreaders and editors who don't share my narrative kinks. They may encourage me to put more foxes, or talking animals in silly hats, into the narrative, but they'll help me avoid the story turning into a stew of "things Seanan wants to play with."
What are your narrative kinks? How do you feel about their use, and how do you react when they get overused? What narrative toys would you rather never came off the shelf again? Enlighten me!
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October 20 2011, 15:06:26 UTC 5 years ago
Of course, I'm also a sucker for high drama. So if the protagonist's success requires them to die in order to win, so much the better.
October 20 2011, 21:01:33 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 15:14:26 UTC 5 years ago
* Forbidden books, it's the Lovecraft nerd in me. Mention a book that is suppost to have been burned in 1497, and I perk right up.
* "secret" history. Doesn't matter if it's the birthline of Jesus, the prehistoric civilization of Hyboria, or the slap fight between Lincoln and Jefferson Davis that really decided the Civil War, it's all good.
* Antarctica. Any story set there already goes up 2 points.
* Tentacles. Doesn't matter if it's octopuses, or squid faced horrors from beyond time and space.
* In jokes. I always think of these as a reward for the attentive fan-people.
October 20 2011, 16:33:02 UTC 5 years ago
Antarctica: check out A Line in the Ice.
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October 20 2011, 15:23:28 UTC 5 years ago
The other one is artificial intelligence and this isn't limited to robots/androids. I've really enjoyed some stories where it's just something inhabiting the wires and communicating through speakers/screens, etc.
Strong/smart female characters that don't cop out.
October 20 2011, 20:31:00 UTC 5 years ago
"Even though we took your holy books and interpret them our own way, blaming all of our deity's bad moods on the books you wrote and claiming that only our prophet/secondary aspect of our deity is the merciful one, and claim that we are the ones who are doing your religion right and you must convert, we're going to pretend you had an equal say in this culture's development--never mind the hundreds of years we spent killing and/or trying to convert you or driving you out of our towns."
"Abrahamic" is better, and includes Islam as well.
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October 20 2011, 15:25:07 UTC 5 years ago
In general, I go a lot on internal consistency. I don't much care if the science is "real world" or not (I know SF fans who can't stand book with FTL travel because "it can't exist", I wonder how many SF books they can actually read). I will happily allocate every book (or series, at least) its own AU, and if magic works there or whatever I'm completely happy with that. What does jar me is if it is internally inconsistent in a way not explicable within that universe.
The ST:Reboot didn't bother me at all, it was explained (or at least plausible). ST:Enterprise did bother me, because it wasn't explained and contradicted a load of established things (if it had been presented as an AU it would have been fine).
Yes, this includes characters acting OOC.
Another thing I dislike is an author just pulling something out of a hat. Many 'mystery' writers do that, the solution is unexpected only because they deliberately didn't tell you. On the other side I love it when authors leave clues lying around which don't look like clues until a lot later -- Babylon 5 is probably the best example of that I know, hiding clues in plain sight.
October 20 2011, 21:02:19 UTC 5 years ago
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October 20 2011, 15:25:32 UTC 5 years ago
I remember quoting Steven Brust in my list: "The Cool Stuff Theory of Literature states that all literature consists of whatever the writer thinks is cool, and the reader will enjoy the work to the degree that the reader and writer agree about what's cool -- and this functions all the way from the external trappings to deepest level of theme and to the way the writer uses words." (Man gets it -- I'd say there are basic elements of story construction that at least are near-universal, and to some degree that 'quality' affects enjoyment, but... well, a lot is Cool Stuff.)
One thing I've found is mentioning a narrative kink is a way to get me to pick a book off a shelf, and keep going even if the story itself is lackluster. If the element I like is handled well, I'll keep going long past when I'd give up if it didn't hit a kink for me.
* Was this on it? If not, it should have been. Along with maps. I love me some maps.
October 21 2011, 00:23:35 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 15:27:47 UTC 5 years ago
Also, faeires in Elizabethan London will get me EVERY TIME. Even when they're done poorly I will read the entire series (hi, Mercedes Lackey) and when they're done well (MARIE BRENNAN!) I will read that book over and over and over and over and OVER and buy every single other book that author has written. They'll just magically appear on my bookshelf. It happens sometimes.
October 20 2011, 15:36:20 UTC 5 years ago
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October 20 2011, 15:41:06 UTC 5 years ago
- cosmic horror and the strange, wild weirdness out there and on earth. Not quite the same thing as aliens in my head. It's a different sort of atmosphere.
- Healing magic used for things besides healing. Janice Hardy's "The Healing Wars" just delights me utterly for all the different ways the locals have found to use healing as a weapon of war.
- Psionics! I love psionics so very, very much. You may blame Julian May the most for that.
- Religion and spirituality. Real-world and created for the world. Treated with respect, thanks much.
- Cultural details: clothing, food, manners, the way people do things.
October 20 2011, 20:00:16 UTC 5 years ago
Now I need to look up Janice Hardy's "The Healing Wars."
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October 20 2011, 15:44:25 UTC 5 years ago
Drugs and addictions crop up a lot in my books; I'm a bit of a control-freak in real life so I guess I like writing characters who get high and go crazy. I'm also fascinated by the psychology behind addiction.
Necromancy!
There are lots more, but those are the big ones for me, I think. And in terms of how I react when they're overused...well. I don't know. I hate it when drug addictions is used as short-hand for "loser character we can't trust and will hate," because it's too black and white. I hate it when redemption comes easily and afterwards there are no long-term ramifications. And I hate when necromancers are always the bad guy!
October 21 2011, 00:25:12 UTC 5 years ago
Someday I will write a good necromancer, just for you. Have you read Kelley Armstrong? She has a kick-ass good guy necro, in Jaime Vargas.
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October 20 2011, 15:48:36 UTC 5 years ago
-In-world continuity that is subtle or not outright confirmed; part of why I still re-read the Valdemar books. I still remember being the most excited when I realised that Herald Savil and Companion Sayvil are the same person. >.>
-Obscure fey. I like mermaids as much as the next person, but throw in a merrow and I'll love you forever. (I haven't gotten to One Salt Sea yet, though, so no spoilers?)
-Uncommon protagonists (or, really, supporting characters too). Badass grannies, courageous talking prey animals, demons who *might* really be helping their summoners; I like weird mindsets and help from strange quarters.
-Snark. I love me some tart, cutting wit. :D
October 21 2011, 00:25:48 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 15:50:23 UTC 5 years ago
* Protagonists who think their way out of trouble. I grew up with the 60s DC comics written by John Broome and Gardner Fox, where heroes often won not through brute force, but by spotting and exploiting a weakness in the bad guy, often using science, or at least pseudo-science, in interesting ways. (Plus, of course, so many, many stories by the likes of Heinlein, Asimov, and Clarke.) Aladdin will always be among my favorite Disney films, because he wins by outwitting Jafar. Ruddigore may be my favorite G&S operetta because the solution to the problem involves a wonderfully twisted logical paradox. And I think the first Iron Man movie would have been better if they'd ended the fight with Iron Man luring Titanium Man up high enough to freeze, and not gone on to the Big Hollywood explosion.
* Use of the arts as a background. Set it backstage at a theater, or among writers and artists, and I'm there. Which is one big reason why I'm so looking forward to meeting Verity.
* Learning stuff I didn't know, though it has to be done without slowing down the plot. Greg Egan twists my mind so effectively that sometimes I have to stop reading for a minute to digest what I've read. Dick Francis was a master of this - I learned about photography from Reflex, the alcohol industry from Proof, glass work from Shattered, and so on.
* Humor, which doesn't have to be the whole point of the story. If the characters crack wise, and do it well, that's a big plus.
I see I'm getting into more general things that might not fit the type of tropes you're looking for. But I'm a reader who's always looking for something new. Gene Siskel used to say, referring to movies, "Show me something I've never seen before," and that's pretty much how I feel about any form of entertainment. I follow very few series, and in the ones I do, new stuff happens in each book, whether it be new characters and settings, changes in existing characters, or changes in the status quo.
I do have anti-kinks. I loathe bullies, so characters who are successful bullies are a major turn-off. I had real trouble reading Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing of the Dog", mainly because of that one incredibly obnoxious woman who always got her way.
And I'm very, very glad that knowing your kinks makes you determined to deal with them well, because I'm generally averse to characters who come back from the dead. In too many cases, the revival is done with hand-waving, purely for the emotional kick of getting the character back, and not earned. My big example is Spider Robinson's Stardance, where I deeply loved the original novella, and hated the novel. You did much better than that. :)
So, which two Eurekans do you see as the main heaven-and-earth movers?
October 20 2011, 16:10:07 UTC 5 years ago
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October 20 2011, 15:53:16 UTC 5 years ago
Magic that has rules and limitations. So many times, authors forget that magic shouldn't be able to do everything; if it can, then I start asking why the protagonists haven't taken care of their nemesis on page 1.
Imaginary countries with cultures, politics, religions, customs, etc. It doesn't have to be a country; a nonhuman race can be just as fantastic.
Being human. I like it when the protagonist thinks that being human can be as much a wonder as a problem. Bonus points if the protagonist doesn't want to toss aside her humanity and become something else.
Women being heroic. I love that. This does NOT mean that the woman has to fight like a man; there are lots of ways of being heroic. But I do want her to be an active, compelling protagonist with hopes and dreams and fears, and, please God, interested in something besides her love interest, sex interest or spouse.
Logic being important in the narrative. Bonus points if the protagonist has to use logic, reason or actual science to save himself/herself and/or the rest of the world.
Irrational, self-sacrificing heroism. I love pragmatic protagonists who have certain subjects about which they can't BE pragmatic and for which, for good and sundry reasons, they'll give and hazard all they have.
Intelligent villains who are not easy to defeat. The intelligent villains tend to be more interesting, I've found. This also applies to anti-heroes and anti-villains.
Improbable friendship. I am an absolute sucker for two people who have no business liking or even trusting each other becoming the best of friends.
Alternate universes and timelines. These are like a license to play.
Little details that you don't necessarily notice at once. Terry Pratchett does this, tossing in gleaming tidbits that you may not spot the first time that you read the book.
October 20 2011, 18:19:19 UTC 5 years ago
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Just remember, you asked!
October 20 2011, 15:53:58 UTC 5 years ago
...Look, I read the whole Ranma 1/2 saga, and while there's all kinds of problematic issues... Talk about UST, y'know? Inu-Yasha, ditto. (OH HAI REVIVED SOULLESS DEAD GIRLFRIEND COMPLICATION!)
Of course, when it's logical for the UST to lose the U, it needs to happen. Hambly's The Silent Tower and The Silicon Mage segued into each other like this just... Well, okay, it probably made a serious impression on me, 'kay? No "oh, well, what do we do with the plot?" nonsense. If the USTing characters get together, and there's still plot left, then don't make their interactions pathetic. Don't make the Spunky Girl turn totally sappy-sweet! If she was stinging the Bold Hero with her wit before, fer gods' sake, she should keep doing it! If they have a relationship built on squabbling, then they should keep squabbling, if only things that don't really matter, and have hawt make-up kisses.
Kink 2: An Authorial kink I have is power-imbalance relationships, from friendship to romance. Hmmm. No, it's a reader kink, too, but it's so hard to find Just Right (Silent Tower & Silicon Mage were, again, formative!) that I mostly have to write it myself. (...Oh, hey, Ben January mysteries. Ooooookay. Hambly does it again.)
Kink 3: Alien Viewpoints. I once read and re-read the viewpoint-from-the-antagonist-non-human (drake) sections of a book over and over. I only read the full book... like once and a half, I think. >_> Next exhibit is CHANUR! And Their Majesties' Buckateers. (Elves can count, but they'd better be more than long-lived humans with pointy ears, or it'd better be a graphic novel where I can appreciate the Pretty.)
(Thus, Toby's books tend to be trippin' at least one out of those three at any given time...)
Kink 4: Amnesia. Main character amnesia. Okay, I mostly developed this after roleplaying a character with the disad, but done right, it feeds right into Power Imbalance stuff. Om nom nom. Removed specific memories can work, but have to be Done Right.
Kink 5: Mild-mannered men who are secretly bad@$$. Owen from the Gargoyles cartoon. Rosemary Edgehill's Nic Brightlaw (who also gets a chunk of amnesia!).
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October 20 2011, 15:55:52 UTC 5 years ago
Myth/faerie tale/ballad retellings are a favorite as well, but I'm intensely picky about them. This? This is so not my kink.
Believable character interactions, particularly in a fast-paced story are essential. If someone is sacrificing themselves for the group at the end of a story, I want to have seen some indication in that person's character in the run-up to the ending that that's something they would be inclined to do. Likewise, Deus Ex Machina has to be really believable and not just author fiat.
Dedicating some time to showing what the minor characters are thinking. My favorite one of these was a Babylon 5 where they turned the viewpoint around and showed us what the space station looked like from the point of view of two ordinary men working there, instead of the usual viewpoints of the political movers and shakers.
Canadiana, or any other culture where the author is clearly immersed in that culture enough to know the slang and how to use it, and what the local populace would say in any given situation. There's something very charming and intimate about getting a first-hand look into a culture thought its literature.
There are probably dozens more, but for now I'll also second a kink for secret histories and people creating family out of a disparate group of unrelated people or founding a lasting set of friendships.
October 21 2011, 00:28:39 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 16:02:15 UTC 5 years ago
If I watch a movie or TV episode or read a book and end up shrieking, "[Author], you BASTARD!" or having to recite, "This is a story, written by writers [and portrayed by actors]. This is a story, written by writers [and portrayed by actors]" for several minutes, I count that as a win.
I want characters to change over the course of a story (maybe not if it's just a vignette, but even in drabbles I like seeing a new realization or some other difference).
I'm a sucker for characters with snarky senses of humor (Vlad Taltos, Harry Dresden) and dedication to duty (Aral Vorkosigan, Honor Harrington).
I can be hooked for life by a single, blindingly brilliant moment of character definition (Rogue to Wolverine, re his claws: When they come out... does it hurt? Wolverine: Every time.).
I may or may not admire breaking the fourth wall and pop culture references, depending on how well they're managed.
October 21 2011, 00:28:57 UTC 5 years ago
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October 20 2011, 16:35:21 UTC 5 years ago
Also. Classical music and gouts of Agni Kai fire = *incoherent babble that fades into why isn't there a soundtrack for this yet????*
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October 20 2011, 16:15:54 UTC 5 years ago
Any trope or narrative device can be done well enough for me to not object to it. That said, the magical child and the Chosen One tropes tire me, especially when you combine them.
Body alteration figures prominently in a lot of my characterization work, whether that's scars, a limp, whatever (I like a character that has some wear and tear, it's just more believable to me), or something deliberate like tattoos or piercings that are significant to that person.
I play with sensory stuff a lot, like what would happen if they engineered a hallucinogenic fruit that affected everyone differently, or what it's like -- really like -- to have the sense of smell of a wolf, with human-level intelligence behind it.
I love animals, whether that's a character having a pet dove or being a were-pig, I don't care. I love the research, I love getting the bits right that nobody ever gets right (Attention authors: if you have any questions, any at all, about snakes, I will be happy to help you out, if I can. And please, please, even if you think you know something about horses, check it with a horse person. Horses are their own thing, and a lot of what we think we know is wrong.)
I love mythology, and use it often; fairy tales too, but to a lesser degree.
I love tough old bastards, especially ones with a soft spot for animals. I love scummy guys and trashy girls who are on the right side. I love tricksters with pretty skin and broken hearts.
October 21 2011, 00:30:26 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 16:18:35 UTC 5 years ago
I like relationships not being limited to heterosexual monogamy. Except, you know, where it's only the bad guys who aren't het and monogamous, and that's why they're the bad guys.
I love abstruse knowledge being correctly woven into the story. I'm fine when I know little enough about the field that I can't tell if the author got it right or is just faking well enough to full me. But when I know more about the field than the author does and they got it wrong, *nggh*. Unless you actually know the subject, authors, keep your technobabble as vague and fuzzy as you can.
By far my biggest turn-off is the standard time plot. "Something is wrong! Let's go back to the past and make it didn't happen!"
October 21 2011, 00:38:31 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 16:29:37 UTC 5 years ago Edited: October 20 2011, 16:34:31 UTC
I adore stories where ends are tied together that I as the reader didn't even realize were there until suddenly they connect with a resounding CLICK. I love interwoven stories, and stories-within-stories, a la Orphan's Tales. I do like reimaginings, like
Complicated relationship structures, and alternative relationship structures, appeal to me. There are certain socially unacceptable relationship configurations that I like in a story when they are well-written and have a purpose for being there. I think that sort of thing can go better in a fictional universe than in the real world, oftentimes, because in the real world, a slew of people will not understand and loudly proclaim the people in question to be "Sinners, Indeed", or "Perverts Who Should Be Shunned and/or Stopped".
I especially love stories where mortals interact with gods and spirits, only they/the readers don't realize it for several chapters.
And I definitely adore foxes in stories, provided they're not just there to be hunted/killed/skinned/worn/etc.
Oh, tropes I dislike include when badass female characters suddenly and for no determinable reason need to be saved by the male hero. Also, the Rape Trope. There are certain authors who use that trope WAY too much, authors that I generally otherwise enjoy greatly. There are other ways to make strong female characters than to give them a sexual assault in their pasts or in their current stories.
October 20 2011, 16:35:03 UTC 5 years ago
These are more my writing kinks, though I like to read them too...
- Sirens. I don't know why, I like the siren legend a lot, even if I tend to screw with it in my own writing. (It's a non-sentient shape-shifting phobophagic amoeba-ghost! ... Yeah.)
- Living Shadows. Probably related to a nightmare I had as a kid, but I LOVE creatures made of living shadow.
- Kid heroes. I blame this one on my early days in Power Rangers fandom. I was into Harry Potter for the first four books because she really got that whole "Adults are not part of this world" thing that leads to kids handling big stuff on their own, which TOTALLY pushes my sucker buttons.
-Evil Twins/Counterparts. I blame Power Rangers for this one, too. Jason David Frank had a WONDERFUL evil laugh.
October 21 2011, 00:38:58 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 16:37:24 UTC 5 years ago
I love taking established characters and just throwing them into different settings and seeing what happens.
Time travel, alternate reality travel gimmie gimmie gimmie.
Loved the House of M, loved the Age of Apocalypse more.
After that, everything's gravy.
October 21 2011, 00:39:06 UTC 5 years ago
October 20 2011, 16:39:04 UTC 5 years ago
- loyalty. mostly to chosen family.
- female characters that are hard - that will make hard choices, fight as well as the guys, are competent - but can also be you, know, female.
October 21 2011, 00:39:16 UTC 5 years ago
A couple of mine
October 20 2011, 16:39:46 UTC 5 years ago
Day-in-the-life stories; How do ordinary people live/work/play in undersea cities, space stations, enchanted forests, etc. Simple stories that don't happen "at-the-end-of-the-world". I get frustrated by how often I am introduced to new cultures in their death throes.
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October 21 2011, 00:39:27 UTC 5 years ago
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