  Mystery
This week: The Good Guy Always Wins Edited by: Gaby  
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It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.
~ Leonardo da Vinci
The ninety and nine are with dreams, content but the hope of the world made new, is the hundredth man who is grimly bent on making those dreams come true.
~ Edgar Allan Poe
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The Good Guy Always Wins
Talk about being predictable! This is not a romance where it's not only expected but also demanded to be predictable. Yes, people love a good, happy ending. We all do. Sometimes, it's necessary. However, predictability has its disadvantages.
Unlike the many crime shows I watch - I can't force myself to read those kinds of books too often; even I like the romantic predictability - Dexter had been a breath of fresh air. You cheered for a guy who lived by a set of rules, most people wouldn't be able to understand in real life. A character whose life looked ordinary on the outside, yet was anything but! What did that do? It kept those who watched the show on the edge of the seat! Even though some episodes weren't as great as others, you still wanted to know. Especially toward the end.
Game of Thrones is a perfect example of unpredictability! I'm not going to give away any spoilers for people who plan to watch the show or read the books, but those of you who do follow it... Remember Season 1 shocker? It was the biggest hook ever created for the following season. When I saw it, I thought, If this is only the beginning, what will happen later on?! Previous Season, same thing! I was lost. The only thing you were left with was to keep watching to see what will happen next.
I've seen many people read the books and when I asked about them, they had surprising answers. 'It's too complicated, but good' or 'It's not my thing, but it's interesting', but not a single soul said, 'Oh, you know, it's predictable'. It's anything but! You get to choose your own good guy. You switch back and forth, because no two people are alike and everyone has a dark side. We all start out good, it's the choices we make that set our direction in life. Same with these characters.
What really gets to me is when people say that George R.R. Martin isn't a great writer as some of the others, or that he's trying to copy someone else's style. We all have our own style, but we choose to read certain writers who inspire us. That means that another author's writing will give us a nudge in the direction we feel comfortable with. It won't be a copy of the story, it's only the inspiration.
His stories are anything but simple. The characters are well thought out, likeable, or even hated by some. The twists and plots are unpredictable. You may think you know what's coming, but until a particular scene is set before you, you have no idea what will happen. Even when it's right there and you see it, you're too stunned to comment. We watch and predict, but for once, we don't know the outcome until we see it or read about it.
I understand that a story with one or two main characters and a death and a murderer will never reach the limits of such well thought out books. Predictability becomes unavoidable. But what if it doesn't? What if you thought outside the box? What if you don't follow a path many have walked before you?
I can't help but think that we as writers have certain notions about our own writing. We don't mind constructive criticism as long as those who criticize say that they enjoy our writing. We baby our stories and treat them as if they were made out of glass. No one wants to have their dream shattered by a single reader, but a story having potential will never be a story that's automatically great. For most of us, the goal is to become published, to have our words read all over the world. My question is this: Do you want to be seen as just another writer with a predictable good guy/bad guy story, or do you want to be someone whose writing stands out? The choice is yours. 
~ Gaby 
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Comments from previous Mystery Newsletter:
BIG BAD WOLF is Merry  wrote:
Sometimes, you just know what you are doing.
But, what if you don't? What if you need help?
Quick-Quill  wrote:
Flashbacks are difficult to write and must be done with finesse. I have one where the MC recalls going back to the family she left, facing them and finding more about her early life. Her purpose for going back was simply to tell them not to attend her daughters wedding down the mountain. What happened in that incident shows the reader the life she escaped and her roots. Then she is brought back to the present. I hope I've accomplished it smoothly.
Perhaps, you could include the link for the story so I can add it to my next NL.  |
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Mystery: April 16, 2014 Issue [#6261]
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