Genres and Tropes, Continued: The "Coming-of-Age" story

Previously:  Romance, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Fantasy

A “trope,” not to be confused with nor transformed into a cliché, is an element a reader expects as a characteristic of a genre (such as magical creatures or talismans in a fantasy story).  A cliché, on the other hand, occurs when you take a trope too far (rich-boy-loves-poor-girl romance, for example). The material difference between the two is what fresh, new characters, settings, or magical canon you bring to a familiar element.
Disclaimer: For reference and guidance only.  And the “possible conflicts” are just suggestions as well.


Coming-of-age story:

Can be combined with any of the other genres fantasy, dystopia, historical fiction, and sci-fi, as in the Harry Potter and Hunger Games books), but there are many books (The Yearling, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Secret Life of Bees, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) that don’t really contain elements of any other genre.
--Young person faces problem(s)/obstacle(s) and overcomes it/them.  The journey or quest is mostly psychological unless combined with adventure, such as in Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet.
--Young person loses innocence in one way or another (has to confront racism/prejudice, for example).
--Young person is faced with questions about life or human nature and has to find his or her own answers to those questions.
--Young person may have to confront a person of authority or stand up to a bully, or face the consequences of his or her choices as part of the “growing up” process.

The transition from childhood to adulthood, from innocence to awareness (at least on some level or as regards certain circumstances) is addressed in the story.

Endings are usually more “hopeful” than “happy.” The protagonist has gained knowledge or wisdom about the world or about him/herself and is usually a more tolerant or open-minded person as a result of his/her experiences; but because coming-of-age fits with realistic or literary fiction more than any other genre, the growing-up process is rarely complete by the end of the story.  Some endings are not so hopeful; sometimes the contact with reality and the adult world causes the protagonist to decide that the world is a mean and horrible place, that humans are not worthy of redemption.  Holden Caulfield in J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is an example.

Possible conflicts:  All four.

On books and reading and what's on your shelves

The last time our family moved house, we had something like 100 boxes.  Some 73 of them contained books.  As a child, I was read to, I was enrolled in a children's book club, and I had my own bookshelf in my bedroom.  Sometime in kindergarten, the strange-looking characters separated themselves into words and I no longer had to wait for a parent or a babysitter to come and read to me. I have been a bookworm ever since.

After one of our many moves, some neighbors dropped in to welcome us to the neighborhood.  The bookshelves were up and loaded.  One of the women, after looking at the titles and seeing Stendahl and Dickens and Austen, asked, "Have you read all these?" with a slight edge to her voice.  "Not yet" was my reply.  "Oh." Pause. "I like that." I think she was trying to accuse us of being pretentious or something.

So today I found justification for having unread books on my shelves.


People sometimes act as though owning books you haven’t read constitutes a charade or pretense, but for me, there’s a lovely mystery and pregnancy about a book that hasn’t given itself over to you yet — sometimes I’m the most inspired by imagining what the contents of an unread book might be.” ~Jonathan Lethem


I also encourage my students to read widely so as to be better- informed writers:


My life was changed. The books she gave me opened my mind to the simple realization that there is in the world such a thing as truly great literature; and that I would never discover it by mere hit-or-miss, or by reading only what interested me. ~Stephen Carter


How does the reading feed into the writing, and vice versa? Continually, continuously, promiscuously, in a million ways.” ~ Philip Pullman


Sometimes this means reading less-than-stellar books.  Only after having a mediocre marinara sauce on your pasta can you truly appreciate a fresh, homemade, flavorful marinara.  It is the same with literature:


Some books are just crap and have to be thrown out. But some crappy books remind you of certain times in your life and have to be kept. In the closet.” ~ Gary Shteyngart


I hope to be back next week with more tropes.  In the meantime, I wish you all happy holidays.


Thanks for stopping by.

Genres and Tropes, Continued: Fantasy

Previously: Romance, Horror, Paranormal, Science Fiction

A “trope,” not to be confused with nor transformed into a cliché, is an element a reader expects as a characteristic of a genre (such as magical creatures or talismans in a fantasy story).  A cliché, on the other hand, occurs when you take a trope too far (rich-boy-loves-poor-girl romance, for example). The material difference between the two is what fresh, new characters, settings, or magical canon you bring to a familiar element.
Disclaimer: For reference and guidance only.  And the “possible conflicts” are just suggestions as well.

I got a little ranty on fantasy a couple of weeks ago. This post is a bit more objective. Mostly.

Student defines poetry

I had to share this. My creative writing students have begun the poetry unit, and today I asked them to define "poetry."  Of course there were the usual elements named--rhyme, rhythm, simile, metaphor.  Nobody brought up anything about it being an art form.  Then a student said:


"It's like when the words make no sense at first, but then they get inside your head and go BLAM!"


Poetry:  Words that go BLAM!


Awesome.

Genres and Tropes, continued: Love conquers all. If you suspend your disbelief.

Previously:  science fiction, paranormal and horror

A “trope,” not to be confused with nor transformed into a cliché, is an element a reader expects as a characteristic of a genre (such as magical creatures or talismans in a fantasy story).  A cliché, on the other hand, occurs when you take a trope too far (rich-boy-loves-poor-girl romance, for example). The material difference between the two is what fresh, new characters, settings, or magical canon you bring to the already-familiar.
The usual disclaimer: For reference and guidance only.  The “possible conflicts” are just suggestions as well.

(Nerd alert!)  Read poetry from the literary Romantic Movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Keats, Shelley, Wordsworth, et. al) and you’ll see that romanticism in literature dealt with emotions, the metaphysical, and nature.  Romantics were more like proto-hippies.  America had its own version in Henry David Thoreau. Over in England, Alexander Pope probably turned over in his grave at the idea of poets writing about hearts dancing with daffodils.  

The “romance” genre is based more on romantic notions such as two people meeting--and meeting their destinies, that some sort of cosmic or mystical “thing” is happening. The term "romance" causes confusion because what began as romantic tropes evolved into a genre dedicated to idealized love stories. Most of us try to preserve the distinction by referring to the Romantic Movement as Romanticism and the genre of fiction as Romance. But mention the clash of realism and romanticism in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and you're likely to get either blank stares or "Huck had a girlfriend?"

I’m trying to to remove my tongue from my cheek as I write about this genre, but I personally find most of what’s published in it to be trite and formulaic.  I understand that fans read them for their escapist value.  What worries me is when the people who read them consider them an attainable or desirable reality.

Genres and Tropes: Horror

A “trope,” not to be confused with nor transformed into a cliché, is an element a reader expects as a characteristic of a genre (such as magical creatures or talismans in a fantasy story).  A cliché, on the other hand, occurs when you take a trope too far (rich-boy-loves-poor-girl romance, for example). The material difference between the two is what fresh, new characters, settings, or canon you bring to a familiar element.

So far, we’ve looked at science fiction and paranormal. This week: winner of the "ick factor" and most likely to be formulaic: Horror.


And the usual disclaimer: this is just to get you started and not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possibilities.

Possible tropes: Reclusive sociopathic character (think Jeffrey Dahmer).
OR
Sociopathic character who seems outgoing, articulate, charming, friendly, well-adjusted but is a cold-blooded serial killer. That's how Ted Bundy was able to get so many female victims to trust him.
OR
Can be a charismatic sociopathic cult leader with a God complex (think Charles Manson). You'll have to develop some extra characters as followers. A little research into cults is a good idea.

More commonly-confused words

Because I've hated everything I've tried to write or revise for this blog recently, I'm taking the easy way out and continuing the series on commonly-confused words. I'll be back with more tropes (I hope) next week.

hoard / horde:  Hoard is used mostly as a verb and means "to accumulate or stockpile and carefully guard" but can also be be used as a noun to denote your stash of Twinkies and pretzels or Six Million Dollar Man lunchboxes. Horde is a large group of people or mosquitoes. Contextually, we think of a marauding band of invaders, but for me, two spiders occupying the same square hectare qualifies.

loan / lend: It's easy if you know parts of speech, and when the words fit into only one category.Loan is a noun: "We can't get a loan to buy a car."  Lend is the verb: "Could you please lend me $35,000 so I can buy a car?"

farther / further:Usage dictionaries say these are interchangeable, but the Word Nerd won't let you get away without at least knowing that some of us prefer to make the distinction between the two.  Farther is generally used for literal distance:  "She walked one mile farther today than she did yesterday." Further is used figuratively:  "Since you're determined to see this your own way, I see no point for further argument on the subject."

rise / raise: Same as the difference between lay and lie as described in an earlier post.  Rise is intransitive and requires no direct object.  The sun rises; so does the bread dough. Questions can rise in your mind of their own accord, but you will need to raise them and give them voice. You raise your hand in class to ask a question or to take the oath on the witness' stand. You raise the window shade to let the sunlight into the room.  You raise a stink, an objection, a ruckus as well. (the words highlighted are direct objects, which receive the action of the verb),

stanch / staunch:  One's a verb, the other an adjective. "I applied several layers of gauze and deep pressure on his wound to stanch the flow of blood." "My family are staunch Catholics who attend Mass and Confession every week." I think the confusion comes from pronunciation.  Both are pronounced with an "ah" sound in the middle.

That's it for now. I'll be celebrating American Thanksgiving this week and slogging through the first wave of short stories submitted by my Creative Writing students.

Thanks for dropping by.

More genres and tropes: Paranormal

Last week it was science fiction. This week: the paranormal.

A “trope,” not to be confused with nor transformed into a cliché, is an element a reader expects as a characteristic of a genre (such as magical creatures or talismans in a fantasy story).  A cliché, on the other hand, occurs when you take a trope too far (rich-boy-loves-poor-girl romance, for example). The material difference is what fresh, new characters, settings, or magical canon you bring to a familiar element.
Tropes noted here are for reference and guidance only.  And the “possible conflicts” are just suggestions as well.

Paranormal: So much of the paranormal is rooted in mythology and folklore and varies from culture to culture and from one historic time period to another. You may need to do some research before attempting to write a story involving paranormal beings.

Possible tropes: Mundane setting with unusual beings such as ghosts, demons, shapeshifters, vampires, witches or wizards, werewolves.  The shapeshifter could be your kids' science teacher; your boss might have magical powers.

Getting started: some help with genres and tropes

My creative writing students have a short story project due in a couple of weeks.  I realize that creativity is not something you can turn on and off like a tap, but the class is only a semester in duration and there were certain benchmarks that were to be covered. I have to remind my students that published authors face deadlines all the time. 


My students are young--seventh and eighth-graders--and few of them have thought about genres and tropes as they relate to story structure. I began working on a cheat sheet to help them with story elements in the hopes of jump-starting their writing and thought maybe it would help the readers of this blog (all three of you, heh). The cheat sheet became a tome, so I will serialize it for you here, one genre at a time. Up first:  Science Fiction.

Had to share this

Being something of a fantasy newb, (see this post) and never having read the Lord of the Rings trilogy all the way through *dodges brickbats*, I'm not one of those fangirl types who knows which pipe tobacco Tolkien favored. However, I loved The Hobbit and read it at least twice in junior high.

Imagine my surprise and delight this morning when I signed in to my Google Reader RSS feed and one of the stories that showed up on Io9 was this --Tolkien's drawings for The Hobbit! The artwork was recently discovered among some of Tolkien's papers and has been digitized and put into a book to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the first release of the book.

There are links to the Guardian article, to at least one other blog, and to other sketchbooks by other authors which I don't have time to peruse right now, but if I find anything else awesome I'll come back and post later. Or spend your lunch time perusing them yourself.  You know you want to.

Small rant on fantasy, more of how does this crap get past an editor and a bonus post from M. D. Lachlan via Io9

I've never been a fan of fantasy novels. Dragons, magic stones, castles, dungeons, quests, Chosen Ones, magical creatures, rinse, repeat--much of it expressed in phony poetic diction and phony pseudo-archaic language.  Come up with weird names for your people and places with extra vowels and lots of apostrophes, invent some compound words like ravenmaple or granitethorn and spell color and clamor the way the English do, as colour and clamour, and suddenly you are writing with poeticality and eloquentness.

But that was before I was diagnosed with cancer three years ago.  Suddenly my beloved literary/realistic fiction was too realistic and to my dismay I found myself reluctantly gravitating toward more escapist literature. I read all the Harry Potter books, and as for adult fantasy, I began with Carol Berg and made it through Song of the Beast and her Rai-Kirah and Bridge of D'Arnath trilogies, and I was forced to admit to myself that not all fantasy is formulaic crap.

How does this crap get past an editor?

Part the first, of what I hope will be many more, because snark is what I do: 

“[insert character name] nodded silently” –Brandon Sanderson, about a thousand times throughout the Mistborn series.

Unless your characters belong to an alien race with rattlely things in their heads, “silently” is completely unnecessary.

EDIT 11/11/11:  Just saw it in Scott Westerfeld's Goliath.  NOOOOOO!  Why, Scott?  Whyyyyyy?

“He shook his head numerously.” –Leon Uris, Trinity.

 Inventing new adverbs was definitely not Uris’s forte.

[insert character name]’s eyes tightened. . .” Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn

If you’re looking for a new way to say “narrowed,” this isn’t it.  I’m picturing a drawstring or something “tightening” the eyelids.  Ew.

“In a hellish blur. . .” James Patterson, Don’t Blink

Okay, it’s an action scene, but I’d like to know just exactly what make a “blur” “hellish”?

“saccharine” used in numerous novels of all genres and from all time periods, sometimes correctly, most of the time not, judging from how many times I’ve seen this used incorrectly.  Saccharine is a late-20^th-century artificial sweetener that was created in a laboratory.  If you’re using it to describe something that is phony-sweet (the coworker who acts like they like you but who says nasty things about you behind your back), then you’re doing it right. “I was able to see right through Cora’s saccharine behavior.”  It shouldn’t be used as a metaphor for something that is truly sweet “his saccharine breath filled her senses as he moved closer.” unless, of course, the guy's a creeper.  If you’re portraying genuine sweetness, go with something that wasn't taken off the market for causing bladder cancer in rats.

A few commonly confused words

Part the first of what will probably be several posts.  Remember, the English language is messy.

affect/effect:  The simple answer is affect is a verb and effect is a noun. To keep them straight, watch your pronunciation and eventually you'll hear them correctly in your head. But when you're Word Nerdy like me, there's not a simple answer.  Stop reading if the simple answer is enough for you.  Effect, however, can also be used as a verb meaning "to put into effect" such as:  "In order to effect a change in civil rights laws, the people of a nation must overcome fears and prejudices."

uninterested/disinterested:  These had opposite meanings until sometime in the 19th century, but now the preferred use of uninterested is to show apathy or indifference, as in "She didn't like mystery novels and so was uninterested in attending the launch party for Vic Masters's latest Ace Gumshoe novel." Disinterested means unbiased, as in "It will be difficult to find a disinterested group of jurors in Crowley County because of the viciousness of the defendant's alleged crime."  You don't want a sports referee to be uninterested in the game, but you do want him or her to be disinterested in the outcome. Several online dictionaries say the two are synonymous and interchangeable because contextual use will make the intent obvious, but this Word Nerd prefers the distinction left intact.

lie/lay:  I get crap from people all the time about being something of a terminology nut, but the difference between these two is simple if you know the difference between a transitive verb and an intransitive one, and it becomes a sort of shorthand any time similar verbs show up.  Lie is intransitive, meaning it doesn't require a direct object.  "I need to lie down and try to get rid of my headache before company comes over tonight."  But:  "Lay the book on the table" because lay is transitive, meaning it takes a direct object.  In other words, "lie" is what you do, "lay" is what you do to something else.  Usually at this point, my ninth-grade English students will either snicker or one of the bolder spirits in the classroom will pipe up with, "or what is done to you." Or they'll ask, "so, 'getting laid" is proper usage because there's an object?" "Yes," I reply, "and this conversation never happened."

Simple past tense of lie is lay, as in "The shoes lay all winter under the snow, and were ruined by the time we found them in March."
Past participle is lain.  As with all participles, it requires an auxiliary verb:  "The book had lain on the shelf untouched for more than ten years."

Simple past tense of lay is laid, as in "He laid the flowers on the table and went to the pantry to look for a vase."
And its past participle is laid as well:  "She had laid her book on her nightstand and turned out the light when the phone rang.
Direct objects of both verbs are in yellow.

To clear your palate, enjoy a quote from Terry Pratchett:
"A European says, 'I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?' An American says, 'I can't understand this, what's wrong with him?'"

Wait. . . what? The apocalypse was supposed to eliminate all the queers! Censorship and artistic integrity

I walked into Costco a few months ago and was accosted by a couple of young men in white shirts and ties.  Because I have no tattoos or piercings, eschew black eyeliner, and look like the typical middle-aged mom that walks into Costco, it's hard to look at me and see that I am an avid crusader for human rights and politically and socially liberal.

So these two young men practically drag me over to their display.  "We have something you'll really like."

First of all, thanks for labeling me based on my appearance and deciding what I like/want/need, and second, respect my personal space by kindly removing your hand from my arm.

Insightful Student Recognizes Mary Sue from Twilight

I teach creative writing to 7th and 8th graders.  It is a joy and a challenge.

The next few lessons are dealing with character creation and development.  Sadly, too many 7th and 8th-graders are okay with blank, generic characters because they actually want to "step into" the character's shoes.  I hated to burst their bubbles and explain that such characters are the work of writers who are lazy or unskilled or both.  I asked them to name names of specific characters from their reading whom they wanted to bitch-slap (not using those words, of course) at any point in the novel.  Many of them named Harry Potter, particularly at his angsty (super-angsty?  angstier?) period during Order of the Phoenix.  I asked them if they continued to read the books and if they finished the series.  All my students who got to the fifth book finished the series because they cared enough about the characters to see their stories through.

As writers, I pointed out to them, they had to be brave enough to give their characters flaws and weaknesses, and I introduced the terms "Mary Sue" and "Gary Stu."  I don't really like the second one--I would have used a generic name like "Bob" to designate a generic character, but nobody asked me, so we're stuck with Gary Stu.

I didn't want to spend the entire period on Sues, so I just chose the  parts of The Universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test that deal with name and appearance.  We hadn't even gotten to Item #14 about the character having an unusual scent when a bright student piped up,"You could be describing Twilight." "Thank you!"  was my reply.  "Bella Swan is a classic Mary-Sue."  I hope I didn't ruffle too many feathers.

I had to reiterate that it's okay to like those books, not because I'm afraid of 12 and 13-year-old girls, but if they have mothers who are fans, I don't want those people coming after me with pitchforks.  Their daughters tend to be much more reasonable.

If you could care less about not caring less. . .

Our children don't like watching TV with my husband and me.  If it's a cop show, he'll be pausing it to point out the flaws in procedures or weapons handling. ("Right.  Send the detectives in suits into a hostage situation before the SWAT team."  Et cetera.) For my part, I am constantly paying attention to words and how they're used.  I seldom pause or shout at the screen, but last night I'd heard this mis-usage so many times in this same program that I reached a tipping point.

I found myself shouting at the TV screen, "It's COULDN"T care less!" after a character tried to express indifference about a particular situation by stating that she "could care less."

If you "could care less" it actually means you are capable of caring less.  In other words, since you COULD care less, you actually DO care about whatever-it-is.

This is not one of those "brain-fart" misusages.  This is people hearing it, thinking it sounds idiomatic or something, and not considering what they're actually saying because they're not paying attention to how the words are used.


To express indifference, if you are fed up, if your givadammer is busted, please use "I couldn't care less."