good ideas, bad writers?

[joe0101]

Hey all Can you guys think of some fantasy writers that didn't get very famous because they were bad writers but they had some awesome ideas/plots/plot twists in their books? I'm more interested in cool concepts than prose. I mainly prefer traditional (non-urban) fantasy. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jaxx]

Probably what will go on my gravestone, minus the last plural.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Can you guys think of some fantasy writers that didn't get very famous because they were bad writers but they had some awesome ideas/plots/plot twists in their books?

Nope.

But when I first started writing seriously, I admitted to myself that my writing might suck to a modern audience, but one day in the far future I'd be rediscovered and my genius recognised.

I've seen it in other aspiring writers. I think it's a delusional phase that comes from over-compensating in confidence. I've since learned that humility is a writer's best friend.

 

[J Riff]

Cool ideas and twists are one dozen per dime, they really are. Grab some old 50s comics and you can find time-travel, aliens, spaceships galore - each story with a cool twisty hook. Every SFF novel or short story, same thing. It is really the writing and the following through on the basic idea that makes it work. I find modren movies try to twist too hard, they are looking for something 'no-one has done, or thought of' and that's pretty hohum after a while. Just give us a good space-epic or romantic fantasy or whatever it is, and do it up right.

 

[joe0101]

Thanks for your replies guys Yeah, sometimes I feel like modern audiences are more sucked in by emotional pulls (romance, relatability, lots of action, betrayal, revenge, etc), than by just an awesome story. While I guess the word awesome is pretty subjective, I would say 1) keeps you guessing and 2) really opens up your imagination and takes your mind places it feels it's never been. ps- good to hear there's lots of good ideas out there JRiff! I think I'm really going to enjoy reading fantasy

 

[Ogma]

You could try A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. I'm not saying he is a bad writer but the book has some of the elements you are looking for. It wasn't a huge success when it was originally published and it certainly opens up your imagination!

 

[soulsinging]

I'd maybe say early Dragonlance Chronicles (or perhaps the saga in general) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have a touch of this... the writing is sometimes barely passable, but the story and characters are just so awesome!

 

[Lafayette]

Thanks for your replies guys Yeah, sometimes I feel like modern audiences are more sucked in by emotional pulls (romance, relatability, lots of action, betrayal, revenge, etc), than by just an awesome story. While I guess the word awesome is pretty subjective, I would say 1) keeps you guessing and 2) really opens up your imagination and takes your mind places it feels it's never been. ps- good to hear there's lots of good ideas out there JRiff! I think I'm really going to enjoy reading fantasy

I believe what makes a great story are the characters the plot is secondary. I will go on to say that since every individual is unique this in its self is what can give a story a twist.

 

[BAYLOR]

Nope.

But when I first started writing seriously, I admitted to myself that my writing might suck to a modern audience, but one day in the far future I'd be rediscovered and my genius recognised.

I've seen it in other aspiring writers. I think it's a delusional phase that comes from over-compensating in confidence. I've since learned that humility is a writer's best friend.

In the here and now , you're an excellent writer Brian , that's all that counts.