NaNoWriMo Magna Carta Exercise
Sep. 21st, 2009 12:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
samatethecookieI decided to login to my old Livejournal account, and I found this list lying around in my account. It was based on this writing exercise to prepare people for NaNoWriMo in 2008. I found my list from that time. Some things are only a little different, so feel free to ask about anything.
What makes a good novel (Magna Carta 1)
1. First-person narration. I like it when it's done right. First person narration leaves so much about a specific character open, and it's great for the reader to get to know the character's voice.
2. Animals. Because I'm an animal lover, of course!
3. True love. I'm a fan of Disney. Yes, I am a hardcore romantic.
4. Improbable romances. I'm not just crazy about the "happily ever after" pairings, though. I like it when there's a chance that the two won't or can't get together. It keeps me on my toes!
5. Happy endings. BECAUSE I HATE SAD ENDINGS, OKAY.
6. Gay romances. Apparently, I'm a lonely girl who sits at my computer and stares at pictures of naked men or women together. ... I approve.
7. Insanity. The voices in my head tell me this can be a great point in a plot.
8. Some angst. I don't like it when angst bleeds out of the walls or anything, but I do like it in small doses and when the timing's appropriate.
9. Music/art/etc. I have a few characters that are creative, so yes, this. So much.
10. Friendship.
11. Promiscuous characters. Especially if they're women, LMAO.
12. Geeky characters. Any kind of geek! Computer geek, video game geek, book geek, geeks that watch Star Wars, geeks that obsess over bugs, etc.
13. Characters with backstories. I love me some backstories.
14. Grief/loss. No reason. I just like to occasionally tearbend while I read.
15. Dysfunctional family relationships. Blame Zuko and Azula for this one.
16. Complicated romances. I like my romances imperfect~
17. Loving family relationships (esp. siblings). Oh God, Edward and Al from FMA alone are the reason for this one. I also like father-daughter or father-son relationships, too.
18. Romances with age gaps. The only thing that never bothered me about Edward Cullen or Bella Swan in Twilight was their age gap. This upset a lot of people. Bitch plz, Cais and Krimson can put those two to shame with THEIR age gap.
19. Smartass characters. Well, they can't all be super nice, right?
20. "Opposites attract" dynamic. Not like the literal "FIRE/WATER" with Zuko and Katara, and it doesn't HAVE to be romance, but ... still, this is a guilty pleasure of mine.
21. Mentally ill characters. They're fun. 8D
22. Multiple characters that all tie together within the story. Like season one of Heroes, before everyone started having sex with each other.
23. Immortality, and the consequences of it. It's not always great, y'know.
24. Twisted or modern versions of fairy tales. "The Book of Lost Things" by John Conolly is an excellent example of this.
25. Socially awkward characters. I can relate to these guys.
26. Old people that kick ass and take names. ALL OLD PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER.
27. Setting in Chicago (my home city, duh)! "The Time Traveler's Wife" is a nice example of this. I recognized a bunch of places mentioned in the novel, and it helped me come up with a mental image of the scenes.
28. Mobsters. SHOOT 'EM AND PUT THEM IN THE TRUNK.
29. Books that concentrate on substance abuse. As long as they don't develop split personalities like this one character in "Skinny" by Ibi Kaslik did. Just. Don't.
What makes a bad novel (Evil twin of Magna Carta 1)
1. Vampires. Blame Stephenie Meyer for this. She's not the only reason, but the "sparkling vampires" thing really put me off from vampire fiction. And don't recommend vampire fiction to me, because most likely I won't read it.
2. Books that read like autobiographies. There's a book I had to read awhile ago called "Martin Dressler: The tale of an American Dreamer," this guy that comes to own a chain of hotels. It was so boring because it was barely a fictional book.
3. Angst after angst after angst... Jesus Christ, just don't do it. Real life is stressful/depressing enough.
4. Controversial characters that merely serve as shock value. Shock value is awesome, but if they're just there to freak readers out, then I lose interest.
5. Stereotypes - "Asians are good in school, jocks are stupid, emo kids are emo and cut themselves, girls in glasses need makeovers..." What I do like, however, is a TWIST on these sterotypes. Or the exact opposite with these cliched characters.
6. Villains with no true purpose or motivation. I hate when there's ... really no reason they're evil. Other than to run in and shout "MINE IS AN EVIL LAUGH MWAHAHAH" every once in awhile.
7. Most science fiction plots. I don't HATE science fiction. I actually like the movies and all, but I could never get into the literature.
8. "Boy meets girl, boy stalks girl, girl is wooed..." Only in special cases.
9. Characters that constantly recognize how hot another character is. Example: I loved the book "Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List," but holy shit, I hated how every other character recognized how hot Naomi was at some point. I was already annoyed with Naomi from the beginning of the book, so that definitely didn't help improve my impression of her.
10. The chick-lit plot. You know what it is without even reading it. "Girl has it all until her boyfriend dumps her for her BFF. Thus begins her struggle for self-discovery that involves late-night outings with new friends, buying new shoes and purses, and meeting a new love interest! And meet her fabulous gay boy friend who helps her with her wardrobe!" Of course, some books are exceptions, such as Marian Keyes' "Watermelon," but the rest just looks like the same plot keeps getting recycled over and over.
11. Thirteen-year-old girl randomly masturbates, or masturbation at all. This happened in "SKinny" by Ibi Kaslik and another book where a girl puts a coke bottle up her vagina to see what sex feels like. Just ... masturbation just always makes me laugh. I know the authors mean to point out how the girl is turning into a woman and that it's an important part of her life, but it's just so weird to read. And I don't want to read about a character near my sister's age masturbate.
12. Girl/Boy falls for BFF. Example: Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. There are special cases, though.
13. Minor characters with no purpose or have bland personalities. At least make them interesting!
14. "Perfect" characters. You know whom they are.
15. Abuse of the thesaurus. :|
16. Sad endings. IT DOES NOT GIVE ME HOPE.
17. Pretentious writing.
Edit: And before I forget, Tifa won the poll for Cloud's date! Hurrah! (Tifa and Yuffie were tied by 3 to 3, but I checked tonight and Tifa has 4 votes now.)
What makes a good novel (Magna Carta 1)
1. First-person narration. I like it when it's done right. First person narration leaves so much about a specific character open, and it's great for the reader to get to know the character's voice.
2. Animals. Because I'm an animal lover, of course!
3. True love. I'm a fan of Disney. Yes, I am a hardcore romantic.
4. Improbable romances. I'm not just crazy about the "happily ever after" pairings, though. I like it when there's a chance that the two won't or can't get together. It keeps me on my toes!
5. Happy endings. BECAUSE I HATE SAD ENDINGS, OKAY.
6. Gay romances. Apparently, I'm a lonely girl who sits at my computer and stares at pictures of naked men or women together. ... I approve.
7. Insanity. The voices in my head tell me this can be a great point in a plot.
8. Some angst. I don't like it when angst bleeds out of the walls or anything, but I do like it in small doses and when the timing's appropriate.
9. Music/art/etc. I have a few characters that are creative, so yes, this. So much.
10. Friendship.
11. Promiscuous characters. Especially if they're women, LMAO.
12. Geeky characters. Any kind of geek! Computer geek, video game geek, book geek, geeks that watch Star Wars, geeks that obsess over bugs, etc.
13. Characters with backstories. I love me some backstories.
14. Grief/loss. No reason. I just like to occasionally tearbend while I read.
15. Dysfunctional family relationships. Blame Zuko and Azula for this one.
16. Complicated romances. I like my romances imperfect~
17. Loving family relationships (esp. siblings). Oh God, Edward and Al from FMA alone are the reason for this one. I also like father-daughter or father-son relationships, too.
18. Romances with age gaps. The only thing that never bothered me about Edward Cullen or Bella Swan in Twilight was their age gap. This upset a lot of people. Bitch plz, Cais and Krimson can put those two to shame with THEIR age gap.
19. Smartass characters. Well, they can't all be super nice, right?
20. "Opposites attract" dynamic. Not like the literal "FIRE/WATER" with Zuko and Katara, and it doesn't HAVE to be romance, but ... still, this is a guilty pleasure of mine.
21. Mentally ill characters. They're fun. 8D
22. Multiple characters that all tie together within the story. Like season one of Heroes, before everyone started having sex with each other.
23. Immortality, and the consequences of it. It's not always great, y'know.
24. Twisted or modern versions of fairy tales. "The Book of Lost Things" by John Conolly is an excellent example of this.
25. Socially awkward characters. I can relate to these guys.
26. Old people that kick ass and take names. ALL OLD PEOPLE KNOW EACH OTHER.
27. Setting in Chicago (my home city, duh)! "The Time Traveler's Wife" is a nice example of this. I recognized a bunch of places mentioned in the novel, and it helped me come up with a mental image of the scenes.
28. Mobsters. SHOOT 'EM AND PUT THEM IN THE TRUNK.
29. Books that concentrate on substance abuse. As long as they don't develop split personalities like this one character in "Skinny" by Ibi Kaslik did. Just. Don't.
What makes a bad novel (Evil twin of Magna Carta 1)
1. Vampires. Blame Stephenie Meyer for this. She's not the only reason, but the "sparkling vampires" thing really put me off from vampire fiction. And don't recommend vampire fiction to me, because most likely I won't read it.
2. Books that read like autobiographies. There's a book I had to read awhile ago called "Martin Dressler: The tale of an American Dreamer," this guy that comes to own a chain of hotels. It was so boring because it was barely a fictional book.
3. Angst after angst after angst... Jesus Christ, just don't do it. Real life is stressful/depressing enough.
4. Controversial characters that merely serve as shock value. Shock value is awesome, but if they're just there to freak readers out, then I lose interest.
5. Stereotypes - "Asians are good in school, jocks are stupid, emo kids are emo and cut themselves, girls in glasses need makeovers..." What I do like, however, is a TWIST on these sterotypes. Or the exact opposite with these cliched characters.
6. Villains with no true purpose or motivation. I hate when there's ... really no reason they're evil. Other than to run in and shout "MINE IS AN EVIL LAUGH MWAHAHAH" every once in awhile.
7. Most science fiction plots. I don't HATE science fiction. I actually like the movies and all, but I could never get into the literature.
8. "Boy meets girl, boy stalks girl, girl is wooed..." Only in special cases.
9. Characters that constantly recognize how hot another character is. Example: I loved the book "Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List," but holy shit, I hated how every other character recognized how hot Naomi was at some point. I was already annoyed with Naomi from the beginning of the book, so that definitely didn't help improve my impression of her.
10. The chick-lit plot. You know what it is without even reading it. "Girl has it all until her boyfriend dumps her for her BFF. Thus begins her struggle for self-discovery that involves late-night outings with new friends, buying new shoes and purses, and meeting a new love interest! And meet her fabulous gay boy friend who helps her with her wardrobe!" Of course, some books are exceptions, such as Marian Keyes' "Watermelon," but the rest just looks like the same plot keeps getting recycled over and over.
11. Thirteen-year-old girl randomly masturbates, or masturbation at all. This happened in "SKinny" by Ibi Kaslik and another book where a girl puts a coke bottle up her vagina to see what sex feels like. Just ... masturbation just always makes me laugh. I know the authors mean to point out how the girl is turning into a woman and that it's an important part of her life, but it's just so weird to read. And I don't want to read about a character near my sister's age masturbate.
12. Girl/Boy falls for BFF. Example: Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. There are special cases, though.
13. Minor characters with no purpose or have bland personalities. At least make them interesting!
14. "Perfect" characters. You know whom they are.
15. Abuse of the thesaurus. :|
16. Sad endings. IT DOES NOT GIVE ME HOPE.
17. Pretentious writing.
Edit: And before I forget, Tifa won the poll for Cloud's date! Hurrah! (Tifa and Yuffie were tied by 3 to 3, but I checked tonight and Tifa has 4 votes now.)
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-21 09:15 pm (UTC)I'm also guilty of reading those teen chick-lit shallow books (like the "clique" series.) just for a little random brain candy. No way am i saying their great literature. It's just something I'll borrow from the library once in awhile.
Anyways, great list:)
no subject
Date: 2009-09-21 10:17 pm (UTC)I have a lot of things I read that I consider to be a guilty pleasure, so it's okay. xD; I guess I have a low tolerance for chick-lit books that I don't even bother with them. For me, I read YA books every now and then, which ... can either be really great books, or really bad books.