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Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli
Bloody plot twists. I once took a creative writing seminar, in which we all gave copies of our pieces to all the other students to read and criticise. My God, virtually every one was somehow convinced that he (or she) absolutely *must* have a surprise ending or a last-minute plot twist or some kind of unexpected zinger.
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Reminds me of my own creative writing class. However in some instances many of the stories read were very cliched ideas that any four year old could predict the ending to. Surprise and plot twists can be a welcome relief in such a situation. But predictable endings and surprise plot twists both get stale and a happy medium can be hard to find. And it's in good story telling that we can find that medium.
Sir Kohran quotes the beginning of
Romeo and Juliet, virtually everyone knows how that ends and still generation after generation reads it or sees the play. Why? It is wonderful storytelling.
And that's what I love about Tolkien.
The Departure of Boromir, clearly he's leaving, but how and why? Oh he dies trying to save Merry and Pippin in an act of redemption. *gasp* That's brilliant.
When it comes to creative writing courses I feel there needs to be more on solid story telling. In my class we focused on poems and structure, but never how to craft a good story. It's something any aspiring writing should know. Plot twists and cliched endings can only go so far.
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Spoilers eh? Well I'd say the biggest spoiler in anything is the whole "Good triumphs, evil loses" thing. the entire concept is getting REALLY old.
I really wish that Tolkien had written alternate ending chapters where Sauron does get the Ring. That would be a much welcomed plot twist on my part.
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It may seem that clean cut on the surface, but think of all that happened within. Think of the conflict among the heroes. Frodo nearly falls to the evil of the Ring and it's not through his good heart it gets destroyed, is it? I felt Gollum actually destroying the Ring and himself was a bit of a twist. I mean, it wasn't Frodo's want to destroy the evil the Ring brought, but instead Gollum's great need for it. When I started reading LOTR for the first time I assumed Frodo would destroy it, it was a shock to learn it was Gollum.