#218: Idiot Plot, (Contractual) Genre Blindness & the Hardest Job
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Writing Fails
I. Idiot Plot
In storytelling, the action is what happens. The plot is what happens and why. An Idiot Plot, however, is a story that only works because the characters behave like imbeciles. If they weren’t ignoring obvious solutions, making unbelievable mistakes, or failing to talk to each other, the story would end in no time. Or not happen at all.
A great example of such a stupidity-fueled narrative is Home Alone (1990). The whole plot hinges on two experienced criminals, Harry and Marv, acting implausibly stupid during their attempt to break into a house defended by a single little kid. It’s a fun comedy of errors. But watching this as a kid, the incompetence of the burglars made me furious.
II. (Contractual) Genre Blindness
Harry and Marv may have also suffered from Genre Blindness:
A condition afflicting many fictional characters, seen when one demonstrates by their behavior that they have never in their life ever seen the kind of story they’re in, and thus have none of the reactions a typical audience member would have in the same situation. Worse, they are unable to learn from any experiences related to their genre.
The contractual aspect comes in when the blindness is not just a quirk of the character’s ignorance, but a requirement of the story itself. The character must remain oblivious, regardless of how much evidence piles up that overly complicated death traps may not be the most effective way to kill the protagonist.
Source: tvtropes.org
III. The Hardest Job
Crafting an original narrative is fraught with obstacles. Forget working on an oil rig or supervising a room full of sugar-fueled kindergarteners on a hot summer day. American novelist Ernest Hemingway identified the hardest job in the world:
I feel absolutely impotent every time I sit down to write.
Writing is hard work. It’s the hardest work in the world. It is the world’s toughest racket. If it was easy, everybody would be doing it. All they’d have to do would be to sit down and write a story and send it off and get a check back. The only reason they pay good money is there aren’t many people who can do it.
—Ernest Hemingway
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Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com