How I'm judging storylines

Discussion in 'General Discussion / Real life stuff' started by CaptainJackValdy, Apr 14, 2016.

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Should I go on with those "opinion" videos?

  1. Yeah, sure!

    3 vote(s)
    30.0%
  2. Nah, fuck off with them please.

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  3. Let Venom_Snake do them, he does better.

    2 vote(s)
    20.0%
  4. Quite frankly, I don't give a damn.

    5 vote(s)
    50.0%
  1. CaptainJackValdy

    CaptainJackValdy I got a plan to save the server, just have faith

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    Warning!
    This is the way I see things.
    Don't get @Venom_Snake's new profile pic for both our sakes

    So I've kept this in my notes for over a month now...
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    So now that my chapter is finally over, let's get to some "Judging Stories" thing.

    Most of us like different stories. Whether it is for enjoyment or simply to kill your time. But we all enjoy different things. For example, @Unit50079 likes the Gears of War franchise and I don't. We all judge things differently, and that's why we like different things. So let's travel inside of my head and see how I do that! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!

    [That's you traveling in my head]
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    A little faster, I'd appreciate that.

    So I rate my stories with "points." 25-30 points means that the story is magnificent (5 stars), from 20-25 means that the story is pretty good (4 stars). 15-20 means that the story is decent, checking this story once is enough (3 stars). And everything below 15 is just complete shit. So how can stories obtain those points? Well, there are 4 ways to. There are four factors of the story that I think are needed. 2 of them are very important and the other two are cool to be around. Four of those factors are: "Morality", "Attraction", "Lore" and "Complexity". Let's discover them 1 by 1!

    1. Morality
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    Morality I think is important in every story. Something to learn from it, sadly these days the movies aren't equipped with them. If a story has a morality, it gets 10 points automatically. "Good beats bad" can be counted as a morality but I consider it a more not-true morality so instead of 10, the story will get 5 points instead.


    2. Attraction
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    I think "Attraction" is the wrong word here, I looked for synonyms to "interestingness" and this one showed up so I used it. Basically it means that the story keeps my attention. I'm not bored while reading/seeing it. It's not very predictable and makes you care about what's going on. This factor can get 10 points as well.

    3. Lore
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    This is one of those optional that are cool if they're around. Lore, in my perspective, is a rich and interesting background to why things are like this and not like this. Example of a good lore in a story is Skyrim or Halo. This factor can get the story up to 5 points.

    4. Complexity
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    Is everything in a story simple? Are there in a story only bad guys and only good guys and only they fight each other? Or are there other things added. By complexity I mean that the world isn't based around the main characters only, but also goes further than that. For example, "Back to the Future" you could consider complex in my opinion. Because every character wants something for himself. Like in the first BTTF, Marty wanted to come back in the future while Biff wants something else. George wants something else and Lorraine wants something else. Basically making every character unique to himself and not make everything very simple. Since it's like that in most stories, you can only get 5 points from that.




    So this is is how I'm judging stories. How do you do that? Do you agree with the way I judge stories or do you think I'm a complete idiot to judge stories this way? Either way post your opinions down below. Thanks for reading :)
     
  2. SinisterBucky

    SinisterBucky Exemplary Gaming Co-Founder and GM Donator

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    This is a pretty interesting post, and something I can speak on because I've done creative writing for half a decade now. Based on the lectures that I have taken in creative writing, I know how most academics apply criticism to literature. If you want me to compare you to them, I'll say first that you're probably more than half accurate.

    1. Morality: you may have heard the term "theme" before. I think this is what you're trying to get at, but a theme is not quite a moral. It IS an implied message in the text aimed at giving the reader insight into the human condition/experience. Good writers use their well-developed characters to show this theme through the story.

    2. Attraction: yes. If you can't draw people in and keep them engaged in the story, you have failed as a writer. It frankly doesn't matter if all the other parts of the piece are brilliant. This is crucial.

    3. Lore: the one thing I saw here that doesn't really matter. Stories are supposed to be driven by well-developed characters, not their plots.

    4. Complexity: yes. Again, this is crucial because you want to make complex characters, a complex storyline, etc. Don't make any cliches, and don't make under-developed characters.

    So yeah, that's my bit.
    tl;dr characters and communication of the theme are most important
     
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  3. SinisterBucky

    SinisterBucky Exemplary Gaming Co-Founder and GM Donator

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    #Relatable
     
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