Protagonize Pub

Dear Pub Patrons,

I am wondering, just out of curiosity, what are some story motifs and elements you generally like/dislike? I am wondering partially because I want to know some of yall's beliefs, comments, and preferences. I'm also wondering because the wise man listens to and researches the general audience he is reaching. So, if you could leave any opinions, comments, or branch of subjects, I'd be more than appreciative to discuss with you. Thank you, to all you fellow denizens of Protagonize.

Dasvidanya,
I.L.

teen (insert anything supernatural here) stories. seriously. beating a dead horse. a dead teenaged horse. a unicorn, even.

i like plot twists. ones that you can't see coming because the author has led you on with false clues throughout the story. i like the bad guys to win sometimes. protagonists shouldn't be immune to death simply because they're at the centre of the story most of the time.

and as an aside, i think it's fairly well known that i dislike roleplays a lot. they have their place, true, but i can't stand the things. guh.

Yeah. I second the beating the dead horse metaphor. Also the plot twists. One of my favorite authors is Ted Dekker, and with him, you hardly know the real bad guy until halfway through and there is always something that was hinted at throughout the story, but blind sides you in the last chapter. Lastly, the protagonist dying is a pretty useful story element when timed right. It shows that the he/she is human just like the rest of us. After all, in mythology, the greatest heroes were also martyrs.

Anyways, duelly noted. Thanks for the comment.

I'm pretty well-rounded. . . .i like lots of different types of stories. Romance. Mythology. Action. Fantasy. Thriller. War.


I do agree with the twisted plot stuff, though. The more complicated it is, the more fun it is to read. And I do love a good love story (where it fits, of course), being a hopeless romantic. Some cliched type stuff is okay, like the over-coming-the-great-struggle-of-the-past type thing.
The only problem with Romance is when love scenes get too graphic (i.e., a hot and heavy scene written with extreme details on touch and how turned on you got. . . .keep that off the paper and out of our heads, thanks!!! How can we concentrate after reading stuff like that??) or when it is way too cliched.
Satanic stuff kind of turns me off sometimes, too, but I don't see much of that stuff on Protag.
The plot being realistic is always good. Even if it's sad and you think "that is so not fair!!!" at least you know that the author isn't just trying to please the readers (though we do love it when they are pleased). It is necessary for characters to die sometimes throughout the story.

One other thing that I find:
Vampires are way overrated, I find. And werewolves. Seriously, we don't need the latest twilight knockoff. But I do like supernatural/mythical stuff. Especially orginals. They can be whatever we want them to be, you know? I think that the coolest example of a vampire are types from Vampire Knight (it's an anime-slash-manga story). I only read a little of it, but the vampires in there were, in my opinion, way better then what I saw of Edward Cullen. There aren't many vampire stories out there that I'll read.

Yes!!!! Finally!!!! Thank you for writing that last part. Edward is more akin to a fairy than a vampire. As for vampire and werewolf stereotypes, its a fine line. If done correctly as the monsters they are in all literature before the 80's, they can be a good representation of destruction, malice, and ultimate evil the character must overcome. Otherwise, its just terrible and ruins a plot. Whats sadder than people who obsess over Twilight? People who obsess over Twilight and try to write clones of it.

I know!!!!!! I like reading some derivative works, but Twirives are just..... There's just too many..... I mean, there's a line between the two....

I personally prefer moral deterioration. I love when you have the greatest possible character, a true human embodiment of goodness and presice purity and love, and you just see how over time something conspires to tear that apart and erode his morality. Kinda twisted now that I think about it, but yeah, some great examples of it would be Johann Von Goethe's "Faust", a play about God's favorite man, Faust, who is tempted to sell his soul to the Devil for his greatest desires. I believe it was written in the mid-eighteen hundreds.

Agreed on the vampire/werewolf/twilight stuff.

I as well like the plot twists. They're too good!

Though I read more poetry than I do actual stories (and I write stories.... :/), when I do end up reading stories I'll read really anything to be honest. Though nowadays I'm getting into more realistic stories (Mostly romance, what can I say?)

I know that it's hard to cut off a character, or the protagonist even, but to be honest I prefer it. Though I admit I like it better when a strong supporting character dies. I like to see how the protagonist gets through that person's death (if they were a friend).

The last thing that I like is when the protagonist is the bad guy. He's the one stealing the money for purposes he only knows, or something like that.

@llmay I totally agree with the strong supporting character dying over the main character. Even if it's sad, it's good to see whether the character can overcome it.

@xKatanaXIV Yeah! Though I'm not opposed to the protagonist dying off, I just feel it's more interesting haha :)

@Isaac_Landon

I mainly read fantasy novels and murder mysteries. I've just recently started the fantasy novels. I'm currently in the middle of the Sword of Truth series. I love the world he creates. So vivid. The only books that I find it impossible to read, are 1st person books. I don't know what it is about them but seeing "I" all the time...it just drives me insane.

I really love good descriptions and well developed characters but I hate the sort of stereotypical teen characters, like the pretty, popular cheerleader or the captain-of-the-football-team popular guy.

the Activity Feeds on our hps can get Redundant in a hurry!
User Options for Homepage Updates would clean it up.
*Thumbs UP or DOWN??

I hate when the main character is flawless. I love a main character to have some spot of confusion in his/her life. Friends, faith, gender, anything as long as there's a slight flaw. Unless you're aiming for a goody-two-shoes who goes bad, that is.

I'm with angel-of-darkness on the protagonists. I can't stand it when the main character is just flawless. It makes me not want to read the story anymore. I myself need to work on my main peoples. And I have a friend that has just the "perfect" character. It's been driving me nuts lately! No weakness at all.

Anyways, I like the humorous and suspenceful adventure type of stories. Kinda like Eoin Colfer or Brandon Sanderson. Those two (evil/awesome) persons are my favorite authors out of all the books I've read!

@Narissa I love Eoin Colfer!