Tbaron1756
New Member
My stories seem to have a lot of murder. Someone is always getting killed in my stories. And suicide is also a theme I do a lot.
What Is One Thing All Your Stories Have In Common?
- Thread starter typree
- Start date
defaux
May contain traces of purple
Active Member
Member
New Member
Winner: August Flash Fiction
Winner: August Short Story
I feel like this is becoming inevitable. For one with a highly consistent, recognisable voice, it is likely a good thing. My fear is my work becoming "samey," and therefore boring, as my voice finds its consistency.
Beyond that, I'd say Tragedy. All of my stories seem to have the protagonist facing some tragic event or other. This has not been a conscious decision, but seems to be the result of attempting to make my characters feel human.
"Never to suffer would have been never to have been blessed." ~ Poe
Something that I have been aware of for awhile is that most of my stories are about a woman or are narrated by a woman. It may be because it is easier for me to convey emotion and personality through the eyes of a woman. The men in my stories tend to be a little emotionally slow and less perceptive than men. I don't question it, and I don't avoid it. I don't even think about it while I am writing.
Just wanted to say I had a nice LOL at your signature there
Haha. +1.Just wanted to say I had a nice LOL at your signature there
Just wanted to say I had a nice LOL at your signature there
***WARNING: Slightly long, but I hope this is worth reading***
It's a famous quote, but Jay King used it in his profile post to attribute it to Spike Milligan. Now it's being attributed to Will Rogers. I've also seen it attributed to George Carlin.
Something is obviously not quite right here! *nod* I started wondering who really said that, so I pulled up my sleeves and did some investigatin'.
Some websites do indeed credit Spike Milligan, but some don't credit it at all and some credit "some bloke they heard". WikiQuote and Quote Investigator doesn't have it at all.
On the other hand, both WikiQuote and GoodReads credit Bob Monkhouse with it, here and here respectively. (The Guardian also credits Bob Monkhouse in this article, and I doubt they have any axe to grind on this angle).
All of this is inconclusive, but I very much doubt that Spike Milligan would have said this. Here's why:
1. Spike Milligan was born in 1918, just 10 years after first car (the Ford Model T) was mass-produced by Henry Ford. Like many "first things", it was expensive - $850 in 1908, which is almost $30,000 today. (This dropped to $290 by 1924, but that is still about $5,500 today - not outrageously priced, but still above the reach of the poorer classes).
2. Spike was born in Ahmadnagar, India (which was then part of the British Raj). In the 1900s, cars in India were a rarity, primarily owned by wealthy individuals and used by the British administration. In the 1920s and 30s, when Spike was growing up, cars in India were primarily imported, luxury vehicles owned by the wealthy, particularly Maharajas and British officials, as the Indian car industry was still in its nascent stages.
3. Spike's father was Leo Alphonse Milligan (1890 - 1969), and his grandfather was William Patrick Marmaduke Milligan (b, 1853 - d. unknown, according to WikiTree). If we assume that William was equally as long-lived as his son and grandson -- a dangerous assumption, but we can try -- then here's what we get:
a. Spike was born in 1918 and died in 2002, aged 83.
b. Leo was born in 1890 and died in 1969, aged 79.
c. William was born in 1853 and died ... aged 80, perhaps? ... in 1933, when Spike was 15 (and probably in England, because Spike migrated to England in 1931).
4. Finally, cars in 1930s England were still expensive. In 1930 England, an Austin Seven Two-Seater cost £130, which is nearly £11,000 in today's money -- that's not cheap! And wikipedia's article on Spike reminds us:
For all these reasons, I would say that Spike Milligan probably did not say that. (Of course, nothing is definite; but it sounds highly improbable).
==============
Was it Will Rogers? This seems even more doubtful. Will Rogers was born in 1879 and died in 1935. Just look him up on wikipedia:
1. Will Rogers's father was Clement Vann Rogers (b. 1835, d. 1911). He probably saw a Ford Model-T, since Henry Ford started mass-producing them in 1910. BUT ...
2. Will's grandfather was Robert Rogers, Jr., (1815–1842). He would never even see a car, much less drive one.
So Will Rogers is right out of the picture, simply based on the timeline alone.
Will's son, Will Rogers, Jr. (1911-1993) is slightly more likely, simply based on the time period he lived in. But he was not an entertainer like his father, but rather a writer, newspaper publisher, and member of the House of Representatives. Also, his grandfather was Will Rogers's father Clement, who -- as we know -- died when cars were still very expensive, and before Will Rogers himself made his fortune.
So ... conclusions?
1. Definitely not Will Rogers (and probably not his son);
2. Very probably not Spike Milligan; BUT ...
3. Bob Monkhouse is a good possibility, based on his inclusion in WikiQuote (which is fairly trustworthy).
All my stories get rejected. This is something they have in common.
One thing that my stories have in common is that they still need a book cover. *sigh* I'm no artist, and AI is obviously no help. Reached out to artists on DeviantArt, but heard nothing yet. Here's hoping.
what genre?
Historical fiction, but with mythological elements appropriate to the setting. (For instance, ancient Greece where Medusa actually exists and has her own agenda, or Viking Iceland with mythic Norse creatures that have their own societies and views, etc.)
Despite the exotic-seeming settings and monsters, I try to give my protagonists understandable goals but tough dilemmas. For instance, one of my protagonists simply wants to keep his job and earn enough to marry his childhood sweetheart. Another finds out that he is adopted, and is urged to find his real parents, but is afraid of what he might find. Yet another tries to defend her home and family against an invasion, and when that fails, she sets out to rescue her missing brother. And so on.
Last edited:
Someone suggested that it is contemporary literary. I can't say that I avoid any genre. I just try to keep my characters, characterization, and plot within the realm of possibility. I try to deal with mostly universal themes, characters, and problems most people have seen or can understand.
Speculative elements are probably the only thing all of my stories have in common; I can’t remember the last time I wrote a story that wasn’t some flavor of speculative fiction.
Almost all of my stories include some sort of violent conflict (a few erotic ones don’t). Redemption is a theme I keep coming back to, even across characters and series. Parenthood is another one. Maybe because I was kinda parentified? I don’t know, but that one in particular has appeared in a lot of my best work in the 2020s.
Almost all of my stories include some sort of violent conflict (a few erotic ones don’t). Redemption is a theme I keep coming back to, even across characters and series. Parenthood is another one. Maybe because I was kinda parentified? I don’t know, but that one in particular has appeared in a lot of my best work in the 2020s.
Artistic (yes, with an R) and/or neurodivergent people looking for connection and meaning.
By neurodivergent, I don't necessarily mean on the autism spectrum, though I have at least one character who is. I mean having highly exceptional (but natural, real-world) neurological capabilities or perceptions or sensitivities.
By neurodivergent, I don't necessarily mean on the autism spectrum, though I have at least one character who is. I mean having highly exceptional (but natural, real-world) neurological capabilities or perceptions or sensitivities.
Last edited:
Whenever I include love in a story, 95% of them involve boy meets girl (or girl meets boy), something goes horrifically wrong (and I do mean horrifically, in the literal sense of the word).
Speaking as a neurodivergent and on the autism spectrum (high-achieving end) person, thank you very much!
Hopefully they're being depicted as normal human beings, because they are. Neurodivergence and the autism spectrum are not anything to be afraid of.
I try.
On Tuesday, my group was discussing a chapter of my very first project, from 2017. One character had just deduced that the other was taking at-least daily meds for Addison's Disease (nothing to do with neurodivergence, obviously).
He: "That must be hard for you."
She: "No. It's normal for me."
He: "Oh. Well, yeah — I guess so."
My perception is that the hardest thing for the neurodivergent is the othering they experience.
This made me realise I don't have many violent conflicts. There's certainly a lot of emotional conflict, but I don't lean much into war or aggression except to look more closely at the people on the edges of those conflicts.
That’s super cool. It made me realize, I don’t think I’ve written something without romance in it in like, an incredibly long time. Sometimes things will start out without romances, but they always seem to circle back to it.
Similar threads
