tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post4136021003287997036..comments2024-03-27T23:59:01.850-07:00Comments on Writing About Writing (And Occasionally Some Writing): Fridging: Who's Dying for Whom?Chris Brecheenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-64611567736172350242020-05-16T01:00:27.393-07:002020-05-16T01:00:27.393-07:00I've been writing and I've been trying lik...I've been writing and I've been trying like hell to kill off my most evil character, he simply doesn't want to die. It's frustrating. On the other hand, my heroine keeps getting herself into situations where she ends up dead (being resurrected) or near death.KitKathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06168395923382967126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-47115209228686779542018-02-11T09:57:18.723-08:002018-02-11T09:57:18.723-08:00Would you think that in the first installment of t...Would you think that in the first installment of the hunger games book, the character of Rue also falls under the trope of fridging? poetrysvenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05286344721859219559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-59828724915537620962018-02-11T02:21:31.109-08:002018-02-11T02:21:31.109-08:00You can't remove 'all the tropes' from...You can't remove 'all the tropes' from a story: tropes are what they're made of. "Tropes are not bad", but there are some bad tropes, like fridging, and others that can be bad in a certain context.<br /><br />I've had my TV Tropes period too, which coincidented with a long block, but the latter had started for unrelated reasons… And it made me realize some stuff too.<br /><br />I have pretty much the same story : for example, I did have a fridged character. I was horrified to discover that… so I read more TV Trope pages, and started thinking about how to fix it. At the time, I was still looking at the story from a skewed perspective, so I didn't find the best solution right away, but it's probably thinking about fridging and gender sterotypes that had me change the biology and societies of a whole race of aliens to make them agender, and it fits them so well that when I see gendered pronouns in previous drafts I cringe and have to resist the urge to change every pronoun.<br /><br />Now I'm finally getting somewhere with that old, OLD story that I love a LOT, finally thinking I'm going to finish it… and that fridged character disappeared entirely, because the whole side plot was just there for the Drama and, in the end, felt wrong and useless.<br /><br />… and now I don't go on TV Tropes as much, because… yeah. "Tropes are not bad", but I've come to realize that, for me at least, they're a useful way to think about a story only when there's some troubleshooting to do with the plot and/or characters.Daelfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08718474556202453361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-66438580824421160262018-02-11T00:14:57.167-08:002018-02-11T00:14:57.167-08:00I feel like most GRRM's kills (in ASoIaF) are ...I feel like most GRRM's kills (in ASoIaF) are white males. This is almost certainly because the story primarily takes place on a white populated continent where males are constantly trying to 'stick each other with the pointy end', but I can really only think of 5.5 major female/POC deaths vs. at least 16.25 major white male deaths.<br />(Decimals are awarded for various levels of resurrection.)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06115981667487574262noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-30605464439579417362017-09-06T18:47:03.153-07:002017-09-06T18:47:03.153-07:00I had some interesting experiences with TV Tropes....I had some interesting experiences with TV Tropes. I agree it can trigger writer's block, but it's very useful if handled carefully.<br /><br />Right after I discovered TV Tropes, I had a short but particularly bad writer's block after being lost in its maze for over a week. When I was at the bottom of that self-pity pit we writers like to throw ourselves from time to time, I realized I couldn't get rid of all the tropes in my book. There were some that I managed to change or cut out entirely, but most I just tweaked a little to make them mean something, not just sit there like mindless plot devices.<br /><br />There was also another story I had written when I was a lot younger (and more naïve and immature), but I always thought there was something wrong with it. After a long walk in the TV Tropes maze, I analyzed this story through the tropes lenses and tried to switch the genders of ALL the characters. I was scared with the amount of shit I had written (for both male and female characters). I really like this story, I think it has potential, so when I have the time I'll probably rewrite it. At least now I know some of the changes I have to make so it will improve from a stinking pile of crap on a hot summer's day to a regular kind of stinking crap. And, who knows, it may even stop stinking someday.Cinthia Gochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10516090678037276948noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-13735300895393771922017-09-04T06:29:28.059-07:002017-09-04T06:29:28.059-07:00Every time I read one of these articles I can'...Every time I read one of these articles I can't help but think about my own writing. Gotta make sure I'm not making the same mistakes, haha.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07218840961387573201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-70770083451602763052015-12-19T18:55:59.423-08:002015-12-19T18:55:59.423-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-15545673358082195782015-12-19T18:54:11.071-08:002015-12-19T18:54:11.071-08:00I dislike TV Tropes for the fact that they make wr...I dislike TV Tropes for the fact that they make writers gunshy to write almost anything at all, but you're right about their usefulness. Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-29419412490778854472015-12-19T13:22:01.121-08:002015-12-19T13:22:01.121-08:00Your second-to-last paragraph makes me think of ot...Your second-to-last paragraph makes me think of other tropes which are at least as common, particularly the Magical Negro ( http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalNegro ).<br /><br />In fact, getting lost in the maze of TV Tropes (a la Wikipedia surfing) for several hours every so often might be very good training for would-be authors. They seem to have a good grasp of socio-political trends as seen in media, and even if you're out to subvert the paradigm, it's best to know what the paradigm is first.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17616008822535391370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-79559359064722245532015-12-19T09:35:17.868-08:002015-12-19T09:35:17.868-08:00A lot of women and POC authors subvert this trope ...A lot of women and POC authors subvert this trope in one way or another. It's one of the reason a diverse reading list is so awesome. Chris Brecheenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07819138776404280633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2660089177097719300.post-16287529231272262892015-12-18T22:55:13.921-08:002015-12-18T22:55:13.921-08:00I also can think of *one* example of gender-revers...I also can think of *one* example of gender-reversed fridging in something I've read, but only one: the murder of Paul Tankersley in <i>Field of Dishonor.</i> Honor Harrington collects quite a lot of tropes that most writers reserve for male protagonists, which is a major reason I hope the putative movie franchise based on those books actually happens.Alex Harmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18081758930952296822noreply@blogger.com