And In Kids Contents Too That Is Is Shame Because Even Kids Deserve A Good Story They're Not Stupid - Tumblr Posts
Does it seem to anyone else like a lot of contemporary writers just don't trust the intelligence of their readers?? Because like. I've recently read three popular novels ("had to wait four months for my library hold to be fulfilled" kind of popular) by three different writers in three different genres, and every single one of them bread-crumbed conflict which they then instantly resolved. No space for the conflict to build and breathe, no space for it to accomplish anything in the story, no space for character growth or relationship development to occur in response to it.... just, hey, here's a conflict I laid some groundwork for, annnnnnd solved!!! In only three pages, baby!! Whoo! No need to fret! No need to sit with any discomfort!! It's already over!!!
Like. I'm sorry. I thought we were all here to watch a story unfold?? Not to be spoon fed mashed bananas like an itty bitty wittle baby? I don't understand the point of even introducing conflict that gets resolved within three pages. And that is not an exaggeration. In one of these novels, a potentially relationship-breaking interpersonal conflict happened between two main characters, and then literally three pages later it was all fixed. As if it hadn't happened at all. And it was never discussed again. WHAT IS THE POINT OF THAT???
To me this feels like writers not trusting me to stick with the story through discomfort, y'know? Like they think the second anything hard or worrying happens in the story, I'll bail immediately. Like they think I need to be constantly reassured that everything is going to be fine, like they're calming a fussing baby. As if I'm not here to enjoy a story unfolding.
I do not need to have food regurgitated into my mouth, actually. I am fully capable of chewing on the meat of the story. Just let the conflict actually matter. Let the characters feel and struggle with and respond to it. Stop treating me like I'm too stupid and fragile to engage with a real story.