Are there genres or scenarios you like watching in film, but don't have the courage to write?

The Chatters
1

Since Qualeshia has disappeared, I thought I’d try to come up with some interesting topics like she does. I’ve been watching Mystery Recapped, Series Recapped, and they recap a lot of sci-fi movies from around the world.

The ones that are interesting to me have some type of social divide, or a weird social rule for the powerful person to maintain power. It all happens in some “perfect” futuristic world where everything appears to be good, nice, and then some type of anomaly happens. This sets into motion the collapse of the perfect, the reveal of its internal corruption that was already present, and then the creation of a “better” society. All this, while sci-fi.

There’s so many layers of character relationships in these. Maybe the villain turns out to have been working against the real villain.

Since I love to explore different types of character relationships, I want to write stories like this that take place in some dystopian sci-fi futuristic society like The Hunger Games or the Maze Runner. But I don’t feel like I can :stuck_out_tongue: Sci-fi is completely out of my comfort zone because things have to at least make sense. You can’t say “well, it works because magick”.

So, are there genres or story scenarios you like watching, but don’t have the courage to write?

9 Likes
2

I have seen a few videos from Mystery Recapped. His best videos are the ones where the movie is so ridiculous and so silly that he can barely narrate it seriously. Hilarious.

You’re definitely thinking of dystopia here, a great genre to get into.

This is actually one of the reasons why I completely dislike magic. The absence of rules and physics is what creates the appeal of the genre for some, but for me it’s a turn-off.

I wouldn’t say there is a genre I enjoy reading/writing that I don’t have the courage to write. I do know, however, that if I attempted to write fantasy or romance, two genres I have no real interest for, the stories would suck big time haha.

3 Likes
3

Mystery-psychological-thriller. I wouldn’t say I don’t have the courage. It’s more like I don’t have the will. e.g., I LOVE the X-Files but I won’t write anything like it. I don’t have the patience :joy:

3 Likes
4

Death Games/Debt Games.

My imagination isn’t demented enough to come up with half of the shit Nobuyuki Fukumoto does.

4 Likes
5

i’ve always wanted to try horror. i have tons of plots for horror novels but writing the horror is such a specific genre that isn’t inherent to me. i’m good at drama and comedy but whenever i write horror it comes out boring.

3 Likes
6

Horror is problematic for me too. I don’t think I could make one work because most of the suspense in a film is created by the dramatic music, camera angles and other things you can’t recreate in a book. Is there actually a scary novel in existence? I’ll have to read the scariest book ever written and see if a novel can actually be frightening. ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

3 Likes
7

I haven’t read Stephen King but isn’t that supposed to be, like, his whole career? Scary books? :joy:

3 Likes
8

Also, to contribute, this is also something I find challenging. I enjoy sci-fi as a genre, particularly the bleak-future kind, but I find the whole research process daunting. I feel like you could definitely have something magick-y about, like some kind of made-up drug or weapons or new elements (like kryptonite or vibranium) or whatever, but you still need a solid scientific base and I honestly wouldn’t even know where to begin with the research :rofl:

One day, though, I want to attempt it. I also used to think I can’t write historical fiction, and I’ve written two now :grin:

3 Likes
9

Omg I totally get this whole discussion. Social heirarchies are difficult to develop because they’ve often been developing for thousands of years with constantly shifting dynamics, and it’s dead-near impossible to flesh out a fantasy/sci-fi social heirarchy without weeks–maybe months–of planning lol.

Although you could say “well it works because magick…” since magic(k) seems to have some funky effects on power dynamics…

Anyways enough with my unwarranted ramblings lol

Not quite writing, but I’d love to animate but don’t have the courage to draw.

3 Likes
10

I’d also love to write a dystopian novel similarly to Divergent and the Hunger Games, but I’m not too sure how exactly to go about it. My sci-fi fantasy does have a dystopian feel in regards to the corrupt government, but they’re not exactly the “evil overlords” you typically read about because there is a little bit more to why and how they’re corrupt… and a part of it is magic related. xD

Dystopians are often more precise, and they share common relations to real-world problems. In fact, America is perfect as a dystopian government. Just need to add in advanced technology and, if we’re talking YA, a bunch of teens who can overthrow it. :rofl: But honestly, the politics and the reasons for why a world turns out this way can be difficult, and therefore, a little bit too intimidating to try. :sweat_smile:

Personally, historical fiction gets me because while I love watching historical dramas and whatnot, like Bridgerton, Downton Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Anne with an E, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. I cannot fathom doing so much research on a project and having to be not only accurate timeline wise (or period time wise), but also nailing dialogue and other forms to make it seem more accurate. Heck, even in a futuristic setting that I have in my novel is difficult, and I can at least make it up as I go along. But with period pieces? Totally different ball game.

One day, I’d love to make an historical fiction novel. But that’s probably not going to be any time soon.

SAME.

I also love horror, but writing it is so difficult. Then again, I haven’t picked up a lot of horror novels because there’s not much out there besides Stephen King. :upside_down_face: I’ve read one novel from him, which was the Outsider, and it was good, but not scary. Maybe a little spoopy, but because it’s more of a murder mystery, it wasn’t like it scared the socks right off my feet. xD

I need to find a really good horror novel.

And you are right about the horror movies (and video games): music, camera angles, even the environment and atmosphere within the movie/game makes it scary. And this is hard to do on page.

3 Likes
11

Yes! Horror atmospheres take so much skill to write about. i’m a very good remixer. if i submerge myself in a genre (watch movies/tv shows/read books) of any kind i can make up a plot and follow the tropes and get moving. i can’t do that for horror. everything just falls flat.

3 Likes
12

I’ll write it.

1 Like
13

That’s what I mean: the few I’ve read weren’t scary to me. Maybe they are to other people…?

3 Likes
14

I’m sure there are, considering how many horror movies have been based on them :woman_shrugging: Horror movies are definitely different from horror books, though.

2 Likes
15

I listen to horror narrator on Youtube a lot in my free time. Horrobabble for your classics, Dark Somnium for your fresh and new tales.

I can link you one or two stories that scared me, at least, but I might just be easy to scare. I’m also easy to make laugh as well, maybe it’s in the same part of the brain.

1 Like
16

It’s kind of the same with listening to someone tell you a story, though. In an audio book the narrator can make the words scary by changing his voice, eerie music playing in the background, significant pauses, etc. It’s somehow different when you’re reading a book. How does one make reading a book scary just with words on a page? Have you ever read a really scary book before? I’ve only read a handful of horror novels, but none of them scared me, and I’m REALLY easy to scare! ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

1 Like
17

Does manga go against your ideal?

1 Like
18

Well, again, that’s not scaring a reader through words on a page. That’s done with scary images, so it’s not the same as a horror novel. I need to learn how to make readers feel something with my writing, so I was hoping that reading horror novels might give me an idea on how to build suspense and fear through just words, but so far I haven’t had any luck with that since I can’t find a novel that’s actually scary. They make incredibly scary movies, but the books themselves just don’t make me feel any fear. Which is kinda funny–for the longest time I was terrified of reading horror novels because I scare so easily and don’t like being scared, that I never ever read horror at all. But now that I’ve read a few, I just don’t see how readers get frightened by them. I’m sure there must be books out there that are truly frightening, or maybe you have to read them in a dark room at night all alone or something, but so far I just haven’t found any books that are as scary as TV, movies, audiobooks, etc. Evidently it takes sound and visuals to scare me…? ¯\_(ﭢ)_/¯

1 Like
19

Maybe you’re supressing your imagination.

1 Like
20

Maybe I honestly don’t HAVE any imagination–you may be right! (♯^.^ღ)

1 Like