Let me plot the ways...

Matthew Williams kingofduckburg at apptechnc.net
Mon Feb 16 17:41:24 CET 2004


Concerning "An Entangled Encounter" specifically, I felt like the story was
elevated from being a rip-off of a dozen other stories by its clever
characterization of the spiders.  I thoroughly enjoyed the spiders' dialogue
and names, in particular.  The exchanges between Scrooge and Donald were
fresh and funny as well.  The accidental shrinking and the conclusion where
Scrooge flew off at the businessman for wanting to smash the spider seemed
familiar, but I didn't feel like I was being served reheated leftovers.



Approaching the issue from a more general standpoint, I would argue that
truly original plot lines are hard to come by.  I wonder how many truly
original plots are left out there!  Reducing most plot lines to their basic
elements might seemingly reveal a lack of originality on the writer's part.
Still, consider all of the Barks' stories where the ducks become entangled
with a society of little people.  Many of these stories share very similar
plot details and motifs, but when I read "Land of the Peewigahs," I don't
worry that Barks is ripping off "Mystery of the Swamp."  Some of Barks
ten-pagers are even more direct rewrites of earlier stories.  Take the two
ten-pagers where the boys rebel against bathing.  Barks brings enough
originality to the second story to keep it from being a disappointing rehash
of the first story.  Additionally, it's important to remember that all of
Shakespeare's plays were based on older stories or plays.  Only immature
students would accuse Shakespeare of plagiarism, though.



To me, a good story can have a very familiar plotline and still be a good
story.  It's just important that SOMETHING about the story is original.  The
gags should be fresh, or maybe something unique should be revealed or
reflected about the characters.  In the comics, often an artist's fresh
style redeems a story that would be trite otherwise.  Many Rosa stories
follow a time-tested treasure hunt plot development, but Rosa keeps the
stories fresh with a basis in historical truth (of course, Rosa uses many,
many other devices to keep his comics fresh).



And I'll say one more thing!  I like original story ideas-a large part of
the success of Van Horn's "The Whistling Ghost," for example, is due to the
bizarre, original plot.  Still, plot isn't at the top of my list of story
priorities.  Character, dialogue, and humor all come before plot for me.  I
think a story is only truly a failure when it lacks originality in multiple
areas.



Thanks for letting me ramble!



Matt



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