How to avoid writing the next The Eye of Argon?

[TheBryceKrispy]

On the internet, writing advice tends to be what to do to achieve a great manuscript but its uncommon for it to be on what not to do. I feel like a writer could learn more on what not to do than what to do.

So, I'm asking for advice on how not to write the next The Eye of Argon. Its considered the worst fantasy novella ever and has been used in a party game where readers try to read it out loud without laughing. The backlash was so bad that Jim Theis vowed he would never write another story again. So, I'd like to avoid that please.

Part of me wonders, what would happen if he didn't quit? You know, if he would have written another heroic fantasy novella or something would it have been better? Despite the novella's quality, isn't the worst thing he did was giving up? I mean, its not completely hopeless though since it does give people some enjoyment through that party game even if they are laughing at how bad it is.

What are tips/advice on how not to write something as bad as The Eye of Argon?

[DiegoPalacios]

Not familiar with The Eye of Argon, but when it comes to avoiding bad writing here is some advice:

1-Tropes/writing conventions are tools. Which ones work will depend of your story. Figure out what works or doesnt work and why. There are not absolutely good or bad tools (even the ones that suck the most can be used to make a great parody)

2-What works in a medium may not work in another. Novels lack the visual element, and to convey that it is neccesary to compensate with a compelling description. Show, dont tell is still neccesary, but it requires a different approach than in a visual medium.

3-Characters make the story: learn how to write interesting and beleivable characters, and keep their characterization consistent. Some characters may go through some character development, but make sure the transition is beleivable.

4-Practice: one becomes better at writing stories by writing stories.......learn from your mistakes, and use it as a tool for improvement.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

If you want advice on what NOT to do, this forum is already full of trope-hating topics; there's a new one practically every other month. ^^; They're basically huge lists of things people have seen in stories that they don't like...here's a few to start:

Let's talk character building choices that you hate to read, maybe even dealbreakers for whether or not you're gonna finish reading the comic or novel or TV show or otherwise. I've got two big ones: Holy seriousness - The leads are bereft of levity. Particularly if the concept of the story is super high concept, or maybe inherently a little silly. A Geralt needs a Jaskier, you know what I'm saying? At least as far as my tastes are concerned. Either way, I understand not everyone is good at hum…

Anybody have some cliches or tropes that they hate? Everybody's gotta have one, I'm sure of it. I want this to be like a hub where people can see what might not sit well with readers and all that. Like a "here's what to avoid when writing" type of thing. Hopefully no arguments come out of this lol I know people love certain tropes that other people hate, but let's keep this a calm discussion, please?

they're not really toxic. not really that problematic. maybe you enjoy some of it, but it still annoys you.

If I had to give one piece of all-encompassing advice, though, I'd say to know your limits. If writing flowery descriptions is hard for you, for instance, don't force yourself to write them, or try your best to write what you think a flowery description sounds like. It will show. ._.
Same for certain kinds of characters...if you have trouble writing nice characters or socially-aware characters, don't make them the MC's of your next novel.

I think writing is one of those art forms where you actually learn more by watching than by doing...write what you feel comfortable with, and if you want to try something new, start by experiencing existing characters that already fit the bill. Observe, take notes, experiment, then give it a shot.

[C_o]

I actually don't think The Eye of Argon is all that much worse than most of the Forgotten Realms novels (which I was obsessed with in Junior High and I can now recognize as being pretty badly written). I'd say the worst fantasy novel I've ever read is easily Eragon by ‎Christopher Paolini. That was truly awful (and also written by a teenager) but remains celebrated for some reason.

I honestly think that most fantasy creators/writers would benefit from exposing themselves to more work that isn't fantasy. You can tell when a creator's diet and exposure to content is extremely limited, they tend to produce work that is super derivative, filled with juvenile tropes, or adheres to some "rules" they think need to be followed. Which is super weird in a genre where literally anything could conceivably happen.

[Zaboem]

I will also confess to ignorance. I had never heard of The Eye of Argon, but I did have the common sense to Google it before posting this message. It has a 47% rating on Goodreads, so it cannot be that bad.

I just read the first page of The Eye of Argon. The prose is very purple, but that's sometimes fun. I see only one very minor grammar issue, so at least it got a good proofreader. I have definitely read worse. Heck, I've read worse on Tapas.

Maybe the issue with Eye of Argon was that the style passed out of favor, so a very vocal minority hates it (maybe). The author has no control over that.

The even bigger but related issue is the trend of contemporary readers going out of their way to the works of guys like Lovecraft, Henilein, and Card because they don't like the author or social or political reasons. To a degree, an author can control this by being the objectively best person possible, but even that stretches only so far into the future. Any person who thinks that he or she will not be vilified by future generations by their standards of morality is fooling oneself. I think I'll be in my sixties by the time younger people are spitting on me in the streets and telling me that I should be in prison.

To answer the question, Diego already gave better advice than me. I would add...
- Don't be a jackhole.
- Do not misrepresent your story's content by its genre label or description.
- Read diverse authors yourself so you don't become an inferior imitation of the only author you do read.

[nathanKmcwilliams]

I've never heard of it, but I'll just say what I always do.

Write what you want to write.

Do research on tropes of course, do your best to create a unique story, but don't fret so much on whether or not people won't like it. Pleasing everyone is impossible.

The others have already put some good advice, they're all knowledgeable people. My advice is...just be true to yourself.

[kytri]

So I have read the Eye of Argon and honestly it's not that remarkably bad when compared to a lot of people's first attempts at writing as teens. Go on any fanfiction site and you'll find plenty of similarly poorly written works by teenagers. Eye of Argon is mostly well known because it was written and published in the 70s when amateur fiction was much harder to come by and in that it's bad in interesting ways. Most bad fiction is just boring. I'm honestly kind of sad that he never tried to write anything else.

I think if you're aware enough of the potential problems to be worried worried about it whatever you write will probably not be that bad. And even if it is that's okay? Most people write a some garbage before they write anything good.

[NickRowler]

I am not familiar with The Eye of Argon however if it is something you would want to avoid, I would recommend seeking out people's reviews/opinions on the book. You might get a better sense of what people disliked and you can keep that in mind when you are writing.

[demthorshie]

Eye of Argon

I've honestly never heard of The Eye of Argon, but I'm actually curious to look it up in a minute. If it's anything on the level of My Immortal, then that should be something... First things first, don't try too hard to make the most incredible story ever written. These kinds of stories tend to have every fantasy trope on the planet and you also tend to run in to what I like to call 'the god characters'. God characters are just the worst, they have no real dimensions or personality, they always do everything just right and are basically indestructible. Actually take the time to write your characters properly instead of writing them to be 'cool' or what you think people will find cool.

Most importantly, write stories that you would want to read. Write them for you. Writing a decent story takes a lot of patience and practice, you might as well write something that you would enjoy reading in the end.

[IsobelLynx]

I don't know The Eye of Argon so I can't comment on what went wrong there.

I'll tell you, people read stories for the characters, not for the plot or the worldbuilding that you might take so much care in creating for them. They feel it when it's missing, but when they remember a book, they actually remember a character that did all those things.

So when you think what not to do, don't forget about the characters. They're the ones pushing the story forward. You, first of all, but then also the reader, you both need to know what their goals, wounds, lies and truths are.