What is the issue with a writer being straightforward with what they have to say? This isn't me saying every piece of fiction needs to make it blatantly obvious what the themes or morals are but I see this criticism a lot.
What is the issue with a writer being straightforward with what they have to say? This isn't me saying every piece of fiction needs to make it blatantly obvious what the themes or morals are but I see this criticism a lot.
If a story is very clear and I can clock what it's trying to say and therefor probably what's going to happen next, I get kinda bored.
An analogy might be helpful: I really like prog rock with complex rhythms, melodies, and harmonies for instance. Part of the fun of listening is to try to grok the patterns as they unfold and then getting surprised when it does something unexpected, or feeling good when I felt something coming up that wasn't obvious. This holds for writing, too. It's fun to be guessing in your head as to exactly a character's motivations, what's behind the door, how is this all going to come back together, etc.
Sometimes a straightforward work is nice, but often enough I like something a little crunchy to keep me engaged and thinking about the work even when I'm not reading it.
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