...drive me crazy. Yes, I'm one but I don't write in the typical style, obviously.
I've recently tried two new to me inspirational writers. Both of them had animals die in the story. In both cases, the animals died of old age. Still. Excuse me? This is how you elicit the heart tug you want?
In both stories, the death did not move the story along.
Granted, animals die. It is never an acceptable contrived plot device.
Not. In. My. Books. Ever.
Needless to say, I've added two authors to my Never Read Again list.
Rant over.
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Wow, that's unbelievable that you had to deal with two such stories recently! It's too bad they had to resort to such a ploy to tug at heart strings -- which obviously backfired, at least with one discerning reader. Really, what's the point of writing about such a sad thing as the death of an animal if it isn't intrinsic to the story?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I think in one case they were trying to show how compassionate the hero was. I could think of a hundred other ways to have accomplished the same thing. In the case of the other, I don't know what the point was. It came across as more cruel than kind to my way of thinking. Animals can add to a story or detract from the writer. Hmmm, never realized that about my perspective. I mean, Tolkien kills Smaug, but it was necessary. However, he saves Bill the Pony. Everything I need to know about writing, I learned from Tolkien. LOL!
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