Writing I think I wrote myself into a corner

[mememon]

You see, my character - main character, is a person with superb memory.

For added context:

In this fantasy setting, I've already wrote that he can do a lot of things with it, like reconstructing everything from memory, remembering smallest details that shouldn't even be remembered; the generic photographic memory, creating a "mind space", learning previously encountered language by remembering the words and instantly associating it(He doesn't know the language before, he just learned it after having good recollection of it), and he could even "slow down time" by using it.

Basically a cheat skill. His cheat skill to be exact - a cheat skill that doesn't appear in his status, just naturally inherent for him.

Now, here's the problem.

What's stopping my character from just going into a library and becoming an All knowing God? Like... He would kinda just be unstoppable after that, I guess?

I don't know about you, but I think that him being too good at everything just by being locked into a library would just remove all stakes.

How do I not make him this all knowing God in an instant?

just don't let him enter a library. burn that place. lol

 

[Kepler22b]

So... infinite memory with instant recall + fast thinking speed.

A great memory is a decent cheat, but not enough to instantly become god.

(1) Information needed isn't available.

(2) Knowledge, even if available, is never really concentrated in one place. People are very good at filling pages with garbage information that dilutes the contents to a point where you spend more time trying to piece together their garbage than learning anything.

(3) Even with all the knowledge in the world available, that knowledge may be imperfect. e.g., as of now, we don't have a general cure for cancer, or a blueprint for efficient general artificial intelligence, or a photonic computer not limited by memory read/write speeds, or a reliable way to detect and interact with "dark matter", or a way to program DNA to make cells do what we want, or...

(4) Even if you have enough thinking speed, you don't have infinite thinking speed. For most mathematical problems you'll encounter in the real world, brute forcing calculations is not viable: the necessary compute can grow much faster than the size of the problem, even if are smart about how you solve it. For more information, search: time complexity programming.

(5) Even with sufficient knowledge, sometimes you're limited by the means you have to apply that knowledge. e.g., you want to design a microchip: you first need a lithography machine, which is complicated to manufacture in a backwards world, which makes your microchip knowledge obsolete until you get your hands on the lithography machine. Or, you need graphene for whatever reason, and for that you know that you need to do some genetic engineering on microorganisms to use them to manufacture the perfect graphene you need. Doing genetic engineering implies having the tools, the knowledge... decoding the organism's genes, knowing how to modify them...

(6) To really achieve god like omniscience and omnipotence, you'll have to understand the world you're in to the most basic element. You'll have to develop a way to see everything to the most minute detail, and to the greatest distance. And you'll have to develop ways to manipulate reality the way you see fit. The journey to this point can be pretty damn long. And until your MC isn't completely omniscient and omnipotent, not everything has to go according to plan, though for a smart MC it is expected for them to have backup plans or expect the deviations and accept the losses. Unless you have a very unexpected situation, a smart MC will not be caught with their pants down. Besides this, even after achieving god like status among peers, is what they achieved really godhood? Can they only destroy, or can they also create? Is everything already explored, or is there still an unexploited infinity of things out of reach? e.g., the universe is composed of 5% mater, 26% dark matter, and 68% dark energy. Your world might have more worlds in other star systems, galaxies, galactic clusters, etc... Parallel dimensions... Parallel timelines... Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum mechanics...

In short, the world is too big for you to even think that you wrote yourself into a corner with just a super-intelligence cheat skill. Whenever you think you know it all, you should try to list all that you don't know. Your arrogance will fizzle away pretty quickly.

 

[TASTYLEADPAINT]

What do you mean you WROTE yourself into a corner??

Unwrite it.........

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

Easy. Talent to apply knowledge is insufficient. Personality problem that stops him from being able to study properly. Maybe just have him reach his limit of what his cheat can do. At least that way he has ways to use it more creatively:

 

[Ruti]

What's stopping my character from just going into a library and becoming an All knowing God? Like... He would kinda just be unstoppable after that, I guess?

Give him severe dyslexia. Yes he COULD read an entire library, but does he REALLY want to when it makes him incredibly dizzy because of dyslexia?

 

[BHBaskerville]

It really depends on your setting.

I think this would be a great way to include something that is antiemetic. Aka knowledge that actively tries to make you forget it.

For someone who never forgets suddenly finding there is a gap in your memory will would be...traumatic. And you can spin that out from there.

Otherwise as others have said. Knowledge is only as useful as your ability to act on it. Even if they remember everything doesn't mean that its all useful. Prefect recall can be a curse especially when you have experienced trauma. Just a matter of how introspective you want the MC to be.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

I see three ways to limit it without getting tangled up — and without giving your readers a reason to curse you in the name of the Book Gods. ?


Option one, if you don’t want to bring magic into your world, is a well-known trope from Johnny Mnemonic. You keep everything grounded in brain function and basic physiology.
The character starts absorbing massive amounts of information, but at some point realizes they can’t recall a childhood memory.
Let’s say a book triggers something, they try to remember it, but it’s just… gone.
You could actually describe that moment.
Now they’re stuck with a dilemma: take in all the new stuff, or hold on to something old, something important.


Option two — something similar happened with Colonel Jack O’Neill in Stargate.
After downloading a massive database into his brain, he started suffering from memory overload.
You could write how he tried to offload the knowledge later and became way more cautious about taking in large amounts of data ever again.


Option three, if there is magic in your world, maybe the character accidentally read something forbidden, like a spellbook.
Could be a memory wipe curse, a restriction incantation, or… whatever wild idea your imagination throws at you. Sky’s the limit.


I had to write this down or it was going to keep bouncing around in my brain.
Good luck. You’ve got this.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

I see three ways to limit it without getting tangled up — and without giving your readers a reason to curse you in the name of the Book Gods. ?


Option one, if you don’t want to bring magic into your world, is a well-known trope from Johnny Mnemonic. You keep everything grounded in brain function and basic physiology.
The character starts absorbing massive amounts of information, but at some point realizes they can’t recall a childhood memory.
Let’s say a book triggers something, they try to remember it, but it’s just… gone.
You could actually describe that moment.
Now they’re stuck with a dilemma: take in all the new stuff, or hold on to something old, something important.

Arthur Conan Doyle mentioned this - it was Sherlock Holmes theory of memory, the "Attic Theory" - the attic can only store so much data, and at some point you have to either consciously decide what is important or just stop learning trivial things (like "rules of courtesy")...

Option two — something similar happened with Colonel Jack O’Neill in Stargate.
After downloading a massive database into his brain, he started suffering from memory overload.
You could write how he tried to offload the knowledge later and became way more cautious about taking in large amounts of data ever again.


Option three, if there is magic in your world, maybe the character accidentally read something forbidden, like a spellbook.
Could be a memory wipe curse, a restriction incantation, or… whatever wild idea your imagination throws at you. Sky’s the limit.


I had to write this down or it was going to keep bouncing around in my brain.
Good luck. You’ve got this.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

Arthur Conan Doyle mentioned this - it was Sherlock Holmes theory of memory, the "Attic Theory" - the attic can only store so much data, and at some point you have to either consciously decide what is important or just stop learning trivial things (like "rules of courtesy")...

"There is no new thing under the sun."

 

[Daitengu]

The easiest is to have the MC get bored of the very dry reads of knowledge, and ends up wandering to the fiction section.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

The easiest is to have the MC get bored of the very dry reads of knowledge, and ends up wandering to the fiction section.

What if he doesn’t even need to read deeply, just skims pages and absorbs?
What if he’s just that focused. That driven.
Becoming a god matters more to him than boredom ever could.

 

[Daitengu]

What if he doesn’t even need to read deeply, just skims pages and absorbs?
What if he’s just that focused. That driven.
Becoming a god matters more to him than boredom ever could.

You mean obsessive tism. Like so many Manhwa protags. So boring lol

 

[HisDivineShadow]

You mean obsessive tism. Like so many Manhwa protags. So boring lol

It depends...

 

[Terrate]

I see three ways to limit it without getting tangled up — and without giving your readers a reason to curse you in the name of the Book Gods. ?


Option one, if you don’t want to bring magic into your world, is a well-known trope from Johnny Mnemonic. You keep everything grounded in brain function and basic physiology.
The character starts absorbing massive amounts of information, but at some point realizes they can’t recall a childhood memory.
Let’s say a book triggers something, they try to remember it, but it’s just… gone.
You could actually describe that moment.
Now they’re stuck with a dilemma: take in all the new stuff, or hold on to something old, something important.


Option two — something similar happened with Colonel Jack O’Neill in Stargate.
After downloading a massive database into his brain, he started suffering from memory overload.
You could write how he tried to offload the knowledge later and became way more cautious about taking in large amounts of data ever again.


Option three, if there is magic in your world, maybe the character accidentally read something forbidden, like a spellbook.
Could be a memory wipe curse, a restriction incantation, or… whatever wild idea your imagination throws at you. Sky’s the limit.


I had to write this down or it was going to keep bouncing around in my brain.
Good luck. You’ve got this.

Thank you. I have a good general idea now that would really solve the problem of him just becoming a God if he does step foot in a library. I appreciate that you even made another thread about it

The easiest is to have the MC get bored of the very dry reads of knowledge, and ends up wandering to the fiction section.

What if he doesn’t even need to read deeply, just skims pages and absorbs?
What if he’s just that focused. That driven.
Becoming a god matters more to him than boredom ever could.

Yes, he could just skim the page. I guess I could also add a mood factor if he ever does get driven.

 

[Our_Lady_in_Twilight]

The convention is for magical texts to be written in a foreign language (thinking real world medieval Latin) and the protag speaks it only imperfectly. He can recall it all, but usually needs to stop and make an effort to make sense of the sentences. For especially difficult bits he needs to transcribe onto paper with the help of a specialist.

 

[SurfAngel_1031]

You see, my character - main character, is a person with superb memory.

For added context:

In this fantasy setting, I've already wrote that he can do a lot of things with it, like reconstructing everything from memory, remembering smallest details that shouldn't even be remembered; the generic photographic memory, creating a "mind space", learning previously encountered language by remembering the words and instantly associating it(He doesn't know the language before, he just learned it after having good recollection of it), and he could even "slow down time" by using it.

Basically a cheat skill. His cheat skill to be exact - a cheat skill that doesn't appear in his status, just naturally inherent for him.

Now, here's the problem.

What's stopping my character from just going into a library and becoming an All knowing God? Like... He would kinda just be unstoppable after that, I guess?

I don't know about you, but I think that him being too good at everything just by being locked into a library would just remove all stakes.

How do I not make him this all knowing God in an instant?

Just because he has a photographic memory and supernatural recall, doesn't mean he necessarily wants to improve it. Why bother reading or learning until he absolutely needs to? Which at that point, it might be too late.

Just because a person can do something, doesn't mean they will.
You aren't in a corner, just don't use it unless he really needs it, for all he cares - he could just be a surfer stoner without any direction.

 

[Anonjohn20]

You see, my character - main character, is a person with superb memory.

For added context:

In this fantasy setting, I've already wrote that he can do a lot of things with it, like reconstructing everything from memory, remembering smallest details that shouldn't even be remembered; the generic photographic memory, creating a "mind space", learning previously encountered language by remembering the words and instantly associating it(He doesn't know the language before, he just learned it after having good recollection of it), and he could even "slow down time" by using it.

Basically a cheat skill. His cheat skill to be exact - a cheat skill that doesn't appear in his status, just naturally inherent for him.

Now, here's the problem.

What's stopping my character from just going into a library and becoming an All knowing God? Like... He would kinda just be unstoppable after that, I guess?

I don't know about you, but I think that him being too good at everything just by being locked into a library would just remove all stakes.

How do I not make him this all knowing God in an instant?

You could make it so that the knowledge he can know is capped; he has perfect recollection, but after learning a certain amount of knowledge, to learn more, he has to forget something he already knows.

 

[ChubbyLiv]

Headache. The more he reads, the more his head hurts.

 

[yeul_e]

When writing, should I make an outline or just writing and see where it goes?

 

[Deleted member 206441]

When writing, should I make an outline or just writing and see where it goes?

Depends