How are YOU going to fix the genre you hate or dislike?

[RepresentingWrath]

If you are a smartass you can skip this step and go straight to showing your superior intellect. For those who aren't midwits, stick with me for a little bit.

So a small mental experiment, mkay? Let's not go crazy over here. Let's assume there is a djin somewhere on the internet, or was it Robin Williams? Anyway, there is someone who PMs you. Now, you think, this is an AI scammer again! Fuck 'em clankers! ? But the person starts by saying, "I will give you 1 million dollars if you write this story." ?The trick is, this persons asks you to write a genre you really dislike or outrights hate. ?

Before you start let me elaborate a little bit further.

First things first, what is a genre? To make it easier for us let's just use SH's genre list. You can also add stuff like Kingdom Building stories, Korean academy stories, Japanese villainess\villain stories, and Chinese cultivation. What is NOT a genre? BDSM, futanari, netorare, blacksmith MC, vampires, and so on. In other words, tags and tropes.

Second part. Since smartasses left us way back, I will talk to you, yes you! ? Let us talk one-on-one, mano a mano, face to face. Let's not try to weasel our way of this curious predicament, mkay? Let's not say, "Well, I hate harem, since I have to write it, I will simply make it into a setting without MC actually having multiple lovers." Let's not. We all write, we all can play with words and stretch the definition of a term to the point it blows up like a balloon. Since this is a mental experiment made for fun, let's think of how to fix the genre while still respecting it.

Phew, can't believen I've already finished. Now I can't wait to read, like, three replies in this thread! Two of which are going to be smartasses saying how they would've made different rules, and one person saying the didn't understand what to do. Bring it on lads!

 

[Racosharko]

"I will give you 1 million dollars if you write this story."

Me: Instantly block, ignore, report.

Two of which are going to be smartasses

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Me: Instantly block, ignore, report.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

Okay,
So the best way to fix any GENRE and this works for all genres, is to give the characters some actual depth. Lots of it.
One thing I've realized about genre writing is that it is often shallow and written to fit whatever archetype fans of that genre like. Overpowered hero, growth hero... etc... like all of these Korean Manwha's with MC progression have the same story where the main character gets stronger and what differentiates them isn't the progression of power but how the characters act and do things.

I generally do not like harems, but every once in a while when a harem has good character depth, it's something I can stomach, but the main reason I don't like harems is because of the stupid reasons that the harem comes about, and the stupid way they end up liking the main character.

An example of a harem I didn't dislike is "The world of Otome Games is tough for Mobs" and that one is because the main character has a very peculiar way of messing with people. Annoying at times, but fun because it not only features a harem, and a reverse harem (which is made fun of) but also has ridiculous social rules in it that are explored in some way.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Cultivation!

I will write a unique one, he is a Canadian Lumberjack who gets stronger every time he eats maple syrup a different way.

Instead of face slaps, he needs to do driveby name callings every 6 chapters.

When he faces down the BBEG, he will proudly tell him "I done saying sorry!" or "Sorry, You are the one that will be sorry now."

 

[Placeholder]

> How are YOU going to fix the genre you hate or dislike?

More car chases and explosions.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

With black jack and hookers.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

With black jack and hookers.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I'm a simple man with a simple desire to see depth in the characters I read.

 

[Cipiteca396]

I... don't really seem to hate genres the way other people do? When I look at this question, I have no idea what genre I would be told to write. I can think of several that I wouldn't want to write- like Tragedy- but... that's not because they need to be "fixed", it's because they would just be boring or depressing to write. If I tried to make them more interesting to me, they would stop being the genre I was told to write, so there's no choice but to ignore my own feelings and just do it.

I guess the main thing is to do your research so you understand what you're writing.

 

[BigBadBoi]

Cultivation!

I will write a unique one, he is a Canadian Lumberjack who gets stronger every time he eats maple syrup a different way.

Instead of face slaps, he needs to do driveby name callings every 6 chapters.

When he faces down the BBEG, he will proudly tell him "I done saying sorry!" or "Sorry, You are the one that will be sorry now."

How many warcrimes will that canadian lumberjack commit and invent?

 

[Placeholder]

> I'm a simple man with a simple desire to see depth in the characters I read.

Let's try to be realistic here.

 

[expentio]

Cultivation!

I will write a unique one, he is a Canadian Lumberjack who gets stronger every time he eats maple syrup a different way.

Instead of face slaps, he needs to do driveby name callings every 6 chapters.

When he faces down the BBEG, he will proudly tell him "I done saying sorry!" or "Sorry, You are the one that will be sorry now."

Regarding cultivation, I think the biggest issue is invincibility. The main trope, which I also despise most, is that it shows a quite severe Chinese mentality of thinking in tiers. As if there's an impossibility to even measure up to someone above you. I saw several examples of cultivation stories that kinda gave an upper-tier complete dominion over everything, perfect defense against lower-level attacks (no matter what they even specialise in), and absolute awareness against ambushes.
Personally, I think even non-cultivators should still be capable of posing a threat. Maybe not a big one, but no character should just be able to ignore everyone below them. Otherwise, characters quickly don't matter anymore, as they can just be dismissed.

Other stuff would be a general MC-nerf. No better understanding of concepts others researched for eternity, no moral high ground (more of a reasonable person, who accepts they have flaws and holds themself accountable for), and please, don't let them ace some imperial exam they didn't even learn for!

 

[Gray_Mann]

Korean academy stories

Still a bit amused that this is a thing. Out of the Big 3 of Asian Literature, (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), Koreans will always be superior to me. But I'm genuinely amused that I've noticed Koreans tend to get lumped in with their School-Aged Dramas. I would've thought the Japanese won that one in particular since like every other Japanese MC is a high-schooler, but nope! The Koreans took it.

I will simply make it into a setting without MC actually having multiple lovers.

Gods I dislike these types of people. If MC doesn't end story with A MINIMUM of 3 Lovers, you didn't write a Harem. I don't care how the Japs butchered the term, and fuck'em for doing so. You didn't write a Harem. It's like a pet peeve of mine. I feel like I've ranted about this before too....probably to you in fact? Weird how these cycles keep'on cycling.

he will proudly tell him "I done saying sorry!" or "Sorry, You are the one that will be sorry now."

Met several Canadians on vacation back when I still lived in Memphis, hell if I know why they were in Memphis, but still....they ACTUALLY DID seem to say sorry an abnormal amount of times. I thought it was just a joke people said about Canadians but nah. The amount of times they began speaking sentences with "I'm sorry but" was kind of awkward. It also made me suspicious of them too. Someone who constantly apologizes when I can't see where they've done something to need apologizing for, puts me on edge around them. Almost like paranoia.

With black jack and hookers.

Beautiful comment. Hands down the greatest.



Me personally, the genres I dislike...I'm not sure how I would "fix" them because I dislike the very things about them that makes them a genre in the first place. For example, one of my great dislikes is Gender-Bender.

I despise them.

But you can't really "fix" that without removing the very thing that makes it what it is. Not for me anyway since what I dislike about them, is that they exist at all.

 

[Paul__Michaels]

So hear me out... Tropes.

 

[Prince_Azmiran_Myrian]

If you are a smartass you can skip this step and go straight to showing your superior intellect. For those who aren't midwits, stick with me for a little bit.

So a small mental experiment, mkay? Let's not go crazy over here. Let's assume there is a djin somewhere on the internet, or was it Robin Williams? Anyway, there is someone who PMs you. Now, you think, this is an AI scammer again! Fuck 'em clankers! ? But the person starts by saying, "I will give you 1 million dollars if you write this story." ?The trick is, this persons asks you to write a genre you really dislike or outrights hate. ?

Before you start let me elaborate a little bit further.

First things first, what is a genre? To make it easier for us let's just use SH's genre list. You can also add stuff like Kingdom Building stories, Korean academy stories, Japanese villainess\villain stories, and Chinese cultivation. What is NOT a genre? BDSM, futanari, netorare, blacksmith MC, vampires, and so on. In other words, tags and tropes.

Second part. Since smartasses left us way back, I will talk to you, yes you! ? Let us talk one-on-one, mano a mano, face to face. Let's not try to weasel our way of this curious predicament, mkay? Let's not say, "Well, I hate harem, since I have to write it, I will simply make it into a setting without MC actually having multiple lovers." Let's not. We all write, we all can play with words and stretch the definition of a term to the point it blows up like a balloon. Since this is a mental experiment made for fun, let's think of how to fix the genre while still respecting it.

Phew, can't believen I've already finished. Now I can't wait to read, like, three replies in this thread! Two of which are going to be smartasses saying how they would've made different rules, and one person saying the didn't understand what to do. Bring it on lads!

The genre is smut.

How would I fix it? Focus on the desire between lovers, the chasteness of them holding back their lust in order to do things the right way, and the vows of their sacred joining in marriage, and the consumation as a rightful fulfilment of their efforts of becoming husband and wife.

So really, I would heavily christianize it instead of going the "free love" or perverted lust driven slop that the genre is known for.

And concerns or questions, princess?

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Met several Canadians on vacation back when I still lived in Memphis, hell if I know why they were in Memphis, but still....they ACTUALLY DID seem to say sorry an abnormal amount of times. I thought it was just a joke people said about Canadians but nah. The amount of times they began speaking sentences with "I'm sorry but" was kind of awkward. It also made me suspicious of them too. Someone who constantly apologizes when I can't see where they've done something to need apologizing for, puts me on edge around them. Almost like paranoia.

Yeah we do. We don't actually mean it usually, its just a verbal tick that has spread across the country a long long time ago. I believe it might be one of the reasons people in other countries think we are nice... unless they know our history anyways... we are not very nice lmao

The genre is smut.

How would I fix it? Focus on the desire between lovers, the chasteness of them holding back their lust in order to do things the right way, and the vows of their sacred joining in marriage, and the consumation as a rightful fulfilment of their efforts of becoming husband and wife.

So really, I would heavily christianize it instead of going the "free love" or perverted lust driven slop that the genre is known for.

And concerns or questions, princess?

so....romance? =)

 

[NotaNuffian]

If you are a smartass you can skip this step and go straight to showing your superior intellect. For those who aren't midwits, stick with me for a little bit.

So a small mental experiment, mkay? Let's not go crazy over here. Let's assume there is a djin somewhere on the internet, or was it Robin Williams? Anyway, there is someone who PMs you. Now, you think, this is an AI scammer again! Fuck 'em clankers! ? But the person starts by saying, "I will give you 1 million dollars if you write this story." ?The trick is, this persons asks you to write a genre you really dislike or outrights hate. ?

Before you start let me elaborate a little bit further.

First things first, what is a genre? To make it easier for us let's just use SH's genre list. You can also add stuff like Kingdom Building stories, Korean academy stories, Japanese villainess\villain stories, and Chinese cultivation. What is NOT a genre? BDSM, futanari, netorare, blacksmith MC, vampires, and so on. In other words, tags and tropes.

Second part. Since smartasses left us way back, I will talk to you, yes you! ? Let us talk one-on-one, mano a mano, face to face. Let's not try to weasel our way of this curious predicament, mkay? Let's not say, "Well, I hate harem, since I have to write it, I will simply make it into a setting without MC actually having multiple lovers." Let's not. We all write, we all can play with words and stretch the definition of a term to the point it blows up like a balloon. Since this is a mental experiment made for fun, let's think of how to fix the genre while still respecting it.

Phew, can't believen I've already finished. Now I can't wait to read, like, three replies in this thread! Two of which are going to be smartasses saying how they would've made different rules, and one person saying the didn't understand what to do. Bring it on lads!

Before the topic getting skewed with sorrying canadians, here is my two cent.

I dislike kingdom building.

Which is odd because I like MC getting stronger, I like the occasional side characters limelight and them getting to progress instead of being attachment to MC.

I dislike kingdom building.

I dislike how MC is the wonder boy for modern policies to the dum dum medieval munts.

I dislike the term "kingdom building" being used as "lets give the MC raging handjobs to stroke his ego boner and watch him explode."

I hate how the problem is always solved, no continuation of problem, little to no adversity faced in implementation.

I dislike how the "kingdom" is chinese aka All Hail the Great Community Leader.

Or japanese, aka rice and soy sauce.

... says a lot more about me being racist.

Yeah, I admit.

As for how I am fixing Kingdom Building... I can't. Because it is in politics and I dislike the genre. At least assassination is on the table but if MC option is always to remove the problem giver instead of the problem itself, then it becomes a joke on its own. IRL Luigi-ing all the opposition is a nice wet dream, but at the same time it just shows how much of a spast the person is if all they can think about having to sell a person an idea is through mafia tactic.

 

[Juia_Darkcrest]

Before the topic getting skewed with sorrying canadians, here is my two cent.

Sorry

 

[JayMark]

Character depth can make or break any genre.

I don't really consider lit-rpg a genre but saw a lot of missed potential with the trope for some crazy death game with too many main characters to count so I am trying that. ( I'm mentioning it here because lots of people consider it a genre now instead of a trope. ) Also, litrpg readers are guilty of expecting an OP character who never has to struggle and just goes around flexing his nuts while teabagging everyone. And I'm like, nope, this genre can do the opposite of that and I'm going to prove it.

As soon as I feel less tired I'll get back to it. I'm so very tired.

I'm trying to fix werewolf, vampire romance but that's not working out as well.
Going for character depth and making it a parody comedy.

Also, beware when trying to make something new out of a stale genre that readers with expectations will bite.