Hello Matthias,

It counts as straying:
3. Discuss only articles printed in the Fidonews Publication. BF>A

certain amount of straying from this is however expected and BF>encouraged.

//The moderator

Well then ... :-)

Matthias (trying to stay politically neutral in here)

One can never stay neutral in such matters. Notice the moderator
did say" a certain amount of straying from this is however expected
and encouraged." And you know what that means. There are some things
that simply will not be tolerated. Such as things nobody ever wants
to see -

(List last updated 10 March 2012)

For information about what we're looking for and how to submit, see
our main fiction guidelines page.

The following list is an attempt at classifying the kinds of non-horror
plots and themes that we've received too frequently. We have a separate
page for horror stories we've seen too often.

Main plot types are numbered; subspecies and variants receive letters.

This is not a canonical list of bad stories or story cliches. This is a
list of types of stories that we at SH have seen too often; it's not
intended to be a complete list of all types of bad stories, nor are all
the items on the list necessarily bad.

We often receive stories that match items on this list but that have
cover letters saying "This matches something on your list, but I've
done something new and unique and different with it." Such stories
almost always turn out to be very similar to other stories we've seen.
If your story is a close match to one or more items on this list
(especially if it's a close enough match that you feel the need to
include a cover-letter disclaimer), you may want to consult some
friends who are well-read in the genre before deciding that it's
probably different from what we see all the time. (And by the way,
we often don't read cover letters until after we've read the story.)

One more thing: We know it's tempting to look at this list as a
challenge. Please don't. In particular, please don't send us stories
that intentionally incorporate one or more of these items.

Note to bloggers and other potential reprinters: See end of page for
reprint guidelines.

Here's the list:

Person is (metaphorically) at point A, wants to be at point B. Looks at
point B, says "I want to be at point B." Walks to point B, encountering
no meaningful obstacles or difficulties. The end. (A.k.a. the linear
plot.)

Creative person is having trouble creating.

Writer has writer's block.

Painter can't seem to paint anything good.

Sculptor can't seem to sculpt anything good.

Creative person's work is reviled by critics who don't understand how
brilliant it is.

Creative person meets a muse (either one of the nine classical Muses
or a more individual muse) and interacts with them, usually by keeping
them captive.

Visitor to alien planet ignores information about local rules,
inadvertantly violates them, is punished.

New diplomat arrives on alien planet, ignores anthropologist's attempts
to explain local rules, is punished.

Weird things happen, but it turns out they're not real.
In the end, it turns out it was all a dream.
In the end, it turns out it was all in virtual reality.
In the end, it turns out the protagonist is insane.
In the end, it turns out the protagonist is writing
a novel and the events we've seen are part of the novel.

An AI gets loose on the Net, but the author doesn't have a clear
concept of what it means for software to be "loose on the Net." (For
example, the computer it was on may not be connected to the Net.)

Technology and/or modern life turn out to be soulless.

Office life turns out to be soul-deadening, literally or metaphorically.

All technology is shown to be soulless; in contrast, anything "natural"
is by definition good. For example, living in a weather-controlled
environment is bad, because it's artificial, while dying of pneumonia
is good, because it's natural.

The future is utopian and is considered by some or many to be perfect,
but perfection turns out to be boring and stagnant and soul-deadening;
it turns out that only through imperfection, pain, misery, and nature
can life actually be good.

In the future, all learning is soulless and electronic, until kid is
exposed to ancient wisdom in the form of a book.

In the future, everything is soulless and electronic, until protagonist (usually a kid) is exposed to ancient wisdom in the form of a wise old
person who's lived a non-electronic life.

Protagonist is a bad person. [We don't object to this in a story; we
merely object to it being the main point of the plot.]

Bad person is told they'll get the reward that they "deserve," which
ends up being something bad.

Terrorists (especially Osama bin Laden) discover that horrible things
happen to them in the afterlife (or otherwise get their comeuppance).

Protagonist is portrayed as really awful, but that portrayal is merely
a setup for the ending, in which they see the error of their ways and
are redeemed. (But reading about the awfulness is so awful that we
never get to the end to see the redemption.)

A place is described, with no plot or characters.

A "surprise" twist ending occurs. [Note that we do like endings that we
didn't expect, as long as they derive naturally from character action.
But note, too, that we've seen a lot of twist endings, and we find most
of them to be pretty predictable, even the ones not on this list.]

The characters' actions are described in a way meant to fool the reader
into thinking they're humans, but in the end it turns out they're not
humans, as would have been obvious to anyone looking at them.

Creatures are described as "vermin" or "pests" or "monsters," but in
the end it turns out they're humans.

The author conceals some essential piece of information from the reader
that would be obvious if the reader were present at the scene, and then suddenly reveals that information at the end of the story. [This can be
done well, but rarely is.]

Person is floating in a formless void; in the end, they're born.

Person uses time travel to achieve some particular result, but in the
end something unexpected happens that thwarts their plan.

The main point of the story is for the author to metaphorically tell
the reader, "Ha, ha, I tricked you! You thought one thing was going on,
but it was really something else! You sure are dumb!"

A mysteriously-named Event is about to happen ("Today was the day Jimmy
would have to report for The Procedure"), but the nature of the Event
isn't revealed until the end of the story, when it turns out to involve
death or other unpleasantness. [Several classic sf stories use this
approach, which is one reason we're tired of seeing it. Another reason
is that we can usually guess the twist well ahead of time, which makes
the mysteriousness annoying.]

In the future, an official government permit is required in order to do
some particular ordinary thing, but the specific thing a permit is
required for isn't (usually) revealed until the end of the story.

Characters speculate (usually jokingly): "What if X were true of the
universe?" (For example: "What if the universe is a simulation?") At
the end, something happens that implies that X is true.

Characters in the story (usually in the far future and/or on an
alien planet) use phrases that are phonetic respellings or variations
of modern English words or phrases, such as "Hyoo Manz" or "Pleja
Legions," which the reader isn't intended to notice; in the end,
a surprise twist reveals that there's a connection to 20th/21st-century
English speakers.

Someone calls technical support; wacky hijinx ensue.

Someone calls technical support for a magical item.

Someone calls technical support for a piece of advanced technology.

The title of the story is 1-800-SOMETHING-CUTE.

Scientist uses himself or herself as test subject.

Evil unethical doctor performs medical experiments on unsuspecting
patient.

In the future, criminals are punished much more harshly than they are
today. In the future, the punishment always fits the crime.

The author is apparently unaware of the American constitutional
amendment prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment, and so postulates
that in the future, American punishment will be extra-cruel in some
unusual way.

White protagonist is given wise and mystical advice by Holy Simple
Native Folk.

<to be continued>

--Lee

--
Impossible is nothing
--- MesNews/1.08.05.00-gb
* Origin: news://eljaco.se (2:203/2)