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[Sowelu]

Good writers borrow; great writers steal.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Um... Ok.  I have no idea what that could even mean.

[Creamcorn]

I'm signing up to this topic. It looks like gold and I'm going to read through every single god damn link and word. That first link was a very good read.

edit: up to the second page, dayum! That's a lot of hostility!

[nenjin]

Um... Ok.  I have no idea what that could even mean.

It means exactly what it says. All writers draw on the things they've experienced or ideas they've been exposed to. No idea is truly original, and the best ideas are often take in part or in whole to make new works, because they're just that good.

In other words...TvTropes.

[Sowelu]

Specifically, I think it means that good authors look at existing work and go "hmm, maybe I should try and come up with something along these lines".  Great authors are totally unabashed about it; "It would be awesome to do something in a setting like this, let me consciously use X and Y and Z elements".  Of course you don't plagiarize, but you shouldn't be ashamed to say "I like this element and I'm going to appropriate it".

In context, I'm responding to this:

So what's a good writer?  Someone that spontaneously comes up with ideas on the spot or someone who's just really good at adapting other ideas in interesting ways?

by saying that it's the latter.

[Grakelin]

They become an even better writer if they are able to draw parallels between the issues in their world and the issues in the real one.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

They become an even better writer if they are able to draw parallels between the issues in their world and the issues in the real one.

That sort of depends on whether you take longevity into account.  Something with huge relevance when it's written can easily become meaningless in a few years' time if it's overly specific.  Most hysterically funny pop culture humor of today won't stand the test of time and in five to ten years people may not even get the jokes unless they make a concerted effort to remember what was going on then.  How many people would still laugh at jokes about the first OJ Simpson trial or Linda Trip?  Hell, George W. Bush jokes instantly became less funny the moment he stopped being president.  On the other hand the US is still in two wars, though we've technically finished one, yet people have long ago gotten bored with them, so maybe longevity isn't necessarily that great of a rating of importance.  But then again, maybe the fact that people don't still care about the wars is just because of the quality (or lack there of) of the media about them.

Ok, in an effort to drive this back away from politics...  So all culture builds on the past, right? (Which brings up a lovely chicken and egg type deal)  So then all creators are basically mashup artists... And I can't think of a good segue into this, but I wanted to go back to Sowelu's comment:

Writing good stories is freakin' hard.  That's one reason why authors--book authors, movie authors, game-script authors--actually get some respect in this world, often more respect than programmers.  They arguably have a harder job.  Of course it takes some imagination on the player's part (or reader's, etc) to get the full effect.  And there are plenty who would argue that...okay, for example, that a lack of voice acting is ideal, because then you can imagine the voices the way you wanted them to sound.  And that simple graphics are better because of the power of imagination.  Okay, I can agree that that's good sometimes!  But it's possible to take that too far.  Let's take out the actual fighting sequences, for example, because you could imagine them being better.  Let's take out the text descriptions of the town because you'd rather imagine them yourself.  After a short trip down a moderately slippery slope, you end up with no game.  At least you probably have a pretty cool story...so, write it down, and sell it so I can pick it up in a bookstore.

At what point is it too far?  And what makes one person so much better at writing than another?

My brain is having trouble linking all the ideas that just started popping into my head right now so bear with me.

What makes someone a good writer?  Is it imagination?  Does that also make them a better player then?  It seems to me that your main problem with games that lack a linear narrative is your own lack of imagination.  Please don't take that as an insult.  I'm just trying to figure this out.

Also, what does voice acting have to do with writing?

[Muz]

Believe it or not, nobody gets ideas out of nothing. True original ideas are not only tough to think up, they're tough for people to understand. I think something like Inception is as far as original ideas go and even then it builds upon a lot of other ideas.

Sturgeon's Revelation is my attitude to creativity:

Ninety percent of everything is crud.

He came out with that because people came up with loads and loads of examples of crud from science fiction. Science fiction is very original in itself. 90% of bad ideas simply don't make it through - like say, if you had an idea where the player plays a lolcat whose quest is to eat tomatoes.

The good stuff builds upon good ideas. A painting is not something that pops up of someone's head suddenly. It's inspired by something. A good song takes riffs and patterns from other songs, not just a jumble of different notes. A good story relates to something the reader can relate to.

[nenjin]

Yes, bring on the metaphors!

It's like cooking. What makes someone a better cook than another? Is it the ingredients they pick? The way they cook those ingredients? Is it the way they set the plate, or garnish it?

Yes, all of those make a great cook. Some cooks shine in one place more than others. Someone may make great soul food, while someone else does expensive cuisine. We enjoy multiple kinds of things, just like we appreciate different kinds of writers for different reasons. I love Stephen King, and a lot of people do, even as Family Guy pokes fun at him for cranking out schlocky monster fiction. (LAMP MONSTER!!! *sigh* How soon can you have it?) That's what makes Stephen King who he is as a writer, the fact he gets crazy dark monster ideas and bangs out a 600 page novel like he's still in his Coke years. Or why Hunter S. Thompson is lovable even as he rambles incoherently, trying to find meaning within madness.

Also, what does voice acting have to do with writing?

Voice actors need scripts. Bad scripts don't help voice actors do the best they can...and bad voice actors can ruin even the best script.

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Please try to actually answer questions within the contest they're asked.  Yes, that's entirely true, but irrelevant you don't need voice acting to write a script for characters.  You can just have written dialogue.  The only thing voice acting really does to the writing process is necessitate a lower amount of dialogue.

Sowelu's argument is very confusing and you trying to answer questions I asked of him without even paying attention to the context just makes it even more confusing.  So do unnecessarily involved metaphors by the way.

[Creamcorn]

I've done it! I've read through this entire topic and my conclusion!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Talk is cheap! Do something interesting!

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

Hm, my previous post sounds a lot snippier now that I'm reading it than it did when I was typing...  Sorry about that.  Please try to read it in the least angry tone possible.