Stories about ordinary people are boring

At least, that's my take. I want to read stories about extraordinary people, or stories about animals or aliens or things I didn't know existed.

Even the things you might think are about everyday people really aren't. Does any television show resemble real life in any way? Hardly. "Reality TV" isn't. To say someone's life is like a soap opera (or a telenovela) is to say he has way too much drama, or misfortune, or something going on in his life -- far beyond average.

Comments

Unknown said…
hmmm...I wonder what defines "ordinary"? have you ever seen the movie "Ordinary People"? It's an incredible film, but it plays with the term "ordinary"--an affluent family with two sons loses one during a boat accident, while the "less loved" son survives (he subsequently tries to kill himself because he feels "<".
9:13 AM
teletypeturtle said…
and yet that doesn't sound ordinary to me either? Attempted suicide doesn't take place in a majority of the population -- (otherwise the world population problem wouldn't be where it is today).

You have a good point... I should clarify by saying I was thinking of my freshman writing classes, when so many of us were trying so hard to follow the demand to sound realistic and lifelike. And the result, in my mind, when we read our collective work, was ineffably boring.
9:38 AM
Unknown said…
if you could write about anything, what would you write about? given a pencil, blank paper, and something hard to write on?

and have you read Ray Bradbury yet? he takes the "ordinary" and makes it ABordinary :o)
7:23 PM
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