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[RokofAges75]

I sob my eyes out every single time I watch that finale. That's why I used that example lol I think a lot of us have watched that show, since it's been discussed a little before.

But man, when Ryan flashes back to Seth saying "Hey," I just...   

Err yeah anyway, The OC is a perfect example of everything I love about storytelling. Good characters who grow and change over time unless they get killed off excellent humour that is well placed, great callbacks, fantastic book-ending, and fantastic music.

I am sure that in my writing you can see a lot of influence from The OC.

You are making me eye my OC DVDs LOL.  I haven't had an OC marathon in awhile!

[FrickingKaos]

Stuff that I do?

Well I write AU a lot. I know a lot of people don't really like AU. Female lead in Weird World and the fact it's a science fiction.

In my romance series....prob ably that it is drawn out. Also has some cliches. Amanda isn't a well developed character because I spent so much time working on Nick's abusive childhood and inner struggle with his self worth. I also have myself as a character.

I can be to overly critical of myself and put myself down which leads to maybe people not wanting to read, I can't get Rose's words out of my head "if you don't believe in yourself, people won't believe in you" . Whenever I start doubting what I wrote I hear that little voice nagging me.

I also write wordy reviews because I like to point out what I liked but sometimes I ramble. (I do that on forum too)

I use banners (sorry Mare) lmao but not all have banners.

[RokofAges75]

Not to take us too far off the topic of writing, but I am the same way with TV shows.  I tend to follow the shows that go on forever, and when they finally end, I like them to end big, with a two hour series finale that brings back old characters and references old storylines and wraps the whole thing up in a nice big package with a pretty bow.

It's no secret that my favorite show of all time is ER; I watched it faithfully for 15 years, every Thursday night at 9:00, I have all 15 seasons on DVD, and I've watched most of the episodes multiple times.  It jumped the shark in Season 10 and really wasn't great for most of the last five seasons, but the series finale (really, the whole last season) definitely delivered.  I feel cheated when shows either leave me hanging on purpose or get cancelled before they shoot a series finale (ugh).

[mare]

LOL Julie! I bet we have all used orbs at one point in our fanfic writing lives.

I do think it depends on the story as far as open endings go. I thought Harry Potter ended perfectly. I do think I would have been just as happy if he died at the end though. A true open ending and one I probably would have done, would have been him just walking into the forest, even before he encounters Voldemort with no clue what happens once he goes through the trees.

That's how my mind works though. I would have also been content with that. After a huge series of 7 books, that one needed a shiny bow for most plus it was written for young ones, if she had left it like that, the kids would have been jumping off bridges! lol

I LOVED Stephen King for ending the Dark Tower series the way he did though! LOVED LOVED LOVED!!! That was my kind of shiny bow!

I think when you do have a super long novel, the reader does expect a resolved ending. I think open endings truly work best in the suspense, action genres then just drama, romance etc... Although I do like how you ended RMTW, Rose. Even for a drama and we all kind of knew what was going to happen, you left it up to the reader to picture how that would be.

I never read BMS so I don't really know how that one was in relation to the topic but it makes sense for there to be a final ending in Curtain Call. I couldn't imagine that one having an open end after all the crap you put him through. Poor cancerous Nick! LOL

Kind of like if after all that torture in Swollen Issues, we don't ever find out what happens to Nick. LOL

I am really wordy with my replies too! It's the one thing I don't leave open ended oh Except...

[RokofAges75]

I never read BMS so I don't really know how that one was in relation to the topic but it makes sense for there to be a final ending in Curtain Call. I couldn't imagine that one having an open end after all the crap you put him through. Poor cancerous Nick! LOL

Kind of like if after all that torture in Swollen Issues, we don't ever find out what happens to Nick. LOL

LOL Don't worry, CC definitely has an ending, though it's not anywhere near as over the top as BMS.

As for Swollen... that ending was abrupt, but fitting too because it was realistic.  Even though I knew it was coming, I didn't know when and wasn't necessarily expecting it then, and I cried... oh I cried LOL.

[mare]

Not to take us too far off the topic of writing, but I am the same way with TV shows.  I tend to follow the shows that go on forever, and when they finally end, I like them to end big, with a two hour series finale that brings back old characters and references old storylines and wraps the whole thing up in a nice big package with a pretty bow.

It's no secret that my favorite show of all time is ER; I watched it faithfully for 15 years, every Thursday night at 9:00, I have all 15 seasons on DVD, and I've watched most of the episodes multiple times.  It jumped the shark in Season 10 and really wasn't great for most of the last five seasons, but the series finale (really, the whole last season) definitely delivered.  I feel cheated when shows either leave me hanging on purpose or get cancelled before they shoot a series finale (ugh).

I am with you on this one! It's the one time I really crave a real ending. I need to know what happens to the characters I have invested so much of my time watching and I hate when a show gets cancelled before they have a chance to do that! (Alcatraz, The Firm, Harry's Law, etc...) I had stopped watching ER after Mark died off but I still watched the last few episodes of ER and was very happy with the end result. I loved how they brought so many people back including Rachel!

I have never watched the OC in my life lol the references always go over my head. It's been in my Blockbuster Queue for the longest time but never gets sent to me. I just got the first disc to the first season of the Good Wife though. Looking forward to seeing that one.

[mare]

LOL Don't worry, CC definitely has an ending, though it's not anywhere near as over the top as BMS.

As for Swollen... that ending was abrupt, but fitting too because it was realistic.  Even though I knew it was coming, I didn't know when and wasn't necessarily expecting it then, and I cried... oh I cried LOL.

I was mad at first, but then after a few minutes thought it was brilliant lol

[RokofAges75]

I do think it depends on the story as far as open endings go. I thought Harry Potter ended perfectly. I do think I would have been just as happy if he died at the end though. A true open ending and one I probably would have done, would have been him just walking into the forest, even before he encounters Voldemort with no clue what happens once he goes through the trees.

I really did think he was going to die and remember even saying at one point that if I were JKR, that's what I would do - have him sacrifice himself to kill Voldemort and save the world.  But what I love about her brilliance is that she was able to do that... and still have him survive so we could have a full-on happy ending.  It was the best of both worlds in my mind.  And people definitely would have lost it if she had ended it with him walking into the forest! And I would have been one of them, OMG LOL.

[RokofAges75]

I was mad at first, but then after a few minutes thought it was brilliant lol

Yeah, it's a good ending!

[RokofAges75]

I am with you on this one! It's the one time I really crave a real ending. I need to know what happens to the characters I have invested so much of my time watching and I hate when a show gets cancelled before they have a chance to do that! (Alcatraz, The Firm, Harry's Law, etc...) I had stopped watching ER after Mark died off but I still watched the last few episodes of ER and was very happy with the end result. I loved how they brought so many people back including Rachel!

I have never watched the OC in my life lol the references always go over my head. It's been in my Blockbuster Queue for the longest time but never gets sent to me. I just got the first disc to the first season of the Good Wife though. Looking forward to seeing that one.

Yeah, ER was never the same after Mark died.  That was kind of the beginning of the end, although Season 9 had some interesting stuff happen.  Season 10 is where it started going over the top.  But they brought back a lot of the old characters for cameos in Season 15, which played on the nostalgia and made it worth watching.  Rachel coming back as a med student in the finale was a great way to bring it all full circle.  I literally just gave myself goosebumps typing that, I'll have you know LOL.  Love, love, LOVE that show.

You should bump The OC to the top of your queue!  It's seriously an amazing show!  Way more than just a teen drama.  A friend in real life got me started watching it, and then I payed it forward and convinced several others to give it a try, and I seriously do not know anyone who hasn't gotten hooked by the end of the pilot.  Season 1 especially is nothing short of outstanding.

We maybe should take this conversation to the TV show thread LOL.

[mare]

As far as things I do that can be a pet peeve.

Definitely the open endings. I leave a lot up to my reader's imaginations and sometimes they dont like that or expect a sequel LOL

Sometimes my plots in my action/suspenses can be a little complex and sometimes hard to follow and keep straight.

And of course the cliff hangers. I am really bad with those things and I know it can be off putting to some, especially when I then go for a week or two without an update.

I think those are the three biggest fanfic offenses I tend to pull.

I'm sure there are plenty more! lol

[FrickingKaos]

Mare I actually love your cliffhangers I tend to do that as well. Also sometimes the plot gets confusing, not sure if that comes across for my readers but nobody has called me on anything as of yet.

[Rose]

I LOVED Stephen King for ending the Dark Tower series the way he did though! LOVED LOVED LOVED!!! That was my kind of shiny bow!

I think when you do have a super long novel, the reader does expect a resolved ending. I think open endings truly work best in the suspense, action genres then just drama, romance etc... Although I do like how you ended RMTW, Rose. Even for a drama and we all kind of knew what was going to happen, you left it up to the reader to picture how that would be.

Part of me was SO mad but another part of me loved it. It's why I can reread that series over and over LOL.

Yeah I wanted to wrap up enough so no one got mad, but for people to picture in their heads how bad Nick got. I felt like it didn't need the horrific detail on that LOL. So thank you .

[Rose]

Still thinking of a FF pet peeve I'm sure people can have with my stories.

Oh, I tend to sometimes live too much in the character's head, in 1st or 3rd person. So at times I may go and let them ramble in their heads a little too much with no purpose to it. Just because I'm writing and I'm letting them think and yeah.

Another would probably be that I have absolutely no problems killing people lol. I'm sure some would find my stories a bit too gore filled at times.

[Rose]

I really did think he was going to die and remember even saying at one point that if I were JKR, that's what I would do - have him sacrifice himself to kill Voldemort and save the world.  But what I love about her brilliance is that she was able to do that... and still have him survive so we could have a full-on happy ending.  It was the best of both worlds in my mind.  And people definitely would have lost it if she had ended it with him walking into the forest! And I would have been one of them, OMG LOL.

OMG if that had been how she ended DH I would've been LIVID lmfao. That would not have been okay LOL. I probably, if I'd been her, would've had no problem sacrificing Harry. I'm mean .