Author's Intuition: The Learning Writer ~ Anonymous

Hello there everybody. Last week's topic was about romance and how you approach it. There are good ways to approach it and bad ways that could hinder your story. But this time around we're approaching a different subject. This topic matter is... a little more necessary, I'd say, to avoid in general. (This also may be me not giving this genre a chance... but there's just nothing creative about it, in my opinion). This could also be a bit controversial, in a slight sense of the word. But other than that let us begin with the topic that I have seen quite a lot with. The subject of the stories that have the character, "Anon". So let's see how this goes.

(A little forewarning. Besides the fact that this is a blog on becoming a better writer, this could also be taken as a light rant as to my opinion on the ideas of these stories. It is my own opinion. Others may like this and others may not. So be prepared for a small rant in this blog).

So the first thing we shall begin this small talk is off with the first reason as to why an "Anon" story, at least in my own opinion, is boring and not very creative. The first subject matter that we shall handle is this character called "Anonymous", versus the other version, "Original Character".

An Original Character is a creation from said author that can be used as a Main Character and or Support Character. The process of creating some new character is tedious, but can also be quite a joy. And when done right, an Original Character can be received well from the readers. But when you come to an Anonymous character then the only way they can appear (this is also from what I've seen, so I may not be well informed about it or that's just how it seems to play out as), is mainly a Main Character of the story. And as of this, I have not seen Anon as a support character, or even a background character. This Anonymous character is just... there.

And there's the first problem with an Anonymous character. The Anon character is just there. You don't know whether it's a pony or just some random human, or hell, if its even an Alien from the depths of space. It's just there to be there.

Now with the creation of an Original Character, the process, as I've stated before, is tedious, depending on how important the character really is. But it can even be fun at certain lengths too. An Original Character? You can go wild with your imagination and do whatever you want. (That talk is for another time, but to keep up with this idea, not all ideas work out for certain Original Characters). Now where does Anon fit in this? Nowhere. There's no creation. Anon is a character that just pops in from out of nowhere. You never know what Anon looks like, whether its a female or male, or even the important backstory to said Anon character. There is no creation. Anon has no identity to itself, whatsoever.

Now I'll transition to the first bit of rant. Seriously... why? That's all I have to ask. Why would you even want to write a story about an Anonymous character? The process itself is boring because there is no process. Anon's just there. It boggles my mind as to how a main character can just be... unknown. He just pops into existence. No backstory. No details. Nothing... so how could any of this be fun? There's no challenge either. The emotions are varied and you can make Anon a simple nice guy or a complete asshat. There is an in-between with this character because you could just take his emotions and make him as sporadic as possible. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe he still follows the guidelines as do Original Characters. But I have yet to see it. That's one reason as to why beginning writers may not want to take the route of Anon, or if they are to get a grasp on the situation of writing, do little of it as possible.

Next point is this. The story line. An Original Character has a multitude of roles. They can be a simple Background Character, to a Support or even be the Main Character. What is interesting about them is the fact that when done right you can have an interesting Original Character. Sure the chances of screwing up an Original Character are still there, and can be a little up there, too. But even with that said, the journey of making an Original Character is still so much fun. This is where Anon differs.

Anonymous is always the main character. No matter the story. I've read a story before. I don't remember what it was called, but Anon was the main character. And you know what? I was bored. Anonymous is not interesting. All you have to do with Anon is just have it interact with the other characters. And the effort that it takes for said Anon character to be liked by everyone is sadly high. There's no effort in making any relationships with other canon or other Original Characters. It can either be hated by all characters or somehow loved by all characters. There is no in-between.

Another part of the rant has come. This is why Anon is so boring. You can do whatever you want with it and somehow the characters get along with... it. The worst part of it is, would be the fact that through looking at the Featured list of stories, is the fact that most of the stories Anon appears in are all sex stories. That's true. Most Anon stories I see are this unknown being having sex with the main characters. It takes no effort. Anon pretty much makes every character seemingly wet in anticipation; like they've known it for years like some close friend. As before, Anon makes all characters, especially female characters (and I'll use this term because it sounds like it fits here) horny to ride its... and this is the odd part. Apparently Anon has a dick. But I'd still call Anon an "it" because it isn't a male still. Nor is it a female. This being is not creative. Reading a story with it inside one makes me just skip through the story faster and when I'm done reading it about five seconds later, I'm ready to tear my eyes out. No creativity. No effort. There is nothing put into a Anon story besides having some being of non-existence have sex with both main and support characters alike. There's no lesson learned from it either. Nothing to gain. Nothing of value.

Whew... that rant is done. I may not be completely correct about my opinions, nor do I state them as a fact. But Anon stories... really, I feel like there's nothing from the author put into it. Anon stories are just there. There to exist with a non-existent being inside it. Certainly, an Anon story could be good use for those who are just beginning with a story. However, it'd be best to leave that genre as fast as possible. Anywho, that's my two cents on this type of character. Verdict is to not read stories like these... ever, because they suck the creativity out of you. It could just be me. But in the end, I feel like they are a waste of time. Those who like stories like this? You're not in the wrong. You can like whatever you want. However, I will not jump on this bandwagon that seemingly flies through eternity and screws every character they meet or pisses off everyone. Again, that's me. Hope you enjoyed watching me on this light rant. See you all later!