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[D] Rationally Writing 21 - Top Down Storytelling
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Author: u/DaystarEld Pokémon Professor*
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Score: 15
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Created: 2017-01-14T23:28:15
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u/DaystarEld [+6] Pokémon Professor (a minute later)
Hey everyone, today's book recommendation is going to be for The Long Walk, by Stephen King. We talked a lot about top-down stories being about political or social issues that the author wants to explore through their fiction, but that's not the only form they take. Top-down storytelling can also result from a central premise that has less to do with any particular message or idea, and more to do with the theme you want to evoke, or the plot you want to explore.
Stephen King is a master of this, often so laser focused on the theme or tone or "what-if" that his worldbuilding is left to a bare minimum. Sometimes that what-if is "what if a whole town got slowly turned into monsters, but retained their sense of self throughout?" Other times that "what if" is "What if a husband and wife go to a cabin for some kinky sex, but he has a stroke while she's handcuffed to the bed?"
The Long Walk is probably my favorite of these, in part because of how simple it is. "What if 100 boys had to walk for as long as they could, with the last one standing winning a prize and everyone else getting killed?" King could have spent pages and pages talking about the dystopian state that America has turned into, where such a grisly game is a celebrated national event, but he doesn't care about any of that, and through the power of his writing and characters, soon neither will you. All that matters are these 100 young men who, over the course of a few exhausting, endless days, will walk themselves to death, side by side, knowing that only one of them will survive, knowing that it's better not to form any bonds with their competitors... but helpless not to.
The Long Walk was written all the way back in 1979, predating both Hunger Games and its inspiration, Battle Royale, for deathgame stories. It's not for everyone, but I personally loved the book, and recommend it to anyone interested in seeing how an author can get away with as little worldbuilding as possible, focusing the story with a razor focus on just the idea they built their plot around. If you want to give it a listen, head on over to Audible to get a free 30 day trial and book credit, or check out the link in the shownotes to buy the novel. Thanks for listening!
u/Dwood15 [+3] (2 hours later)
Sometimes that what-if is "what if a whole town got slowly turned into monsters, but retained their sense of self throughout?"
I love these kinds of stories. In case you didn't mention them in the podcast, any notable mentions?
u/DaystarEld [+1] Pokémon Professor (3 hours later)
Yep! The Tommyknockers was a fantastic read.
u/None [+2] (a day later)
I never thought I'd be so hyped for a Hermione/Draco slashfic.
u/trekie140 [+1] (an hour later)
I shamelessly love Avatar, and it has nothing to do with the visuals. I understand that the message is transparent and the film doesn't do anything new with it, but I just got so invested in the story and characters. Something about it clicks with me, I can feel the passion and effort put into the movie. I won't pretend it's a masterpiece, it isn't, but it's one of the few films I've watched multiple times and enjoyed it just as much each time. The comparisons to Fern Gully are fair, but I will defend it as a better story because it talks about how people interact with each other more than the environment.
u/DaystarEld [+3] Pokémon Professor (2 hours later)
It spoke to a lot of people, for sure :) Even though every scene with a bad guy had me rolling my eyes, there were still many great moments in it.
u/trekie140 [+2] (4 hours later)
I honestly like the villains. The general was a charismatic jingoist personifying military toxic masculinity, and the performance sold me even if the character was shallow. The executive wasn't all that great, but he came across as someone who genuinely didn't want to fight the Na'vi and regretted making the call that he did. The mercenaries, on the other hand, I will not be defending since even if they were an accurate portrayal of imperialist armies I still lost all empathy for them and that hurt the conflict.
I admit Robocop did social commentary on corporations better, Princess Mononoke did the war of humans with nature better, and Nausicca and the Valley of the Wind did war between humans in a hostile environment better all because of antagonists that we could understand and empathize with as people (I'm referring to OCP in Robocop, not the psychotic executive and sadistic criminals). Maybe Dances with Wolves did colonialism better too, but I haven't seen it.
u/DaystarEld [+2] Pokémon Professor (5 hours later)
Agreed on most points, but personally, I disliked the general in part because even if he was representing a trope well, it was a trope that wasn't particularly engaging to watch. No fault of the actor's, I just feel like he wasn't given any memorable lines or speeches or interactions with anyone.