TV Tropes definition: "Author Appeal is a kind of Fanservice where the presence of a particular gimmick or kink is so widespread and prominent that it is interpreted as a specific reason the creator actually produced the work. Often, this can overlap with a certain philosophy the author espouses; for instance, an "enlightened culture" in The Future may have no nudity taboo, or may have everyone bisexual, remove all body hair at birth, et cetera. Deliberately satirical or political stories often invoke associated Take That moments." The entire article: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AuthorAppeal Mine are: Blonde protagonists Rebels Handsome men in distress Long-haired men Sexual tension between villains and protagonists Forests everywhere (surrounding the town, the characters' homes, etc.) Close friendships (complete with constant hugs, kisses on cheeks, lots of touching) A jerkass who is secretly nice A tough girl and a tame, shy girl being best friends I didn't even realize I was doing this until I gave it a thought.
Well, I never write anything to promote anything even when my beliefs come into play, I keep it balanced. No villains taking the opposite stance, I find that a laugh and a cop-out. Here's some things that crop up in my stories - people trapped in situations they don't like too close for comfort spaces - like prison good looking men ( there's always one ) - And I usually make him resemble my fave hunk ( if I describe him ) young girls who are slightly odd often misread sexual tension anthropomorphic characters sexual perversions Psychological battles looming insanity The worst is - people trapped in situations they don't like no matter what I write that always effects the story. Mmm - old baggage? Lol.
Same thing happens to me with forests. There's got to be a forest involved somehow (people mostly die or kill other people in it). LOL
Not romantic or sexual (well, mostly): Ironic analysis of social norms Gas stations (both very common and very gritty, when you really think about it) Internet binges, smartphones, and central nervous system stimulants (helps create a sort of pseudo-cyberpunk aesthetic) Common, obscure, and exotic forms of drug use (approx. 40% anti-Drug War sentiment and 60% autistic interest fixation, although I have never broken or tried to break any laws in that area) Conflict between races, religions, genders, sexualities, and political groups where all sides are at fault Bisexuals, people of mixed race, and other individuals who lie in between two or more conflicting social lines (good vehicles for commentary, and I find the former somewhat attractive) Drug users who aren't addicts (ties into above, and someone needs to write without shitting on them) Random female side characters (women in real life are not a traditional minority group in terms of numbers, despite their social position) Red hair Black hair Restaurants Soda Women who are physically strong but still sort of soft-looking (appeals to me visually) Men who are physically strong but still sort of soft-looking (also appeals to me visually, though to a lesser extent)
I guess for me my hooks are - 1) Hidden meanings 2) Playing with established conventions 3) New worlds and new religions. Whether I do that well, that is something I have yet to find out haha
Forgot to add: Very thin men (this is my preference since I don't like muscular men. I prefer skinny guys) A naive, innocent best friend who looks frail, but is physically and superpowerfully stronger than she looks Magical, twisted metaphors about political, social, religious and such issues in my country
Losers, slackers, jaded washout and cynical characters but also characters who are more happy but have some very strange personality quirks such as being willing to kill themselves to save even strangers without hesitation (very very very bad case of a Superman complex) or just straight up psychopaths Clever magic systems (when I can come up with them) Eccentric personalities (see above) Petty crime (Even in my fantasy work I'll likely write at least one character up to some sort of theft or assault or something of the like) Sweet/hearwarming moments of comfort if a bad situation happens (Those are the most important moments to write Heavy character writing (I'm at my strongest when it comes to developing characters and so I love to develop them and make new ones) Humor (I love comedy and never pass up the chance to slip some form of a laugh when the moment arises) Non plot important conversations (On occasion I like to have characters converse about things that aren't really related to the happenings just because.....might come up later or might not. Like I once wrote a small scene about two characters discussing pissing outside) Weird/Bizzaro fiction type plots. (I'm mainly doing crime and fantasy now but I love to dabble in that funky stuff. Like was doing this thing once about a fat spoiled little ten year old who was going to kill and eat his crush who was in the same grade as him) Chessgame plots (Though I'm not very good at writing them yet, I love a good cat and mouse game in any genre) Comic book and music references from time to time Simple plots (on the flipside I love me a day in the life kinda tale as well when I get tired of those big epic dramas, just a smooth coming of age story or a person's first day at work or just hell any daily boring activity made into a story) Those are just off the top of my head. There are all sorts of things I love and would love to use it all just depends on what I'm writing.
I noticed that in most story I write there will be : a young , beautiful but cynical/over-confident and smart girl. an attractive guy who loves flirting and hooking up with many women but who would like a relationship with the type of character mentionned before. counrtyside, or small town. a shy / unexperienced girl a typical bad boy close male-female friendship ( hugging etc) and the problems that can sometimes come from it. story set in highschool or college humor/ lot of irony very mean and possibly harmful girl as a villain figure absent or overprotective parental figure bully who is really insecure underneath character with interest in fashion and makeup or fitness ( my interests) hispanic guy ( my preference) almost always a kind of paranormal element.
Apart from competent and self reliant men and women, not much. Each story has its own style and culture. The only time themes overlap is when the books are a series.
Some of mine would probably be: Evil vs. SuperDoomEvil storylines where nobody is actually good Revolutions and Rebellions Idiotic main character who turns badass during main fights Hair of all colours (black, blonde, crimson, white, green, blue, purple, pink) Messed up backstories that'll make ya hate the apparent good guys Tearjerking backstories that'll make ya like the apparent bad guys Badass quotes thrown in the middle of fight scenes There are lots more, though...
Yeah I definitely have a bunch of these. Brainy/Nerdy Heroines Characters from obscure ethnicities and religions Obscure geographic locations as settings Characters with massive internal tension between who they want to be and what they think they're supposed to be. High-achieving characters who nonetheless can't fully satisfy family expectations of what they're supposed to achieve Characters always either cooking, eating, or dining out - somehow all of my conversations end up involving food. Small-town characters living in the big city. Intrusions of distant history into the present/future. Worldbuilding based on society rusting rather than flourishing . Characters who massively change their hair and clothing as part of an effort to shift their own self-perception.
A dying breed. The city I go to on a semi regular basis used to have one on every corner - I think they're down to possibly two.
Humor (sometimes dark, sometimes goofy) Handsome/Beautiful Protagonists War (Sometimes very graphic) Morality Hope (Often found in the worst of despair) Like Commandante Lemming, some characters can't seem to satisfy certain people. An irresistible comedian That alc-alc-alc-alc-alcohol.
Small town or village settings Gray and black morality. White is basically nonexistent in my universe
In my current work the MC walks 10 miles to a phonebooth outside town to call a rich girl he likes. When he arrives, turns out he forgot money so he has to walk 10 miles back, and another 20 forth and back again.
As far back as I can remember, whenever I made up stories they always had one thing in common ...a small, closed community, where people live comfortable lives and take care of themselves and each other. An isolated ranch, a small town, an island, even a yacht. Then, into this closed community comes a stranger....
Cool concept. It also sounds like my dad when he was dating my mom! He didn't have his license yet and he had to walk miles along a road with no street lamps to get to her house - every day.
I can virtually fuck someone with a 3x8 inch piece of glass that I carry in my pocket. Times sure have changed.
And fast. Ironically my home town ( which is minutes away ) is undergoing some radical changes. They're getting development crazy. In the last year they have torn up an orchard, plowed down the house I was born in, pulled down an old apartment building and next year they plan on - tearing down the only school ( they somehow got around it's historic history ), the public pool & tennis courts & soccer field. It's unofficially becoming a vast resthome for the rich.
Hi, Don't know if this counts but in my Wizard At Law books I'm finding new and inventive ways to destroy a bright pink Alpha sports car! It dies in every book!!! Cheers, Greg.
I have a couple author appeals. The most prominent and ubiquitous is probably fat & proud and/or food-loving characters. It's so common in pretty much anything I touch that I'm sometimes worried that I'm writing the characters as expies of one another. In general, it's a golden rule for characters to be eating and/or talking about food at some point. Apart from that, there's my preference of non-humans (to the point of a complete absence of humans), adventurous female characters, some dragons for the quota, unusual hair colours (or at the very least red hair) and walking barefoot. I also love rain and water in general but it's not as noticeably common in my works as pretty much all of the other things mentioned. I seem to like characters getting wet and/or dirty...
Academia is my author appeal. Every time I come up with a character, it is only a matter of time before I think of some academic interest or another to give that character. If there is not a scene that takes place at a university within the first three chapters, then it was probably not written by me.
