That high school teacher who said my fantasy setting was too weird ended up being right

Back in my senior year, my English teacher Mrs. Patterson told me my fantasy world had too many random elements crammed in. I had six different magic systems, three warring races that didn't connect, and a prophecy involving a cheese wheel. I was mad at the time because I thought she just didn't get it. But looking back at that story now, it was a mess and she gave me good advice about keeping things simple. Has anyone else had a beta reader or teacher give feedback that seemed wrong but turned out to fix your whole plot?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_harris12d ago

Agree with you and also with williamb29. Sometimes less really is more.

jake63814d ago

Are you trying to tell me that a prophecy about a cheese wheel wasn't the greatest plot device ever written? My freshman year roommate wrote this whole story where every single character had a backstory involving a different kind of bread. Like sourdough and rye were ancient enemies or something. We tried to tell him it was too much, but he doubled down and wrote a whole sequel about a bagel uprising. He hasn't talked to any of us since 2018.

williamb2914d ago

A bagel uprising sounds like the kind of thing that would start in a New York deli and spread across the country in a week... imagine the bagels forming alliances with cream cheese and lox, plotting against the toast crowd. Your roommate might be onto something, though. I can see it now: sourdough and rye calling a truce to fight against the bagel army, with ciabatta and focaccia as neutral mediators. The whole thing would probably end with a big bake-off at a state fair... where everything gets eaten anyway.