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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28324
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I am not as fantasy orientated as the majority of members. Nor am I a fan of "Disney" plots, stories written for the purpose for being popular. Unfortunately the tribal nature of society does not allow for others to 'win'. Germans, terrorists, Russians, Injuns cannot be heroes in popular. Making an 'other' to be a hero or obtain the moral ground impacts sales. Any writer who defies this 'convention' is considered 'breakthrough'.

In another comment I quoted Shakespeare: "There is neither good nor bad, only thinking makes it so." Applied to an intelligent story telling can be translated as one man's hero is another man's villain.

Perspective and empathy are important in good literature. If we look at the real world we can examine the following statement.

"The only western nation who believes in capital punishment and incarcerates more of its citizens (disproportionately African-American) is obsessed with Nazis and believes they are 'bad'."

Great stories need not provide instant gratification. At the end of Bible the hero dies . . . but on reflection . . . that's okay . . . apparently he died to save our sins - who knew?

Endings of stories such as "Man of Fire", "Book of Eli", "Shane" (Did he die or not?) There was no positive ending to "Romeo and Juliet" or "Kramer vs Kramer".

It boils down to the difference between 'great literature' and 'pop literature'. If you're looking to fill your bank account tomorrow 'uplifting' stories with 'positive' endings are the way to go. If you're looking to write a great story it needs to leave something to be discussed. James Patterson will never make a college reading list.

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