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An Entity of Type : owl:Thing, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

A step down from the Literary Agent Hypothesis, this is an author who speaks about the events in his stories as if he had no control over them. He claims heartbreak when killing off a character, commiserates with the fans over the Ship Sinking, and rants along with the fans at characters' What an Idiot! moments. Often becomes prominent when Cerebus Syndrome strikes. A writer who claims he just writes the thing usually takes one or both of two different forms: See also Writing by the Seat of Your Pants, which can lead to this. Examples in fiction:

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  • I Just Write the Thing
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  • A step down from the Literary Agent Hypothesis, this is an author who speaks about the events in his stories as if he had no control over them. He claims heartbreak when killing off a character, commiserates with the fans over the Ship Sinking, and rants along with the fans at characters' What an Idiot! moments. Often becomes prominent when Cerebus Syndrome strikes. A writer who claims he just writes the thing usually takes one or both of two different forms: See also Writing by the Seat of Your Pants, which can lead to this. Examples in fiction:
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  • A step down from the Literary Agent Hypothesis, this is an author who speaks about the events in his stories as if he had no control over them. He claims heartbreak when killing off a character, commiserates with the fans over the Ship Sinking, and rants along with the fans at characters' What an Idiot! moments. Often becomes prominent when Cerebus Syndrome strikes. Justified to a certain extent: The Rule of Drama dictates that what makes the best story isn't always the easiest thing to write. The author might know that killing off Bob is the most exciting/logical/dramatic/marketable course of action, but as an author, he can rightly assume that he likes his character and will suffer a bit of heartache over it...heartache that is going to be magnified when the move proves to be extremely unpopular, or the fans react with horror and run away screaming, "Fanon Discontinuity!" This approach also tends to make an author more accessible to fans, since he comes across as just one of the group. However, some fans will call "Fridge Logic!" by pointing out that if the author felt that badly about the turn of events, nobody forced him to write it that way (at least, we assume not). Writers may also risk making hypocrites of themselves if they then dictate exactly what happens in the universe and leave no room for fan speculation, beating down dissenters who write fanfic that goes against canon, or those who note that they preferred the story when it was cute and funny and Bob was still alive. A writer who claims he just writes the thing usually takes one or both of two different forms: * The Plot Gods Made Me Do It: "The Plot" is an entity in itself which dictates the writer's actions. If a hale and hearty character succumbs to Soap Opera Disease and dies, if the Happily Married couple break up for no apparent reason, or everything suddenly becomes very depressing, this is generally the writer's response to fan disbelief. Tends to occur more with the aforementioned "depressing" turns of events; few people ever claim that The Plot demanded a marriage, lucky break or happy ending. * The Characters Said So: The characters have taken on lives of their own, and aren't above throwing a hissy fit if things don't go their way. The writer may be the ringmaster, but if the characters decide they're not going on stage, they're going to needle the writer until their terms and conditions are met. See also Writing by the Seat of Your Pants, which can lead to this. Examples in fiction:
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