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[Kalladin]

http://brandonsanderson.com/article/100/Sandersons-Second-Law

TL:DR Version
"Limitations > Powers"

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It wasn't obvious for me, but that really blew my mind away.

When I tried writing something fictional, I would get into some tradegy and I would find myself depressed like the characters. That was what flowed for me. I then started wanting to get more and more happier, epic fantasy styled fiction, but I quickly grew bored of that. Well at first I would think and think and try to be the character I wanted him/her to become. That meant I would think about what powers he/she had currently, and in the future. Then I thought about the characters friends and so on. So I got bored.

Now, it's pretty obvious we like to read stories for these limitations.

Instead of citing Greek Tradegies or Shakespearean Plays, lets go with Harry Potter. As far as I feel, Harry Potter was amazing because here was an orphan with no parents, who gets picked on by big bullies. Well that was the underlying limitation. Each novel had their own limitation.

Well this can get more general. I've never played LOL but... I do have an idea of it. So the key to LOL is that your fellow players become that limitations. And the reason why it's fun is because you can struggle through it.

So the key to making interesting stuff focuses on limitations not the powers. Usually when you see an author or any artistic mind, remove the barriers, like in Naruto, Bleach, or Dragon Ball Z, the story kindof gets ridiculous and trite. Even if you draw new pictures for the abilities and give them new names, the fact is people love the fact when the characters can't do shit.

The key to success for mangas like One Piece is the fact that the author finds new problems for the characters to solve.

End of Rant.