Talk:No Homophones/@comment-4715955-20160702143915

An already absurd story concept is pretty much derailed by this line:

"Whoa, that's pretty harsh considering you could just ask for the definition."

And he has no response to that! Even crazy people obey a certain logic, even if that logic makes sense to no one else. If you're giving us a story about a crazy person from their perspective, we have to be able to say, "I understand where he's coming from, but he's still crazy-pants." Tell-Tale Heart Guy does this: he has a logical explanation for his hatred of his victim's "evil eye". We wouldn't do what he did, but it makes sense to an extent. Spelling Bee Guy does not make sense at all. The solution to his problem was so easily solved, even for a young kid, especially for a young kid smart enough to be in a spelling bee: ask for the definition.

This guy isn't crazy, he's just stupid. And he's the worst kind of stupid: forced stupidity to make him do what the author wants. Instantly makes me stop reading, nevermind the absurd premise and the prattling narrative.

I'm not really sure what the deal is, but your stories always feel like they were written by an author who's in the wrong genre or something. They initially make the reader curious enough to read on, which is good; but then they just spiral downward into head-shaking ridiculousness. Maybe you should take advantage of that and write absurdist fantasy for kids instead of horror, see what comes of it.