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Topic : Re: Writing rule which states that two causes for the same superpower is bad writing I've read somewhere that there is this writing rule stating that, for some superpower, it would be less believable - selfpublishingguru.com

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I suspect you're talking about the "1 buy per world" rule. @Wetcircuit explained it well here:

In the Writing Excuses podcast "How Weird is too Weird?", they suggest the reader will accept 1 "buy" for the world and everything else should derive from that. A story with multiple unrelated "buys" will seem unfocused, trying to do too much at once. I've fallen into that problem.

The rule is that speculative fiction readers will generally be happy to suspend disbelief for one major departure from reality as we typically know it. That's an interesting story for any SF or fantasy fan. But two or more unrelated suspensions of disbelief start to make the story seem cobbled together, sloppy, and too undisciplined to be compelling..

The case of two (wholly) different explanations for the same superpower is even worse, since you're paying twice (in coin of suspension of disbelief) for the same product, and not getting twice the bang for your buck. It's a complete waste.


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