9 ms·

Unless someone spoils it out before you read it right?

NovaS1X 6y ago
I don't think so. Reading a book or watching a show isn't about the fastest route to a conclusion. To borrow a phrase: it's the journey, not the destination. IE: I'm watching The Crown right now. I've been "spoiled" on the outcome of the show through simple history and cultural knowledge (I'm Canadian). It doesn't make the show any less enjoyable when I know that Diana is going to die, or that Mountbatten was killed by the IRA.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  There’s a different, maybe even better kind of enjoyment from surprises (or non spoiled events) in my experience. I won’t watch any movie trailer or read a review so that I go in as uninformed as possible.
  - NovaS1X 6y ago
    That's fair. There's also some stories/movies that are absolutely critical to come into fresh. Shutter Island is the first one that comes to mind.
meepmorp 6y ago
Even if I know the destination well, I often still enjoy the trip there.
npteljes 6y ago
That kills a kind of a fun, but there are still others. Re-reading an old favorite for example.
oh_sigh 6y ago
Most things worth reading aren't so plot focused that merely knowing a bit of information about it destroys the value.
folmar 6y ago
There is a style of spoiler on the first page, for example see Pharaoh by Bolesław Prus where spoiler is literally the first sentence.
prewett 6y ago
Only if the events of the plot, or unrevealed information are critical to the story. Some stories tell you what's going to happen early on. You know Oedipus is going to kill his father and marry his mother, the story is about how events conspire to fulfill the prophecy despite him trying avoid it. J. Michael Straczinski (Babylon 5) said he likes to tell people what's going to happen, but he doesn't tell you the context. This lets him put in prophecy as a story element. Other times the story is really about discovery. You can guess that Harry Potter will bring about Voldemort's demise in book one, but the series is about the process of Harry becoming Harry, so it's not really possible to give away any spoilers because you have to explain too much.
- hnedeotes 6y ago
  Well, thank you for spoiling it, now I'll need to read Electra's instead. I always wanted to write a story about a bunch of people in a lab, playing god. In this universe there would be no rings of hell, the reader would also know there wasn't, but I think it would still grip the reader. Like an inverse hero's journey.

I don't think so. Reading a book or watching a show isn't about the fastest route to a conclusion. To borrow a phrase: it's the journey, not the destination. IE: I'm watching The Crown right now. I've been "spoiled" on the outcome of the show through simple history and cultural knowledge (I'm Canadian). It doesn't make the show any less enjoyable when I know that Diana is going to die, or that Mountbatten was killed by the IRA.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
There’s a different, maybe even better kind of enjoyment from surprises (or non spoiled events) in my experience. I won’t watch any movie trailer or read a review so that I go in as uninformed as possible.
- NovaS1X 6y ago
  That's fair. There's also some stories/movies that are absolutely critical to come into fresh. Shutter Island is the first one that comes to mind.

meepmorp 6y ago

Even if I know the destination well, I often still enjoy the trip there.

npteljes 6y ago

That kills a kind of a fun, but there are still others. Re-reading an old favorite for example.

oh_sigh 6y ago

Most things worth reading aren't so plot focused that merely knowing a bit of information about it destroys the value.

folmar 6y ago

There is a style of spoiler on the first page, for example see Pharaoh by Bolesław Prus where spoiler is literally the first sentence.

prewett 6y ago

Only if the events of the plot, or unrevealed information are critical to the story. Some stories tell you what's going to happen early on. You know Oedipus is going to kill his father and marry his mother, the story is about how events conspire to fulfill the prophecy despite him trying avoid it. J. Michael Straczinski (Babylon 5) said he likes to tell people what's going to happen, but he doesn't tell you the context. This lets him put in prophecy as a story element. Other times the story is really about discovery. You can guess that Harry Potter will bring about Voldemort's demise in book one, but the series is about the process of Harry becoming Harry, so it's not really possible to give away any spoilers because you have to explain too much.

hnedeotes 6y ago
Well, thank you for spoiling it, now I'll need to read Electra's instead. I always wanted to write a story about a bunch of people in a lab, playing god. In this universe there would be no rings of hell, the reader would also know there wasn't, but I think it would still grip the reader. Like an inverse hero's journey.