The Interactive Dan Brown Plot Generator

[ablethevoice]

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of that dude already. I read one of his books - the one about the codebreaking supercomputer that explodes at the end of the story... then Angels and Demons, and finally DaVinci Code. By the time I got to DVC, I was already burned out on his sly, between-the-lines, "oh, look how smart and witty I am" feeling I got from his writing. He's even worse than Dean Koontz on that different yet same way that his books feel. Anyway, I found THIS SITE which pretty much sums up Brown's style. The website gets old rather quickly... but then again, so does Brown's stuff:yes:

Here's an example of the stuff produced by the IDBPG:

When world-famous Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to Dealey Plaza to analyze a mysterious rune—imprinted on a gold ring lying next to the mangled body of the head docent—he discovers evidence of the unthinkable: the resurgence of the ancient cult of the Destifori, a secret branch of the Branch Davidians that has surfaced from the shadows to carry out its legendary vendetta against its mortal enemy, the Vatican.

Langdon's worst fears are confirmed when a messenger from the Destifori appears at the Texas Theater to deliver a deadly ultimatum: Turn over the archbishop, or one cherub will disappear from the Sistine Chapel every day. Racing against the clock, Langdon joins forces with the statuesque and quick-witted daughter of the murdered docent in a desperate bid to crack the code that will reveal the cult's secret plan.

Embarking on a frantic hunt, Langdon and his companion follow a 200-year-old trail through Dallas's most venerable churches and exalted libraries, pursued by a rented assassin the cult has sent to thwart them. What they discover threatens to expose a conspiracy that goes all the way back to David Koresh and the very founding of the Branch Davidians.

:thmbsp:

 

[Arkay]

Dan Brown, as I understand, spent years as an English Lit professor teaching would-be writers how to create the next best-seller. It really shows in his books: they are "formulaic", planned and structured to fit a pre-determined template at a level that is almost beyond belief.

As an example, there is not a single chapter in DVC that does not end on a "cliffhanger" note, to make the reader wish to keep reading ... not even when the topic of the chapter just reached a logical conclusion/resolution, and DB had to suddenly introduce one single paragraph right at the end of the chapter about some completely different part of the plot, JUST to make the chapter end on a 'cliffhanger' note. WAY too formulaic, if you ask me.

Also, his books smack of being written with eventually being turned into a movie in mind, right from page one. He is almost writing screenplays!

Then again, the guy made so much money off of DVC it wasn't even funny. Maybe I shouldn't criticize anyone who can rake in the bucks that fast; obviously those blatant formulae WORKED! The man could have retired in real luxury for a lifetime, off the earnings of that one book. VERY FEW writers have ever achieved that kind of results; basically, J.K. Rowling and Dan Brown are in a league of their own, among recent writers.