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Well, no matter what you write, there's always going to be someone out there that doesn't like it. That's just the way the world works. There is no such thing as a "universally liked story".
And many of those "weak points" that people discuss are subjective. For example, someone may say "I don't like One Piece because the plot is too long and dragging its feet." Another person might say "But that's the exact reason I like it: it means there's more of the story for me to enjoy and I don't have to worry about it ending any time soon." Different people like different things, and what one person likes another person won't like.
Now, personally, I'm not a fan of One Piece or Fairy Tale. They do some things I don't like stories doing. That doesn't, however, make them "bad" series. Both of them are selling extremely well and have loads of fans, so obviously they're doing something right.
If you want to look to those series for inspiration, I say go for it (so long as you aren't just ripping them off, naturally). Try to keep perspective on criticism.
Edited by DarkHunter
If you try to please everyone you'll likely end up pleasing nobody. Just write stories that you think you'd want to read and the rest will happen organically.
Also, if you just want general writing advice, the forums are the best place to ask.
For we shall slay evil with logic...
Hm. Alright! I didn't think about it like that. Thank you both! You've no idea how much you've helped me!
Here's the sitch - I've got me this fantasy story. The main character is your typical determined hero who is optimistic, a bit on the uncouth side, and not necessarily the brightest academic wise (but very knowledgeable in the emotional departments). It takes place in a grand fantasy world and follows this character and her troupe of friends in a slice-of-life/comedy/adventure story thats main priorities are character and situation interactions. How will ——- and ——- deal with ——-? What does ——- really think of ——-? How will ——- react when they find out ——-'s secret? Things like that.
While making this, I was inspired by comics like One Piece and Fairy Tail, two series that I enjoyed because of how much the characters and the world entertained me. The richness of the fictional worlds, the character's personalities and emotions, the relationships and their effects on others, and the problem-solving skills used when facing a formidable foe are all very interesting to me and things I really want to focus on. However, I've recently discovered that these comics, the ones that led me to identify all that I wanted in my own, are being criticized for lacking depth, being too generic, and overall just being bad. I'm not a critic myself, and I'm fairly new to storytelling. I just want to make a good, well-written story that lets people feel good while reading it, something fun for people to read. But if I were to adhere to a similar formula as these, if I were to take inspiration from these stories and make what I'd like...Would that be bad? Would nobody like it? Would it be shallow of me as a writer?
What elements from stories like these would I want to avoid? What are these weak points I hear about? Should I even be looking at these for inspiration? I just want to make a story that entertains people, and I can't do that if it's filled to the brim with flaws and writing cliches. Nobody would like it, and I can't stand producing things of poor quality. It wouldn't be any fun to do.
Edited by JambeeBeaux