u/ToKillAMockingWord

So, like the title says, I just figured out that I have held my violin incorrectly for the past 5 years. For context, I have participated in orchestra classes since 3rd grade. I’ve always liked the orchestra teacher, but they have never seemed interested in actually teaching valuable skills to the class. Not many students care about participating, so I am among the best in my class. This is by no means an accomplishment, nor am I a fantastic player, but I have always loved classical music and want to become better at my instrument. So, since my way of holding my violin has never been corrected, I always assumed that I was doing it right. Until yesterday.
Yesterday, I decided to begin learning vibrato to be more prepared for the material in the upcoming school year. I watched several tutorials with the growing realization that I hold my violin with my arm while I am supposed to have been supporting it with my shoulder/chin. How do I fix this? 5 years of practicing the wrong technique is kind of hard to reverse, and I don’t want to fall behind in class because of my stupid mistake. I’m sorry if this post doesn’t make much sense. I’ve been panicking about this for hours and need advice. Thank you!

So, I am an aspiring author who loves the romantasy genre. However, whenever I attempt to begin outlining a story, I come to the same realization: Almost every adventure/fantasy/romantasy book follows the same pattern. First, the FMC has an encounter with a dark tormentor. She begins to develop feelings for him but refuses to accept them. She instead pursues her best friend who she’s had a crush on forever and they get together. A problem arises and FMC is (for some reason) the only one who can save the world. She eventually breaks her boyfriend’s heart and stays in a state of self pity. Finally, she gets together with the dark tormentor and he helps her get over her past trauma before they save the world. (Please note that this is a very general overview and I am just ranting so it may seem wrong.) I hope you get the general idea. It's just so repetitive! How can I come up with an original plot when this one has been permanently imprinted on my brain? Don't get me wrong- I love almost every book with this sequence of events, but I kind of want something new. Do you agree? Do you have any tips on how to come up with an original idea? Am I alone in thinking this repetitive? I need to know whether or not this is a valid opinion.

Edit: Thank you for all of your comments. You all have helped me to find new ways of thinking about writing. I wanted to clarify a few things:

- Though fantasy is one of my favorite genres, I also love many other types of books! I enjoy historical fiction, thrillers, sci-fi, and mystery.

- I have recently realized that most of the books that I have been recommended follow the same plot. I now understand how I was sucked into a type of books that all used similar structures and I guess that it became so bothersome to me that I needed some place to rant. Still, it was unfair of me to say what I did about those books. I am happy to say that I have begun researching other aspects of the fantasy genre and will be reading as much as possible (If I don't do that already).

I really appreciate all of your comments. I hope that this makes things easier to understand now that I have gained clarity thanks to your advice.

I'm posting to get input on a question that has been weighing on my mind for a few weeks now. So, I'm an aspiring author who loves dark thrillers and fantasies. Often, when I am inspired by a new subject, my mind wanders to the mental state of the main character. My main interest is in writing from the perspective of a sociopath or psychopath or someone who has experienced something to make them gain qualities similar to people who display psychotic behaviors. However, after thinking on this idea, I began to wonder if applying a mental condition of which I have no experience with to a character would be disrespectful to those who may be affected. If I did write a book with a main character such as this, could people consider it wrong? I'm sorry if my writing seems disconnected or is formatted incorrectly - this is my first time posting.