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   Let's say you write a story. Let's say you write that story about yourself. And let's say that you write this story about how awesome you are at writing stories. So you write a story about you writing that story, and doing so brilliantly. As a twist ending, because you're so brilliant and all brilliant stories --especially stories written by you about how awesome you are at writing stories-- need a twist ending, it turns out all along that the story sucks.

   You pretentious twit.

   But, no, that's exactly the central dilemma (well, it's not really a dilemma, but it still takes characters a while to get over it) at the core of a play I'm working on. It's a murder mystery, but the murder isn't the mystery. It's not even the plot. The entire thing gets derailed by the fact that the entire thing is getting derailed, and so the question arises: is it better to stick to the premise, when the premise undoes itself like that?

   The characters, you see, realize that they are in a play, for they are also playing their actors. They realize that the play isn't that good, but that it would be flawed to say "exactly, it's not supposed to be good!"

   It is settled upon that just because you make yourself right doesn't mean you make yourself good, especially with that as the premise.