The End

I’ve read several books by an author who I’ve enjoyed. Up until the ending of each book. Each ending is a disappointment. She has her characters behave very stupidly, just to fit a formula the author thinks she needs to follow. I know she’s following a formula because it’s the exact same in each of the books. Same situation, same reactions, no matter who the characters are. 

DON’T WRITE TO A FORMULA.

Do what is true to the character.

And don’t keep re-writing the same book with different people. Your readers will notice. And they will be upset. I know I am.  So much so that I’ve stopped buying her books. Why bother when I know it will just be a disappointment.

The author has so much potential. It’s frustrating to see her cop out at the end.

Have you ever experienced something like this?

influence

Life got crazy busy, and since I'm heading out of town next week I'm taking a couple weeks off. I'll see you somewhere in the last half of June.

For your entertainment I'll leave you with this link. Be prepared, you could spend a bit of time there.  It's a series where authors talk about their favorite literary passages and how those influenced their own writing. It's quite fascinating really.

One of my favorite passages is from Anna Karenina. It's the chapter where Levin harvests grain with the peasants. It's been years since I read it but I remember thinking how beautiful and uplifting it was. I'm a much different person now so I don't know if I would feel the same way if I read it now, which is why I'm a little afraid to read it again.  

Do you have any favorite passages that have influenced you?

beginnings

I’ve been thinking about first pages a lot lately. When I look for good examples in published books there is one book I keep coming back to. This was a book I found and read solely on the strength of its first line.  The book is SILENT IN THE GRAVE by Deanna Raybourn.

It starts with this:

“To say that I met Nicholas Brisbane over my husband’s dead body is not entirely accurate. Edward, it should be noted, was still twitching upon the floor.”

Isn’t it intriguing? Who is Nicholas Brisbane and why is he the focus rather than her twitching dying husband? Also, there’s a bit of dry humor in these sentences that made me know I would like the writing.

It continues.

“I stared at him, not quite taking in the fact that he had just collapsed at my feet. He lay, cured like a question mark, his evening suit ink-black against the white marble of the floor. He was writhing, his fingers knotted.” 

This sets the stage for what is happening. We also learn something about their socio-economic station in life. They have a marble floor; he wears an evening suit. We also learn a little about their marriage.

Next paragraph.

“I leaned as close to him as my corset would permit.”

Here, with the reference to the corset, it sets the time period.

“’Edward, we have guests. Do get up. If this is some sort of silly prank—“

Again, this sets up their relationship. If my husband fell to the ground convulsing I wouldn’t stand there and accuse him of pranking, or worry about guests. Though married, they weren’t close, definitely not in love, which brings us back to who could that Nicholas Brisbane be?  He shows up in the next paragraph but I’ll let you keep going on your own.

I love how these few sentences set the backdrop and the characters. I may not know Edward well enough to be devastated at his dying, but there are so many questions, so much vivid description that I want to keep reading. That is the goal of a good opening.

What is your favorite opening? Do you have one that you keep going back to?

Go....Stop!

I don't know if you've seen this post about the main reasons agents, and editors, often stop reading. It made me look at my manuscript in a whole new way.

Add to that the posts Kristin Nelson is doing  about why she will pass even if the writing is good and  you've got a great little great little checklist for revisions.

Pacing seems to be a big one.  I highly recommend you read these articles in depth. You'll be glad you did.

Big Reveals

Hey all, sorry  for the problem with comments earlier today. I think I have it fixed now. Thanks for your patience. Now, on to the post.


There are times when the author can raise tension by holding information back. There are also times when the author holds something back for the sake of holding it back. The author gives hints and says things such as ‘I wouldn’t think about that now’. It gets old and the reader figures it out. If this is the case, when the author finally gets to the Big Reveal the reader is bored. The book has lost momentum because the author was continually holding back, never moving us forward.  

I've seen an increasing amount of this recently and it's a little disturbing. The author doesn't need to shove everything into the story at once. Information should be given when it is pertinent. That could mean up front, or it could mean later in the story. But, the reader shouldn’t be kept in the dark if everyone else in the story knows. It creates a lack of trust between the reader, the book, and the author. And if the only tension or build up the author has is these kind of reveals, then there really isn’t much going for the book. 

It would be much better to create a forward moving story, focused on the events of the literary present, rather than the past. While the past does affect the present in novels (and in life) we shouldn’t be hung up on it. Keep the story moving forward. Don’t hold us back.  

Have you seen much of this?  What do you think?

Alphabet Soup

As part of his pre-school, mini-Engineer (aka Truck Boy) was filling out Valentine’s day cards for his classmates. He loved doing it and insisted on writing all their names himself. I noticed that while he could make all the letters  and knew what letters where in which name, getting them in the right order was a completely different problem. 

He’d start in the right place but if he ran out of room, or if he just wanted to, he would continue the name under the first couple letters, or above, or in front of. Because there was that nice empty margin to fill up. Upon occasion the letters could be scattered around in no order whatsoever.  Alphabet soup. 

It reminded me of a few of my early novels. They were a collection of scenes thrown together with no overall plot arc, no through line, and no rising tension. Just as my son needs to put the letters in the right order for them to make a name, I needed to learn to organize my scenes. First thing that should be done after finishing the draft and letting it sit for a little is give it a read and just look for the over all plot structure. Is the conflict set up at the beginning of the book resolved at the end? Is there growth and movement throughout the book, or is it just someone reacting to things thrown at him. 

If the scenes don't line up like the letters in a name then you probably have a problem. I just finished a structure draft of my current WIP. I’m super excited to see how this is coming together, and I can’t wait to move on to language, polishing, and really making my book shine.  I’m even looking forward to checking the grammar.  

Have you ever written an alphabet soup book?