Why Do They, Part 3

There’s a book I’m reading where the author is kind of spoiling it for me. (No names, this isn’t about blaming and shaming.) They keep putting in lines like, “If only I had listened, how many people wouldn’t have died?” And I mean, a similar line to this three times in one chapter. The main character is saying it about their own military plans.

As an author, I’m not sure why you would do this. I think they’re trying to be foreboding and create tension around the outcome. For me, this spoils the tension instead. It’s telling us the plan will not go well, even before the character begins. It’s also a first-person narrator, so that character is clearly going to survive whatever happens. I don’t need to worry about them, and I should.

As a reader, I prefer being allowed to wonder. I mean, this character is a rash young man who’s wildly over-promising. You don’t need to tell me the plan will be a disaster. (And if the plan is not a disaster, then I will feel lied to.)

Anyway, as a writer with decades of experience, I would just urge my fellow writers not to do this. There is great power in letting the reader build anticipation for themselves.

Speaking of fellow writers — as a WEA/SEA member, I stand in solidarity with the WGA. Stay strong, union brothers and sisters!

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