The Perfect Book...for Me.
I've got about twenty minutes before I have to venture into the frozen tundra, uphill, to get my kids from school. So, today's post will be relatively short. I say relatively because I can type pretty darn fast.
On the querying front: Another rejection. Boo! Hiss! Thanks for your support. I'll keep begging for abuse. It's starting to grow on me anyway.
Now, for the fun stuff. I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels recently and something strange is happening. I am NOT a huge fan of the writing in terms of her technique. I think that's what it is. Sometimes parts are extremely clunky and I'm actually cringing at the awfulness of it, others times I'm impressed. Now, most times when I've noticed so many...failings, in a book, I put it down. I might give the author another chance and read the next book, but if I'm still not impressed after two, forget it. I. Can't. Stop. Reading. These. Books. Why? It's very disturbing for me. I don't know. I can't wait to get my hands on the fifth installment either. What is happening to me?
I'll tell you what I think it is. I think there are many elements that make a book worth reading. Sometimes the writer gets things wrong, sometimes they get just enough right to keep you reading. This author has blended enough "something" to keep me hooked. I love brilliant characters and yes, I'll overlook shitty writing if the characters spark something in me. Now, let me clarify for all of you, I don't think Ms. Harris's writing is shitty. It's inconsistent. Very good at times, horrible at others. She's obviously got skill, but there are a lot of visible problems with what she writes. Her plots are...a stretch, resolutions are improbable and sometimes lazy, and sometimes the passive voice is so loud my ears hurt. But when she gets it right, and she does, it's magic.
I'm also a sucker for good dialogue. Natural dialogue that makes me forget I'm reading a book. These novels have some great dialogue. (yes some sucky dialogue too, but mostly great) Dialogue will make or break a novel for me. It's one of the most important factors for me. I don't care if everything else is right, if the dialogue sucks, I'm done.
POV doesn't matter to me. I can read any POV and enjoy it. I know people who refuse to read first person, some hate omniscient; if it's done right, I love any POV.
Plot is the other thing that I place great importance on. By this I mean the action, the pace and the resolution. Nothing can piss me off more than a bullshit ending. If it's wrapped up so fast you aren't sure what happened I get hives. (by the way, I get hives when I'm angry. Your interesting fact for the day) A cliffhanger makes me break things. Not my things, other people's things. An ending that is so cliched it makes me nauseous will put me off an author too.
What's my point? I find it interesting how a million people can buy a book and rave about it and I pick it up and hate it, or they hate it and I love it. Tell me, what 5 things does a book have to have for you to love it?
On the querying front: Another rejection. Boo! Hiss! Thanks for your support. I'll keep begging for abuse. It's starting to grow on me anyway.
Now, for the fun stuff. I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels recently and something strange is happening. I am NOT a huge fan of the writing in terms of her technique. I think that's what it is. Sometimes parts are extremely clunky and I'm actually cringing at the awfulness of it, others times I'm impressed. Now, most times when I've noticed so many...failings, in a book, I put it down. I might give the author another chance and read the next book, but if I'm still not impressed after two, forget it. I. Can't. Stop. Reading. These. Books. Why? It's very disturbing for me. I don't know. I can't wait to get my hands on the fifth installment either. What is happening to me?
I'll tell you what I think it is. I think there are many elements that make a book worth reading. Sometimes the writer gets things wrong, sometimes they get just enough right to keep you reading. This author has blended enough "something" to keep me hooked. I love brilliant characters and yes, I'll overlook shitty writing if the characters spark something in me. Now, let me clarify for all of you, I don't think Ms. Harris's writing is shitty. It's inconsistent. Very good at times, horrible at others. She's obviously got skill, but there are a lot of visible problems with what she writes. Her plots are...a stretch, resolutions are improbable and sometimes lazy, and sometimes the passive voice is so loud my ears hurt. But when she gets it right, and she does, it's magic.
I'm also a sucker for good dialogue. Natural dialogue that makes me forget I'm reading a book. These novels have some great dialogue. (yes some sucky dialogue too, but mostly great) Dialogue will make or break a novel for me. It's one of the most important factors for me. I don't care if everything else is right, if the dialogue sucks, I'm done.
POV doesn't matter to me. I can read any POV and enjoy it. I know people who refuse to read first person, some hate omniscient; if it's done right, I love any POV.
Plot is the other thing that I place great importance on. By this I mean the action, the pace and the resolution. Nothing can piss me off more than a bullshit ending. If it's wrapped up so fast you aren't sure what happened I get hives. (by the way, I get hives when I'm angry. Your interesting fact for the day) A cliffhanger makes me break things. Not my things, other people's things. An ending that is so cliched it makes me nauseous will put me off an author too.
What's my point? I find it interesting how a million people can buy a book and rave about it and I pick it up and hate it, or they hate it and I love it. Tell me, what 5 things does a book have to have for you to love it?
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
MJ
(new)
Jan 05, 2011 04:33PM
I don't need five things. Give me a compelling narrative voice or an original structure and/or form and I'm sold.
reply
|
flag
I just pulled that number out of my ass. You don't have to have five. Voice. Yes. Absolutely. Voice is very important. Interesting that I didn't add that. I should take more than 20 minutes to post. ;) There are authors I read who aren't great at plot and whose stories are sometimes on the crappy side of mediocre but I just love their 'voice', so I continue to read them. Stephen King is one. Of course, there aren't many of his books I'd class on the crappy side of anything, but there are a few that were less than impressive but I still enjoyed reading them. Another is Nora Roberts. I hate the POVs she uses, they tell me it's omniscient, but it feels like head hopping. Yet, I love every book despite the annoying jumping around.
1. characters I identify with in some obscure way2. A story that captures my imagination
3. A story that KEEPS capturing my imagination and doesn't fizzle after chapter three!
4. Good dialogue
5. An ending that makes sense and doesn't end too fast or drag on interminably so the last 50 pages are just plain boring!
6. And now, because its been drilled into me, I cannot stand POV switching! It has to happen at the beginning of a chapter or I am pissed!
Haha. I don't mind a book written from more than one POV as long as it's one POV per scene. Head-hopping makes me dizzy.
I agree! When I first started writing I didn't understand this and my editor was horrified..but now when I pick up some well-known detective author and all the characters are having thoughts at the same time it makes me crazy! but somehow they got published...?
Well, omniscient POV can come extremely close to head-hopping. I don't know if you've read any of Nora Roberts books, but she favors omniscient and for a really long time, I thought this was simply shifting POV. When I dug into writing my first 'real' manuscript, I was all over the place. Later I learned the difference in omnicient and wrong. Stephen King's Under the Dome is a good example of omniscient done right (as are Nora Roberts's books) but I've read many that are horribly wrong. I question how they were published as well. I don't think at this point, I'd ever consider this pov simply because it feels wrong when I write it, and I'm not quite sure how to maintain it for 300+ pages. But you never know. I may stumble across a story that begs to be written in this POV.
"Head-hopping" (i.e. subtle shifts in narrative position) can be so cleverly done you don't even notice it, i.e. in Jane Austen's books or Joyce' short stories. (Specifically how she uses her omniscient narrator to occupy ten different characters at once! Wow!)It's odd how people feel "betrayed" by switching characters. I find it exhausting being in the same head for 300+ and long for the release of someone else!
I'd forgotten about Jane Austen. Great example. I think it's odd too, MJ, how anyone could be annoyed if it's done correctly. I love being able to see the story from more than one POV. Actually, I don't think I've written an novel yet in a single POV. Of course, I hold a POV for an entire scene, sometimes longer, but I love working from two POVs or more.
Omniscient pov seems to have gone out of style--all fairy-tales are told this way and also Tolkien...In the first part of my book ( a part that has been eliminated) I had the wolves thoughts as well as a herd of horses...Personally I like the story told from different pov's, just done with a bit of finesse like starting the new character at the beginning of a chapter...or at least having a page break...it can become confusing otherwise...I do agree about the boring part too...I'll have to re-visit Austen. It is a tricky business.
I've yet to figure out how they do it so well. When I try it, I feel as though I'm just making a huge mess of things. I admire anyone who can pull of omnicient. I'm told by those who can do it that it's ridiculously easy. Perhaps if I ever master it, I'll try to pass the same nonsense onto others too. ;)
