Insecure Writer's Support Group
Question - Being a writer, when you're reading
someone else's work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the
story/frustrates you the most about other people's books?
Answer: - I just finished a mystery set in the English countryside, one of my favorite places. The mystery was a good one, a who-done-it with great characters, and well written, but filled with constant rehashing of the clues and motives.
It drew me out of the story continuously. At first,
I thought it was the author's first book and understood because I know I did
the same thing in my first attempt, but it was the third book. By then, the
editor should have caught that, if not the author.
I finished the book, but I won't be reading
another. There are very few books that I just couldn't finish. That's because they simply didn't hold my interest, usually because I find myself
not caring about the characters or the storyline. It's very disappointing when
the description fails to fit the book.
Be sure to say hello!
Hi and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI wish you all the best for 2021.
It is my belief that sometimes authors stop learning. When we do that, we keep repeating the same mistakes.
Take care.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
A constant rehashing is like talking down to your readers.
ReplyDeleteThat would drive me a bit batty too. We have to trust the readers!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Yolanda. Hope 2021 brings you lots of blessings.
ReplyDeleteYes, I need a story to keep my interest. And not repeat things too much. Happy New Year, Yolanda!
ReplyDeleteVerbosity is toxic for fiction, that's for sure. I recently read the latest Murderbot novel, Network Effect by Martha Wells. It suffered from the same malady. The writer wrote 4 previous novellas about the same protagonist, and because they were shorter works, they were so much better than the novel. Very enjoyable. But this book - it felt like the author tried to pad the word count to bring it to the required length. I think the story would have fared much better as a novella too.
ReplyDeleteI used to read every book to the end, but that's changed over time. If a book is boring, has flat characters or has too many logic holes, I put it down.
ReplyDelete