Does anyone else find that learning to write a novel can then make reading novels a double edged sword?
On one hand I’m in absolute admiration of the time and work that’s gone into the ‘work of art’ that I’m reading.
And on the other hand I’m really annoyed when I come across a ‘best seller’ that’s poorly constructed or written! You know, when you spot these glaringly obvious issues and you’re left thinking ‘hell! And I haven’t got published yet? Sheesh!’
That of course brings you to the whole ‘luck of the draw’ & ‘it only takes one’ conversation. But I’ll leave that for now.
I just read a book that my mum left me. My parents sold their house, put their belongings in storage and now travel the country in a ute and a fifth wheeler – pretty cool huh! This of course means they have precious little space and with my mum being an avid reader this can pose the occasional problem. Especially when she discovers a ‘new’ second-hand book store. So my shelves are getting slowly heavier with the books she’s read.
The book is called ‘A Vintage Affair’ by Isabel Wolff. It has recommendations from various newspapers as well as Cosmopolitan magazine and Marie Claire. That should have sufficed as a warning really. And yes this review is totally biased as I’ve never been a fan of gushy romances.
I love Diana Gabaldon’s series which certainly has romance but is creative and actiony enough for me to forgive her *grin*. And I really enjoy the relationship between Claire and Jamie – it frequently reminds me of myself and Glenn (by the way our 9 year anniversary today!! Woohoo!).
Back to the book. It center’s around Phoebe who’s just opened a vintage clothing shop. Elegant, proper vintage and I can’t fault her on the clothing descriptions, they made me drool (I’m a sewer when time & writing permits). Phoebe appears to have some big dark secret looming over her regarding the death of her best friend Emma.
I won’t go into more detail incase someone wants to read and please understand I’m not bagging the book at all, it’s a fluffy chick lit book that obviously appeals (best seller and all), but I wouldn’t have read it had it not been on my bookshelf.
The bits that annoyed me. Ms Wolff uses a lot of what is known as ‘chekhov’s gun’ devices – check out Lydia Kang’s site for more info on this! http://lydiakang.blogspot.com/2010/06/literary-devices-part-2-chekhovs-gun.html
Where she places a supposedly insignificant object, person, incident in the story and later on it comes back up. Like the kleptomaniac daughter of the rich guy that the lead character dates.
And that’s fine – except they’re all glaringly obvious, and they must be obvious cause I am one of the most oblivious people ever (ask my family and friends.. they can give you stories galore!) and I found it really frustrating! Like watching a B grade movie of what could be a good story.
The tense in the book occasionally runs out of sync which is disconcerting and the errors that I felt should have been picked up by an editor weren’t.. which would really annoy me had it been my book. I guess I felt let down by the story because it seemed very, very cliché, and if you’ve read or do read the book you’ll know what I mean. An okay read, relatively enjoyable for sure but I wanted more!
Whew glad I got that off my chest *lol*
i really hate books like that! wanting more is not how you want your book to be! you want it to leave your reader drained, having given them everything AND more! Good post!
I know what you mean about books like this! It's so frustrating to find bad plots or typos are the worst. I say don't get frustrated, just know that your book is better so you have a great chance to be published.
@ K – I agree, though I do love books that leave me wanting the next in the series cause I love the characters so much
@ Janel – exactly! And I have an idea for the whole getting published thing.. but I'm not announcing it till I reach 100 followers *grin*
Hey Nicole!
I totally agree about how reading books is a different endeavor once you've started to write. I know I have a good book in my hands when I'm turning pages and can't stop, and not getting irritated at the grammar or plot devices or whatever. When I don't care and just want to read more.
Thanks for linking to my blog! I'm glad you found it helpful!
Last year I bought a book that had rave reviews. I hated it. Not the story, but the writing! I kept saying, "How can this person be published and I'm not". My snarky/wise husband said, "Well, you have to send it out in order to get published" 🙂
Yes, writing has definitely changed how I read. A perceptual shift, which normally I enjoy.
I love Diana Gabaldon's books, but as a historical fiction writer, I know it would be murder trying to get a book that length published today. Of course, had I not been writing while reading the books, that critique never would have occurred to me. I was constantly picking out things I would have cut. But then, she's published and I'm not!
Yeah, sometimes really good books can have some mistakes that are hard to take. And it's frustrating, because the book is SO CLOSE, and it just would've taken a couple more edits… *sigh*
I hope the next book you read goes better!
Reading books after trying to improve myself as a writer has turned into….not that great of an experience. I notice everything and want to tear my hair and basically have the same reaction you did. It makes the task so much harder!!
Critical thinking is a good thing, but does make life more of a kali scope view instead of Boolean. In my opinion, it also helps in self discovery (i.e. what is it that you enjoy).
As to the gun post on the other blog. I read that one too and from a reader’s perspective, I hate when elements are introduced without subtly and quickly being able to deduce the future importance. It is the tell tail sign of an underdeveloped authoric style. Yuck.
I agree with you about some novels that seem to be horribly written and yet they're published. I complained to my English professor about that once and he simply said, "Then don't write books like that."
It urked me to hear that but out of the tons of advice that he threw at me and the class over a semester, it's the only thing I remember.
I agree with your professor Chris *grin* I'm so not writing a book like that!
SH – yes!! Why oh why make it so obvious? I like at least a little mystery
Steph – I know what you mean about her books – and reading them now is a totally different experience. I still enjoy them but theres a lot more 'page flicking' while I look for actual 'stuff'
Bethany – thanks 🙂 I hope so too! Kinda thinking I might leave off reading till I'm done with mine. I have a bad habit of 'picking up' other peoples style if I'm not careful.
Melissa – I know, I never expected them to stand out so much, it's good that I notice them (means I won't miss them in my own work so much) but not so enjoyable to read.. I guess it's like what Lydia said – I know it's really good when I don't notice the mistakes!
I know what you mean – I hate books like that, especially ones that have glaringly obvious defects that make you want to scream. But I do love good books that are set up for a series, and leave you wanting more.
Btw, I have an award for you over at my blog.
@ WritingNut
Ooooo really? Zooming there now! *Exciting*!! I've never had an award before (not for a blog anyway) Thanks!