After reading a novel recently that I grabbed by pure chance, I was left with feeling that a potentially great story had been wasted. The first chapter was well written with a fantastic plot setting and this was what hooked me into selecting this book. As I read further, I was also impressed that the text had obviously been thoroughly, if not meticulously proof read. For the first twenty pages or so, it seemed to me to be a good example of a well written self published novel.
Unfortunately though, after these first few well written pages, the wheels fell off completely and I only continued reading because I was making mental notes of the facets of the book that were spoiling what could have been a really good read. Here are a few of the problems I encountered.
Terrible Formatting: The text was a huge block with next to no paragraphing at all, no first line indent or line spacing. This made it very difficult to read and killed any flow the story may have had.
All Tell and No Show: All good writers know about ‘Show and Tell‘ and that while a balance of the two is needed in fiction writing, all tell is a sure fire way to send a reader to sleep. I won’t harp on this point, but suffice to say that it is an all too common mistake I see – writers falling into the trap of only telling a story. This book was unfortunately one of those with practically all tell and no show.
Clichéd And Weak Dialogue: Worse that just using clichés and hackneyed phrases, the very limited dialogue in this book hardly ever extended beyond five or six words and each line of dialogue carried a reporting verb and an all too often adverb. It was symptomatic of a lack of understanding in allowing characters to develop and ‘showing’ the story to the reader. Without well crafted dialogue, it was impossible to get to know the characters.
Unreal Fiction: While fiction is fiction, it does need to make sense. Non-sensical reactions by characters, illogical outcomes to scenarios and just plain silliness all weaken a good plot. There were some very silly passages in this particular book that should have been edited out.
A Flat Ending: There is nothing more disappointing than reading a novel and discovering that it has a rushed ending. The end of a book should be when the reader thinks ‘wow’, not, ‘damn’. I was left with the impression that the author hadn’t planned out this story at all and the ending was driven by the word count and not the story.
These are just a few of the problems I encountered with this book, but my purpose in highlighting them is not to criticise the book and the author. It is to offer some clues on how to improve and grow as a writer.
Self publishing is a tough business, and with so many books available now the only way to stand out from the crowd is to write well. Avoiding the errors I have highlighted here may just help you do that.
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Serban V.C. Enache
13/01/2013 at 7:55 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Many indie authors feel the need to rush their stories, for various reasons. It’s a sure way to obtain a net disappointment, both from readers and from yourself. No one gives credit for incomplete work, especially if he paid money for that work. An author should want to blow away the audience, so that the positive word may be spread around. Even the strongest corporations cannot survive negative publicity for long. And the indie author is not a multinational. ^^ Fewer resources means more work for the author, but it’s not an impossible task. And they should definitely have their manuscript sent to betareaders, before clicking on the “publish” button. After you successfully passed the meat-grinder, you want to get on top of the promotion – writing emails to the relevant reviewers, visiting the relevant forums, putting the word out of the social platforms, uploading to torrent sites et all. Once you’ve published, you’ve got to promote for a certain period, but not spam, then you’ve got to get back to the notebook, to the pen or pencil, and start writing the draft of the sequel or some other project. Main tenet: don’t rush it.
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Derek Haines
13/01/2013 at 8:13 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
I agree Serban. Rushing to publish is so often the problem. I know, I’ve been there, done that, and it is a recipe for disaster. It’s always nice when friends and family say your story is great, but it’s hardly the best way to know. I never publish until I’ve had totally independent feedback. No matter how long it takes, and sometimes, no matter how painful it is.
Derek Haines recently posted..Capturing A Reader, Or Sending Them To Sleep
JJ Toner
14/01/2013 at 11:27 am (UTC 2) Link to this comment
I’ve seen all those problems and more. The main one that kills most of these books, though, is head-hopping. Chosing just one (the best) point of view for a book, a chapter, a scene, chapter or even just a single paragraph is so basic, and yet many writers seem unaware of the need.
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MRC
14/01/2013 at 2:57 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
Thanks for this great post Derek! I’m writing my first novel and learning everyday!
MRC recently posted..MY TURN
Bellanda (@BellandaInParis)
15/01/2013 at 12:35 pm (UTC 2) Link to this comment
As always, Derek… another great post! I think the points you mentioned are indeed a great help to authors (especially to those in the self-publishing field).
Bellanda (@BellandaInParis) recently posted..New Year’s dinner should be something special, right? However, French chef… I am not!