Pssst! Secret advice for writers

[pbray]

If I reach the climatic fight scene in your book, and when your Big Bad shows up I can't remember who he is? Not a good sign. Instead of being riveted by the action, I had to skim back through the earlier chapters to try and figure out who this guy was.

Just saying.

Comments

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Oh gods, that is bad. Very bad.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

On the positive side, I'm now free to dive into Rob Thurman's latest :-)

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

It is something to look forward to. However, I am about ready to send all the characters a big bottle of anti-emo pills

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Just let me pop-in the emo-boyband CDs, and I'll dive right in :-)

[sylvia-rachel.livejournal.com]

Yowza.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

There's scattering red herrings to make a number of suspects viable as the Big Bad. And then there's introducing so many ummemorable potential villains that the big reveal is anticlimatic.

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

A fantasy or a mystery or a thriller? I wouldn't think it would matter so much for the latter two. Then again, that might be a reason why I don't read many of the latter two.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Urban Fantasy.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Dear me... anyone we know?

It's similar to other pet peeves of mine.
A: We have 47 characters it is essential the reader be able to keep straight, and we introduce them *all at the same time* or at least, very close together.

B:We (or our characters) expend a great deal of effort Suspecting someone who has, in fact, done nothing that a reasonable person would not be able to find a reasonable explanation for with a minimum of effort.
(It reminds me of an English friend, who, upon seeing a picture in the paper of a man accused of killing a girl in a hit-and-run, said, "He must be guilty. He looks a lout."

I hope, by the time you get to the climatic battle scene in Dark Winter, you remember who the bad guy is. I mean, he has, at that point, been laying waste to the country side for nigh-on 400 pages...

[pbray.livejournal.com]

The author isn't someone I think you know, but someone I've met who seems like a nice enough lifeform that I'm not naming names. It's possible they will grow out of this problem in future books, but alas I won't be lining up to buy them.

And yeah, after 400 pages, we'll know your guy.

[jjschwabach.livejournal.com]

Good to hear. :-).

Yes, I wouldn't ask you to name names, ever. Working in a mental health/substance abuse facility, one gets very used to conversations that are along the lines of, "A gentleman presented with the following issues..."