Recent Readings
Lately I've been trying to find more books in my genre, the genre I hope to someday be published in. I have a tendency to read historical, classics, even the occasional fantasy book. None of which are overly helpful in showing me what sort of elements are key components in mystery/action books. I've read a few recently that I've enjoyed - The first Jack Reacher novel, which is no surprise, as well as a spin-off novel by Diane Capri.
However, today, I'm going to talk about things I've learned from a book I didn't enjoy as much: The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd. This was set up with lots of promise: Noah Boyd was once an FBI agent, so he had working knowledge of what he was writing about, the jacket blurb sounded really interesting, and Lee Child wrote a commendation for the cover.
I enjoyed the story: ex-FBI agent brought in to work behind the scenes to help catch a group of murderers/extortionist. It was fast paced, had moments of humor, and the right number of plot twists to keep the reader interested.
However, the writing lacked something - perhaps nothing more than a good editor. Now, a number of the things I'm going to list are things I've noticed in my own writing so I know how easy it is to make these mistakes, and how hard it is to avoid them. Perhaps my own awareness is what caused me to notice them in Boyd's writing in the first place.
1. Over use of adverbs. I love a good adverb. Yes, often, a more poignant verb will exactly the same thing, but sometimes, you just want an adverb in there. However, how about not three adverbs in two sentences, or repeating the same adverb three times on one page?
2. Mary Sues. A Mary Sue is an idealized, overly perfect female character. And the female lead of this story seems just that. We aren't given any indication of her age, just that she's "young", yet she holds a high-level position in the FBI. Hmm, how'd she get there, one might wonder. But don't worry, Boyd reassures us that she earned it. And at the end of the book, she tells the MC that she doesn't think she'll push for the next promotion just yet. Gotta be humble, don't you know? And never fear that she's not good looking. Of course she is. Has to be. But, to keep her from being too perfect, she has a tiny scar on her cheek. Which the MC tells her just makes her even more beautiful. Of course.
3. Inconsistent characters. This is mostly true for the MC. He's supposed to be the strong, silent type, keeps to himself, does his own thing, ignores orders. But oh look, he's working closely with a deputy assistant director (read "hot female lead") and flirting the whole time.
I also found it difficult to follow along with which boss-man character I wasn't supposed to like. There's three of them that seem opposed, then overly helpful, to the MC at various times.
I also had trouble believing the motivations of one of the bad guys. Sure, after a long, drawn-out explanation, we see this person had reason to do what they did. However, there was another person who I think had much better motivation and position to have done the same thing, without the reader needing a lot of back ground information to understand it.
4. Head hopping. I do this a lot, myself. So at first, when I noticed it in Boyd's writing, I felt validated: "See, a published author does it too!" But it soon became tiresome. I wanted more from this character, but oops, we've switched to someone else carrying the camera. Alright then, let's refocus.
This post has turned out longer than I expected, and I lot more negative than I had intended. This was Noah Boyd's first novel, so a number of things can be forgiven on his part. I think a lot the things I mentioned above could have been remedied with a more dedicated editor or a couple more beta readers.
And being able to identify these errors in someone else's writing, should hopefully help me be able to correct them in my own.
Now, excuse me while I go read Noah Boyd's second novel, because I need to find out what happened to Blank and Blank.
~ Belle
However, today, I'm going to talk about things I've learned from a book I didn't enjoy as much: The Bricklayer by Noah Boyd. This was set up with lots of promise: Noah Boyd was once an FBI agent, so he had working knowledge of what he was writing about, the jacket blurb sounded really interesting, and Lee Child wrote a commendation for the cover.
I enjoyed the story: ex-FBI agent brought in to work behind the scenes to help catch a group of murderers/extortionist. It was fast paced, had moments of humor, and the right number of plot twists to keep the reader interested.
However, the writing lacked something - perhaps nothing more than a good editor. Now, a number of the things I'm going to list are things I've noticed in my own writing so I know how easy it is to make these mistakes, and how hard it is to avoid them. Perhaps my own awareness is what caused me to notice them in Boyd's writing in the first place.
1. Over use of adverbs. I love a good adverb. Yes, often, a more poignant verb will exactly the same thing, but sometimes, you just want an adverb in there. However, how about not three adverbs in two sentences, or repeating the same adverb three times on one page?
2. Mary Sues. A Mary Sue is an idealized, overly perfect female character. And the female lead of this story seems just that. We aren't given any indication of her age, just that she's "young", yet she holds a high-level position in the FBI. Hmm, how'd she get there, one might wonder. But don't worry, Boyd reassures us that she earned it. And at the end of the book, she tells the MC that she doesn't think she'll push for the next promotion just yet. Gotta be humble, don't you know? And never fear that she's not good looking. Of course she is. Has to be. But, to keep her from being too perfect, she has a tiny scar on her cheek. Which the MC tells her just makes her even more beautiful. Of course.
3. Inconsistent characters. This is mostly true for the MC. He's supposed to be the strong, silent type, keeps to himself, does his own thing, ignores orders. But oh look, he's working closely with a deputy assistant director (read "hot female lead") and flirting the whole time.
I also found it difficult to follow along with which boss-man character I wasn't supposed to like. There's three of them that seem opposed, then overly helpful, to the MC at various times.
I also had trouble believing the motivations of one of the bad guys. Sure, after a long, drawn-out explanation, we see this person had reason to do what they did. However, there was another person who I think had much better motivation and position to have done the same thing, without the reader needing a lot of back ground information to understand it.
4. Head hopping. I do this a lot, myself. So at first, when I noticed it in Boyd's writing, I felt validated: "See, a published author does it too!" But it soon became tiresome. I wanted more from this character, but oops, we've switched to someone else carrying the camera. Alright then, let's refocus.
This post has turned out longer than I expected, and I lot more negative than I had intended. This was Noah Boyd's first novel, so a number of things can be forgiven on his part. I think a lot the things I mentioned above could have been remedied with a more dedicated editor or a couple more beta readers.
And being able to identify these errors in someone else's writing, should hopefully help me be able to correct them in my own.
Now, excuse me while I go read Noah Boyd's second novel, because I need to find out what happened to Blank and Blank.
~ Belle
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