Reality in a Novel, a Post by R. Clint Peters

The theme of today’s post: “Is Reality Necessary in a Book?”

I recently completed reading yet another book that was striving to become an episode of NCIS.  Or perhaps it was attempting to beat the record for the most crises in a book that didn’t kill the hero in the first chapter.  In any case, each page was filled with enough action, catastrophes, flying bullets or cars, to kill any three heroes.

As I have previously opinionated in this blog, the ability of an author to self-publish has created a new class of authors who print because they can, but forget to do their homework, forget to learn their craft, forget about discovering what makes a good author.

My latest read was a case in point.  Again, I will not name the author or the book title; I don’t want to give him or her additional publicity.  Suffice it to say, the book was intended to be an action-adventure, but it was actually a fantasy.  In short, the book had no connection to reality.  About halfway through, I was reading only to see what impossible situations the author subjected the hero to.

The focus of the author was to create as many crises as possible, while ignoring many of the rules of writing. At no time during that read did I have any idea what the hero looked like, nor did the author develop any of the supporting characters.  The hero had a love interest, but she remained a single dimensional character throughout the book.

I finished the novel for one reason:  I wanted to see if the author had learned anything about writing between page 1 and page 240.  Unfortunately, when I deleted the book from my Kindle, I had sadly concluded the author had learned nothing, but was happy to tell me there was a second book in the series.  Sorry, it won’t be added to my collection.

So, what did I learn about writing by reading this book?

First, the author hadn’t heard about “show, don’t tell”.  At one point, I counted eight pages of a description of an incident.  Unfortunately, every descriptions of every action was  entirely unrealistic.  The average human being needs eight hours of sleep, three meals a day, and a little free time for something more than being shot at, run off the road, or chased through a deserted building by a larger-than-life anti-hero.

Second, the author never developed the characters to allow the reader to become friends or enemies.  I have no idea what the main character looked like.  Actually, by the end of the book, I didn’t really care.  Unfortunately, I didn’t care about the hero’s friends, either.

The author did, however, develop some motivations for the hero, but those motivations were never enough to overcome the other deficiencies of the novel.  If pressed, I might give the book a strong 1 or a weak 2.

I think one the most disappointing factors of my most recent read was the author had only four or five scenes for the hero, which were repeated over and over and over again.  The hero was doing the same thing all the time.  Very boring.

In my desire to become a better writer, I have attempted to discover the tools for writing.  To recap, here they are, once again:

1)  Read other authors in your genre.  Discover what you like by someone else.

2.  Put “Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint” by Nancy Kress on your Kindle and actually READ IT.

3.  Obtain a copy of “Fiction Writer’s Workshop” by  Josep Novakovich.  Obviously, you need to read it.

4.  Additional books you might consider include:  “How to Write a Novel: A Practical Guide to the Art of Fiction”, “How to Write Clearly: Rules and Exercises on English Composition” by Edwin Abbott Abbott, and “The Techniques of Fiction Writing” by Robert Saunders Dowst.

5.  Finally, read two authors:  John D. MacDonald (specifically, his Travis McGee series), and Louis L’Amour (anything from his pen).  With John D. MacDonald, you will learn how to write a character your readers will become best friends with, and want to move their luxury yacht next to Slip F-18.  With Louis L’Amour, you will learn how to create a viewpoint called landscape.  Every scene in every L’Amour book can be found somewhere in the Southwest, and might still exist.

In two weeks, I will begin posting installments of Murder by Suicide.  I hope you will take the time to read it and leave a comment.  If you have a book you’d like to give members of The Book Reviewers & Author’s Club an opportunity to read, send me the PDF file, and I will provide the novel in installments.

#RClintPeters #TheAuthorsClub