tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post5977734693026968528..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: Openings that annoyEdittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-81337958471819462032011-06-09T10:39:33.404-05:002011-06-09T10:39:33.404-05:00Alas, the boy wasn't the victim. And I wonder ...Alas, the boy wasn't the victim. And I wonder if the author realized that most of us would assume he was. Hmm.<br /><br />Yes, lecturing is a big turn off for me. Whining too. <br />But how do we start with a not-pleasant POV character? Some books start with the villain, and they are so seldom boon companions!<br />AliciaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-47497751736657004332011-06-07T17:02:53.758-05:002011-06-07T17:02:53.758-05:00Like Terry said, it's rare for me to not finis...Like Terry said, it's rare for me to not finish a story once I start. But I'm not likely to start if the opening situation is boring.<br /><br />And Selah is probably right about the boy being the victim, but I didn't think about that until I saw her comment. Even so, why is the scene in *his* POV? Unless some clue about the bad guy is revealed to the reader by seeing the crime from his POV, it doesn't make sense.Jami Goldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00957122956518765455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-83889136404529695872011-06-07T16:47:28.162-05:002011-06-07T16:47:28.162-05:00Ooh, present tense is another good one! I loathe ...Ooh, present tense is another good one! I loathe present tense. it makes me feel like I'm back in grade school reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books.<br /><br />JTJulie Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02880895598847092028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-57322767015545274842011-06-07T13:56:12.571-05:002011-06-07T13:56:12.571-05:00Last one I walked away from was historical fiction...Last one I walked away from was historical fiction where there was a glaring geographic impossibility on page 6. The author was describing the location of the main setting and used specific, real places, but her directions were backwards. The reason I picked it up was that the setting was relatively local. I put it down when she got it wrong. If you can't do the research, I won't give you my attention. <br /><br />Thanks for another great post!Lynda Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06911201034284282630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-4453672255610699832011-06-07T10:24:57.654-05:002011-06-07T10:24:57.654-05:00I have this ingrained "clean your plate"...I have this ingrained "clean your plate" mentality, and there are few books I don't finish. When I do give up, it's usually because I can't find a reason to like the character. But I don't even start books if the opening doesn't work for me. <br /><br />I'm turned off by anything written in present tense. For whatever reason, it feels less real to me than past tense, regardless of person.<br /><br />Terry<br /><a href="http://terryodell.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Terry's Place</a><br /><a href="http://www.terryodell.com" rel="nofollow">Romance with a Twist--of Mystery</a>Terry Odellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11610682530545306687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-39027920288094702322011-06-07T09:54:12.594-05:002011-06-07T09:54:12.594-05:00For me, voice is everything. If I'm hooked by ...For me, voice is everything. If I'm hooked by the voice in the first few paragraphs, I'll hang in there no matter how egregious the info dump or the irritating character. In this case, the voice doesn't engage me.<br /><br />Unlike you, I instantly assumed the child was the victim. Kid wanders away from mommy and gets grabbed by bad guy? Pretty standard for a detective novel. I probably would've hung in till I got a look at whomever snatches the tot, then put it down.Selahhttp://www.selahmarch.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-6510150403971573692011-06-07T09:15:03.572-05:002011-06-07T09:15:03.572-05:00Infodumps.
Long stretches of nothing happening. U...Infodumps.<br /><br />Long stretches of nothing happening. Unless you're Ruth Rendell, that doesn't work, and even she gets to the action and mounting dread pretty darned quick.<br /><br />Too many lit fic contortions. You literary writers, pretend I'm a frog and gradually turn up the heat on the metaphor soup. Michael Chabon uses two similes and three metaphors in every sentence, and he's great, but I do have to gear down for it, especially if I just read someone terse and crisp.<br /><br />Now I'm wondering about the opening of my as yet unsold novel. I loved the opening; thought it was perfectly dramatic and sympathy-inspiring; wrote it to heighten the suspense...but this discussion is making me wonder if it's whiny. One agent, a big dummy, said she didn't like the voice as much as she'd hoped. Hmmph! The voice is perfectly delightful, thank you very much. But could there be whine? Is the heroine not being heroic enough? Must convene beta readers!pulphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17355139388706278494noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-24443179083772053232011-06-07T06:39:27.292-05:002011-06-07T06:39:27.292-05:00I think the most annoying for me - bar openings th...I think the most annoying for me - bar openings that are just badly written - are the ones that openly seek to manipulate me. All the 'sympathy builders' (character being bullied, threatened, treated badly) don't work if I haven't gotten to know the character - the boy might be a brat who feels entitled to three turns on his own *and* who hits his sister when Mom isn't looking. And equally, doing something that's supposed to make me go 'aww' (Saving The Cat or stopping for an acccident) don't work on me because I consider many of them to be ordinary behaviour for decent people; and sometimes they're done *to* score points, so before I praise the boy scout helping the old lady across the street I want to know whether she really meant to go.green_knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16499896006012152260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-3752876627256327282011-06-06T22:40:15.413-05:002011-06-06T22:40:15.413-05:00Okay, it was more than a few pages... I can't ...Okay, it was more than a few pages... I can't remember the title, but the book was about a girl growing up in Ireland. <br /><br />About 1/4 into the book, suddenly the narrative came to a halt with a line like, 'Okay, I can't do this anymore.'<br /><br />...and suddenly you find out that a guy broke into an old woman's house, she's dead, and he's writing a fake memoir of her life to somehow cover up the death...<br /><br />...<br /><br />...<br /><br />Yeah, that is the only book I have ever returned to the store I bought it from. Nothing on the back cover gave any indication that 1/4 of the story would be about a *fake* character.1000th.monkeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16835988128285459745noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-3366754656381135482011-06-06T21:47:26.169-05:002011-06-06T21:47:26.169-05:001st Person. 99.9% of the time I put it down becau...1st Person. 99.9% of the time I put it down because I've rarely found anybody who can do it well, let alone do it for 300 pages.<br /><br />Teenagers/kids.<br /><br />Woman obsessing over shoes and/or clothes.<br /><br />Fiction books that not-so-deftly lecture about weight control and/or health issues.<br /><br />Whining. I don't care if it's a man, woman, or child. If the voice comes off petulant or shallow or annoying, the book gets dropped.<br /><br />History. LOL. I'm horrible with this one, but anything overtly filled with historical facts is rejected too. I just don't enjoy it.<br /><br /><br />As for how to get invested in a character... I think you have to put them in a situation where you're intrigued about what's happening/about to happen rather than, necessarily, the "who" its happening to. When I'm out and about, it's a gesture or a remark that will catch my attention with people and make me wonder, "Hmmm, what's going on here?" I don't know them or know anything about them but I'm interested because the events catch my eye and make me want to know more. I think the same applies to fiction.<br /><br />JTJulie Harringtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02880895598847092028noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-48238259642849774522011-06-06T21:24:43.981-05:002011-06-06T21:24:43.981-05:00That's all good. I'm thinking that idea yo...That's all good. I'm thinking that idea you both mention, that we don't want to spend too much time without getting invested. Hmm. How to do that???Edittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-84862071835627085672011-06-06T19:43:00.186-05:002011-06-06T19:43:00.186-05:00Really good post. I don't love miles and miles...Really good post. I don't love miles and miles of internal dialogue in the beginning, the character's thoughts, ad nauseum--because in the first few pages, I don't really care about them (yet).karahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11547435287145385214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-79642330152718913492011-06-06T17:37:40.139-05:002011-06-06T17:37:40.139-05:00Last big turnoff in a beginning for me was a bland...Last big turnoff in a beginning for me was a bland first-person narrator sitting in the back of a school bus, watching other kids (all cliche high schoolers) get on the bus one at a time. No character interaction, nothing that got me invested in the story at all.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14497045412007902460noreply@blogger.com