| Author |
Message |
    
Gloria Marlow
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
471
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 01:28 pm: |   |
I love to read, but I have been having a really difficult time getting into most books I pick up lately.
I used to lay in bed all night on Friday or Saturday so engrossed in a new book that I couldn't stand to put it down until I was done.
In the past year, I would guess I've found four or five books that good. So, I'm trying to notice what makes them that good.
One thing I've noticed, and I know someone's going to "get" me for this  is that they don't strictly stick to the point of view rule.
Of course, they don't flip-flop around to the point that I'm going "who said that?", "who thought that?" But I think POV changes may not always need to be as drastic as we might make them.
Does that make sense at all? |
Laurel Johnson
Unity Member
Post Number:
2358
Registered: 01-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 04:53 pm: | |
Some people write by the seat of their pants. I don't know how to say it any other way. By instinct. Jack Kerouac for example wrote by the sound of the words he wanted to use to convey his thoughts. I'm not saying Kerouac is excellent.....just that he carefully "listened" to the sound of the words and the phrases he used.
If I find a book that is lyrical or beautifully written, regardless of the genre, I pay a lot less attention to POV or tense. Very few modern day best sellers will qualify under that statement. |
LaurieAnne
Unity Member
Post Number:
1060
Registered: 12-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - 07:59 pm: | |
Gloria,
I tend to agree with you. It is not whether you make a defined POV shift or whether you stick to strictly one POV. It is the skill with which the story is told, and the ability to hold the reader's attention such that they know what is occurring without having *** appear all over the place.
No single set of rules can be followed for anything. Those writers who adhere to "formulas for success" are doomed to what I call "No-namedom". Your skills do not stand out if you adhere to someone else's plan.
LA
LaurieAnne
http://www.authorsinkbooks.com |
sophie simonet
Wisdom Member
Post Number:
686
Registered: 03-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 12:29 pm: | |
Danielle Steel, Mary Higgins Clark...flagrant POV violations. I think POV switches can be awkward and jarring, but I don't think putting scene breaks in is always necessary. I also think we may find books increasingly less satisfying because we're more critical of them. I find myself wondering, Why did the author do this? and It would have been better if...
www.authorsden.com/sophiesimonet |
Gloria Marlow
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
474
Registered: 04-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 06:26 pm: | |
It has entered my mind Sophie that perhaps I can't concentrate because I've got all this POV, 1st person, 3rd person, etc. stuff in my head... |
Steven Shrewsbury
Wandering Member
Post Number:
295
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2003 - 07:05 pm: | |
When I write in first person I am telling you a tale as easy as if I were talking to you. Very few online have spoken with me on the phone, but I hear my old audio downloads of tales were a real famed listen for a bit...
I have been reading Lovecraft alot lately. He lurid porse and intelligent way of speaking is much different than stuff today. It is refreshing for a spell. |
Fred Dungan
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
413
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 12:28 am: | |
Coming to this board was a Godsend. Having written religious tracts, "how-to" essays, and non-fiction for the past decade, my sense of humor was starting to go sour. I feel a whole lot better now. In fact, I've embarked on a fun book about growing up in a small town. You can read Vigilantes as I write it at http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm. |
Steven Shrewsbury
Hsympothai Member
Post Number:
354
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 10, 2003 - 05:54 am: | |
Fred, I have checked it out a while back. Thanks for the reminder  Cool stuff. |
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