I'm being generous here - with a lot of work, the book I have in mind might attain the adjective "fair". It would possibly make a decent short story. It's a cozy mystery centered around golfing, set in a country club community. I think the mystery itself might be interesting (I'm only half way through the book) and some of the characters are likable.
I don't want to mention the name of this book or the author, because of some misguided protective instinct. I will say it's published by a subsidiary of St. Martin's and on the dedication page, the author thanks her editor. The editor made sure the book has proper grammar, spelling and punctuation. But the editor is not a writer,or this would have been a very different book.
I feel that many years ago I could have enjoyed this book despite its flaws, probably few of which I would have been aware of. Now, however, my inner editor started shrieking in the first few pages: Show, don't tell! Poor characterization. Erratic pacing. Unrealistic characters and relationships. Slow moving plot. Drastic POV shifts. Unnecessary prose.
(I mentioned in my last post that I had begun reading Fifty Shades of Gray and the writing isn't as bad as I was led to believe. Shades is award-worthy compared to this.)
While I'm disheartened that my writerly knowledge is making it hard for me to like or get through this book, it is a great learning tool of the "what not to do" variety. (I think this book could be a great assignment for a creative-writing or editing class.) The problems are so glaring that I will not be likely to forget them. In my case, having read this book will help me to catch my own writing mistakes in regard to plotting, pacing, POV and characterization. There is something to be learned even from the worst examples of writing.
www.jennifermballard.com
www.daylightsend.weebly.com
www.trustindarkness.weebly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment