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soulless books part II
Sep. 8th, 2007 09:04 amAdditionally, the back story you get in this kind of book is usually not necessary for the reader to get that scene. I know, they're trying to set up the whole world and put in all the information you'll ever need to know on all the available mythologies out there, right up front. But it doesn't work. I don't care how many things you know and want to show off; I only care if I can connect to your MC and if their struggles mean something to me.
Other problems in soulless [fantasy--sorry, I love fantasy, but it happens so often in these books because Fantasy is Hot these days] is the tendency to wander around in too many people's heads. It's not that kids can't keep track of more than one person at once. It's that it's hard to fall in love with more than one person at a time. I don't want the POV of the bug, I don't need to know what the carpet is thinking. I don't want to wander in all the adults' heads as well. I think the cause of this is the blockbuster movie syndrome, trying to write like a movie and not understanding that movies and books are very different ways of telling a story.
Also, despite all the agent requests to the contrary, these high-$$-promotional books always deal with 1) Saving the Fabric of the Universe as We Know It!!!!! and 2) A Magical Device That Has Fallen into the Wrong Hands. I know people make fun of these things, but there are books that have been on the NYT bestseller list with just exactly that. Recently.
Okay, enough ranting.
Other problems in soulless [fantasy--sorry, I love fantasy, but it happens so often in these books because Fantasy is Hot these days] is the tendency to wander around in too many people's heads. It's not that kids can't keep track of more than one person at once. It's that it's hard to fall in love with more than one person at a time. I don't want the POV of the bug, I don't need to know what the carpet is thinking. I don't want to wander in all the adults' heads as well. I think the cause of this is the blockbuster movie syndrome, trying to write like a movie and not understanding that movies and books are very different ways of telling a story.
Also, despite all the agent requests to the contrary, these high-$$-promotional books always deal with 1) Saving the Fabric of the Universe as We Know It!!!!! and 2) A Magical Device That Has Fallen into the Wrong Hands. I know people make fun of these things, but there are books that have been on the NYT bestseller list with just exactly that. Recently.
Okay, enough ranting.
