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There are some things I love about reviewing books by new authors. They offer fresh concepts, unexpected plot twists, trope-busting characters. But—and as a relatively new author myself, I know how seductive this can be—they are also vulnerable to the dubious warnings of They say. They say you should leave audiences wanting more, They say a cliffhanger makes people want to buy the next book in the series. They say show/don’t tell. They say write to your genre and your audience.
And okay—in the hands of a great writer, that works really well. In the hands of writers who are just uncertain enough, just desperate enough to follow that “expert” advice, you get… at least two-thirds of the books sent to me for review. On the off-chance that writers choose not to write the next Fifty Shades or Game of Thrones, I would like to suggest the following:
- Tropes are okay. They’re around for a reason, and that reason is that they just work. They’re a shorthand we all understand, and great writers made them that way. For good writers, they are a means to an end. For not-so-good writers, they are an overused, painful, awkward, and just plain boring crutch. [No, seriously Barb—don’t hold back here. Tell us what you really think…] But wait, you say. You’re not using the trope, you’re busting it? Turning it on its little side to expose its hollow little center? Well, yay you. But before you fancy yourself the next Joss Whedon giving us a teenaged cheerleader as vampire slayer, please ask yourself how far you can take the trope-busting. Does your badass heroine still flick her hair, wear sexy lingerie (under her black leather and/or spandex, of course), and get rescued by The Guy? Is there a reason for the trope, let alone the busted one, in your story? (Translation: will Marvel make a movie staring Black Widow? Will Captain America ever be portrayed by a woman of color?)
- Show/Don’t tell? Well sure. Except… your novel isn’t a movie and your keypad isn’t a video camera. You can NOT show everything. We don’t actually need to know every minute detail of what your character sees, smells, tastes, hears, or knows. Spare us.
- Learn the difference between a loose thread and a cliffhanger. It’s fine to leave threads dangling in your novel. That’s what backstories are for. Voldemort can still be out there, Darth Vader’s ship can whirl away out of sight, the Ring/Maltese Falcon/treasure map/you-name-it macguffin might still be missing—but for the love of any deity you follow, please don’t leave us with “Light flickered on the edge of the raised blade and…” Each Harry Potter book has its own internal conflict, and that story arc—while still fitting the overall backstory—HAS TO BE RESOLVED by the end of that volume. If not, Reviewers will take your name in vain on Amazon and Goodreads. (Well, I will anyway.) You’ve been warned.
Rosie Amber said:
Yay! I’m not a fan of a cliff hanger which tries to get you to buy then next book.
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barbtaub said:
It makes me crazy.
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lizannelloyd said:
I hate the word Trope. I don’t hate the concept, I just wish there was another word to describe it!
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barbtaub said:
Actually, it’s a pretty old word. Miriam Webster says its origin is mid-16th century: via Latin from Greek—tropos ‘turn, way, trope,’ from trepein ‘to turn.’
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lizannelloyd said:
It’s not the root but the sound of it I don’t like.
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Kristina Stanley said:
I like a cliff hanger at the end of scene but not at the end of a book, unless I’m reading a fantasy trilogy, and then I kind of expect a some sort of cliff hanger.
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barbtaub said:
I think there’s a huge difference between a completed story arc that still continues to the next book in the series through a backstory, and a book that just stops.
Basically, I feel like I’m back listening to a book report in elementary school, “And if you want to know how the story ends, you have to read the book”—for another 3-bucks on Amazon, of course…
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Kristina Stanley said:
You’re right. The story arc does have to be complete even if there is a cliff hanger. I got so mad at one author who ended a book with a car crash with two key characters (and left it hanging whether they lived or not) that I didn’t read the next book. That was too much of a cliff hanger.
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Paula said:
Sometimes I’m surprised at the books that get published…I read one recently (I mistook it for another highly recommended one by the same name, ugh, my fault) that simply stopped once everyone was introduced and the basic backstory was in place and the action was just about to begin. What? Yep. Just an introduction, a teaser, really. As a sci-fi fantasy fan I’m no stranger to the trilogy, but yes, each book should satisfy as well as leave you wanting more.
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barbtaub said:
You said it perfectly “each book should satisfy as well as leave you wanting more”. I couldn’t agree more!
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judithbarrow1 said:
Reblogged this on Barrow Blogs: and commented:
One to read
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barbtaub said:
Thanks so much Judith!
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Paul said:
Even the silly TV reality shows try to make a mini cliff hanger before every commercial break now. It pisses me off when one of the characters gasps and then they cut to commercial – I just change the channel. $%^&*()_! Take that you rascally wabbit!
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barbtaub said:
You’re right as usual. Next time that happens I’ll shoot the TV.
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alisonewilliams said:
Reblogged this on Alison Williams Writing and commented:
Couldn’t have put it better myself – so I won’t try 🙂
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Cathy said:
Oh yes! All that.
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CPhilippou123 said:
My neck is sore from nodding at every single sentence on here. So, so true.
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barbtaub said:
Very, very sorry about your neck. I’d offer a massage but A) I don’t know how and B) I’m from the midwest. We don’t touch unless we share significant genetic material and/or a marriage license. Often, not even then…
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kirizar said:
Someone is feeling testy today. Did you watch a nasty cliffhanger of a series that ended? (Farscape anyone?)
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barbtaub said:
Actually, someone got about the tenth book in a row that seemed to have a good concept, was going along well, and then just…stopped. I always feel like the author is standing there, palm out, waiting for me to pay the toll to find out how the book ends up.
Testy is a LOT nicer than I feel about it.
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kirizar said:
I suspect the author doesn’t have a clue how their story is going to end. At least, I think I heard that was George R. R. Martin’s problem. That and a glacially slow writing process. (Said the woman who has yet to finish one novel.)
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