Friday, August 30, 2013

The 2 sins of a writer

A close friend sent me a children’s book to review for an English newspaper. The book had been self-published by my friend’s friend. I finished reading it in one sitting. After I closed the book, I felt a strong sense of being cheated.

The theme was wonderful: supernatural elements and previous births are pan Indian favourites. The writer could have written a thriller or a racy whodunit, but all that the reader got was a flat main character, clueless about what he had to do with his talent (of  being able to see his previous lives in visions). The previous lives were never shown. Though the book was written in a simple and easy to read style for a ten year old, it was absolutely boring. The writer’s lack of interest showed.

It made me think. Writers can commit sins. Not murder or robbery. But literary sin. The two sins we are prone to committing are the Sin of Boring the Readers and the Sin of Cheating Readers.  

The writer whose book I had finished reading had committed those two sins.  When I opened the first page I expected a thrilling paranormal ride, hurtling the protagonist as well as me, through a terrain of different births. But I was disappointed. All that the writer showed were dull glimpses of just one birth (the current one) and nothing else. The ten year old was trapped in a dull life which the writer had not bothered to spice up. I wonder why the writer had chosen an amazing topic and been indifferent to it. 

These two sins make me shudder. I would hate to commit them. We can bore our readers to death by dull and flat descriptions. We can cheat them by not exploring the theme of our books to their full potential. 

When readers buy our books they are literally buying a ticket for a joy ride. Thrills, spills and tumbles will be expected. So, if all they experience is a flat monochromatic journey, at just one speed, they are going to be disappointed.

Have you left a book halfway due to boredom? Have you ever felt cheated after reading a book? Have you ever picked up a book expecting certain experiences and been sorely disappointed?


24 comments:

  1. The paucity of time compels me to do selective reading and a few pages reveal of what lies ahead so a 'go' or 'no go' decision is easy:)

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  2. Something to ponder on as a writer.

    Recently I left a book halfway due to boredom, I even felt cheated because I bought that book after knowing that it was a winner of Booker prize and had high expectations only to repent later.

    Sigh, how it won the Booker prize, I wonder.

    P.S i have tagged you on my post.

    http://irelatetothat.blogspot.com

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  3. Ouch, I hate feeling cheated by a book.

    I wonder why someone writes books like that. True indifference? Or don't they know what makes a good plot and then self publish?

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  4. This happens with some books I read in the Kindle. I am now slowly learning to separate the weed from the chaff. We can do that by reading the reviews below the book (even and especially the ones given by author's friends, etc).

    Forget going that far, I have a look at the book description - If the author is able to hold my interest through it, I may still give them a chance.

    One reason why we Indians lag behind westerners is: We think that we can manipulate the system and hence don't bother to improve our quality. In the west, the game is ruthless.

    Destination Infinity

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  5. It's disappointing to open a book and find you are on a boring journey. I used to faithfully finish any book I started, but now I set aside a book that turns out to be a boring read.

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  6. Nothing worse than a boring book. I slogged through Dan Simmons' The Terror and swore I'd never endure a boring book again.
    I hope I send my readers on a fun adventure.

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  7. Hi friends, I have been disappointed by books that were hyped so much, that they fell short of my expectations. Nowadays, I prefer to pick books either by reading the blurbs or by word of mouth publicity.

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  8. It is so disappointing when a book starts promising, you feel that rush of excitment over the first few pages only to be disappointed a couple of chapters in.

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  9. It is so disappointing for an author to cheat him/herself and the reader. Boring books are just too sad. I truly hope I am not guilty of that as an author though lol

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  10. I leave about 80% of the books I start due to boredom or cliche characters or bad writing, and some of the ones I've left were pubbed by the Big 5. It sounds like this writer just needs to find a good CP group that will tell him when things need to be spiced up. Good post! :-)

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  11. Hey Rachna! Awesome post.

    I hate feeling cheated. And it has happened to me more times than I can count. I never, never want to cheat my readers.

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  12. Yes, I have felt this way when reading.

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  13. Maybe there were some people who enjoyed it because they didn't have those kinds of expectations. If the book's title suggests a certain type of book, it would be good for the subtitle or description to give you a better feel for what to expect. But, yes, the writing should be strong enough to take you somewhere interesting, even if not where you originally expected. Writer’s Mark

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  14. Boring is definitely the one thing I can't forgive in a story. If I wanted realistic dullness I have my own life for that.

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  15. Yes. I try to think of those books as learning experiences for my writing. One book I read recently promised thrilling action, and then spent the first 90 pages on stuff before the action. I got to the point where I stopped caring about the character because she was just living an everyday life with little hint of the story to come. I try to remember that when I write - knowing that even if the backstory of my characters is important to have in my head, and in little snippets, I don't want to give the reader more than a chapter of it at the beginning, and maybe not even that.

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  16. Hey Rachna, I'm nominating you for two awards on tomorrow's (9/2) post. Writer’s Mark

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  17. Whenever I have left a book unfinished because of boredom, it has usually been due to its style.

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  18. Yes, I have stopped reading a book when I just couldn't get into it. It is somewhat disappointing, particularly if I was really looking forward to it.

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  19. Yes, I have left a few in the middle due to the very reasons you have mentioned. In fact, right now there's a half-read novel lying on the shelf, and that's how it will remain.

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  20. Wow, very well put, Rachna! Sincerity is key, and after all if a writer isn't passionate, why would they write? I like the new look of your blog too:)

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  21. I have been bored by books as well as disappointed in ones I thought would be better. I think that's one of the fears as a writer that the book will be boring or the reader will feel cheated by it. I'm sure no one does it on purpose (or I at least hope not!).

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  22. I get bored and quit reading books all the time. Maybe if I wasn't so busy, with a full time job, kids, and writing, I would give them more of a chance. But I just don't have the luxury of that time. So many books just drag on and nothing really happens. I need action! Stuff needs to be going on!

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  23. If I get bored, I won't finish a book. There are too many books I want to read!

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