Friday, July 22, 2016

Trying to Avoid Falling into the Trap

Last week I read a thriller by my favourite author. After I read it, I had just one thought running through my mind: I wish I hadn’t wasted time reading it. I felt cheated and disappointed. I’ve read all the books by that author and this book was a cut, copy and post job: the plot was a rehash of another book, the characters had been pulled out from all her other books and the storyline plodded through an expectable route with nothing new to offer.

I wondered why that veteran writer actually wrote this book. This book was an exact clone of her previous books. Word for word. I passed the book to my sister-in-law and she (though she isn’t a writer) said the same thing. Infact she went as far as telling me that she is skipping pages to come to the end.

The worst mistake we writers make is Falling Into The Trap. We can fall into this writing trap due to several reasons; overuse of certain types of clichés and stereotypes, use of a similar style of narrative in every story we write, even though the books aren’t a part of a series, use of similar settings, use of similar protagonists, using predictable sub-plots and plot twists.

I attribute this to the fact that once the writers have discovered a successful formula, they want to milk it for all its worth. Perhaps they endorse the view why mess with something that has worked well. But they forget that what readers adored once, may not find takers again.

Many times I have a strong feeling of Déjà vu when I read the next set of books written by few writers. I feel I have met the characters before. Even the setting has no novelty, it’s the same one as the last book written by the author. The problem faced by the main character and the way the conflict has been resolved is something I had guessed halfway (very often much earlier) through the book.

These authors fall into a self-made trap. They can avoid this by writing something new in every book. Roald Dahl’s books : George’s Marvellous Medicine, Twits, Mathilda, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, all had something new to offer. So did Rowling’s books.  Though the seven potter books had the same setting of Hogwarts and the same set of characters, each book had something new to offer. There were surprises and shocks aplenty, new entrants who took us unawares, several times the plot took unexpected twists that had readers eager to know what would happen next.


Have you ever felt that a particular writer is falling into the trap? How do you personally manage to avoid the writing trap? Please share, we all can learn from your experience.

17 comments:

  1. Yes, I totally agree that some very popular writers write based on a formula. And I'm losing interest in their series too. Lucky for us, we're not famous so we still have to follow the rules.

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  2. Yes, I've given up on some series because they all become the same. Since I'm comfortable with my genre, I worry I'll do the same.

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  3. I've stopped reading a lot of mystery series for this very reason, Rachna. After the first few novels, the plots and the characters get stale and the author tends to recycle.

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  4. Oh, now I feel like a bad reader. John Grisham is the king of formula characters but that's one of the things I actually like. I like the gruff and scary judge that turns out to be fair; I love the quirky washed up sidekick who didn't finish law school or was disbarred but is tenacious and smart; I love the main character lawyer who adores his wife and struggles to make ends meet. I LOOK for these characters. I admit the last couple books were so-so plot-wise, but I still want those characters to be around tracking that money to the Cayman Islands. HA. I'll let you writers figure it out. If you give me great characters, I won't care if they are merely renamed in the next book.

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  5. I worry about falling into those traps. Maybe I have already, but I hope not. I usually write stand-alone books. so there's less danger, I suppose. Still, I worry I'll just write the same book with different characters.

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  6. I think it's a case of trying to replicate the success of a previous novel, but you're 100% right - a rehash is just that and isn't worthwhile for the reader or the author.

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  7. Each story and plot need to be different!

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  8. Whilst the familiar can be comforting, it mustn't become boring or predictable. I have read books that have fallen into this trap in the past. Interesting post, Rachna.

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  9. This is a real conundrum for writers. Success is supposed to come from writing as many books as possible and being true to your brand, so people will know what they're getting and buy all the books. Many writers achieve great success doing that (particularly romance writers). And others write trilogies and series only. Those of us who don't, take twice or three times longer to get out books. We may get better reviews, but we don't make nearly as much money as those who write formulaic books.

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  10. Thrillers, especially, seem to fall prey to the formula trap. There are a lot of hack writers out there, just rehashing the same basic plot. But the kids' books I read are, for the most part, fresh and original. And I love Roald Dahl!

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  11. Yes, I also come across stories so similar that I would go and check books on my book shelf.

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  12. Aloha from Maui, I don't know if I visited your blog yet after A-Z Challenge. I remember reading Angels & Demons after the Da Vinci Code, and finding it too similar so I never finished it. Courtney - Maui Jungalow blog

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  13. Two of my favourite 'block buster' authors have disappointed me in the past - for the same reasons you've pointed out. It makes you wonder if they've stopped caring coz the bucks are rolling in. Let's hope we don't fall into that trap and if we do, we need to courage to say, 'Hey, Girl, what's that all about?' :)

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  14. I've definitely noticed this in books. It's important to maintain freshness even in the same series.

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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  15. My short story writing helps me avoid the trap because I'm always trying to take a walk in a different character's shoes. I know I'm a sucker for writing heroines with the need to prove themselves, but sometimes I need to stretch by writing from the POV of a villain, a human trafficker, a rogue, a woman who already knows who she is and what she wants, a child who is lost . . . anything but the "norm" that I usually write.

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  16. I have definitely started finding little similarities between some of my stories. Writing flash fiction, it gets a bit tough to not offer up a hint of repetition here and there after over a hundred pieces.

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  17. I have a few favorite authors who did this. Two of them I actually felt were writing from real life, with the same themes explored over and over again. These authors even admit in interviews they pull from real life, but with few twists since there's nothing new they're offering.

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