The Philosophical Problem with ‘Writing Rules’

How the Big Picture is Often Obscured by ‘Rules of Thumb’

A thumb is a very useful thing to have on your hand. A writing ‘rule of thumb’ can also be very useful to an author. But no one would want ten thumbs! Being useful and being true can be two different things.

An author is creating a ‘reading experience’ just as a composer is creating a ‘listening experience’. Both the author and the composer must consider how their individual actions impact the total experience being created.

When I read a writing ‘rule of thumb’ like “change all ‘telling’ to ‘showing’” or “add conflict (or tension) to every sentence” the philosopher in me just cringes.

When I read that conflict is what keeps a reader reading and when things are going smoothly for the characters that the writing is boring, I want to shout: No, No, No! I don’t even believe this is true for a suspense novel.

Can you imagine a symphony where all you hear is tension and conflict, measure for measure, until the climax of the piece? It would be hell.


“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” Hamlet Act 1, scene 5, 159–167


There are also more ways to keep a reader’s interest other than conflict and tension. In fact, the reader can be kept turning pages as long as she is being rewarded for reading.

Such rewards are many.

The author can provide fascinating information, stress relieving humor, interesting insights, heartwarming resolutions to minor conflicts, and the discovery of new feelings. The reader can enjoy the author’s poetic beauty as a character describes seeing the stars of the southern hemisphere for the first time while camping in the Australian Outback. There’s charm, surprise, delight, and wonder. The writer has no fewer instruments of interest in her pen than the conductor has instruments in his orchestra.

Now, conflict is good and it works well to keep a reader’s interest. However, I think putting conflict in every sentence is like using a hammer at every stage when building a house.

Rules of thumb are limiting by their very nature. That is, “do it this way and you’ll be OK.” You give up the beauty of complexity for the safety of simplicity.


The author should consider the total ‘reading experience’ and judge each action on how that ‘reading experience’ will be impacted. When it makes sense to add conflict, then add conflict. When it helps to change ‘telling’ to ‘showing’, then make the change. The problem lies when an author makes every rule of thumb change thinking it will produce a better story.

An author should be able to step back, see the total picture, and think in terms of the reading experience and not worry if she has followed every rule of thumb in her toolbox.

'Rules of thumb' should be taken with a grain of salt whenever they are not taken with a little more gravitas than that.

Vince

“One Imperfect Christmas” … A Perfect Reading Experience!

“It’s Like Watching a Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie”
By Myra Johnson

Abingdon Press, 272 pages, copyright 2009


Simply telling what “One Imperfect Christmas” is about does not do the novel justice. It would be like saying that “Tom Sawyer” is simply a story about 19th Century boys growing up in the Midwest. “One Imperfect Christmas” is a serious book and warrants a serious review.

In good novels the characters change in significant ways as the story unfolds. In serious works, like “One Imperfect Christmas”, not only do the fictional characters change but the reader changes as well. This potential for growth in the reader’s consciousness is what gives great literature its universality and its timelessness.

Serious literature has the potential to impart experiences, knowledge, and sometimes even wisdom. More importantly, literature can enlighten the reader in a way which might not be possible in any other fashion.

Here’s what I mean:

Have you ever lamented: ‘If I only knew then what I know now’?

I think this lament is common to all mankind. The desire to learn from our mistakes, before we make them, is so prevalent that some have even said that ‘youth is wasted on the young’.

This is because young people usually lack the life experiences necessary to view life ‘now’ as they will eventually view it in the future when they are older (and hopefully wiser).

Why mention all this in regard to “One Imperfect Christmas”? Because reading this book reminded me, in a most forceful way, that there is a way to bring the future into the present. This can be achieved via the vicarious experiences provided by serious literature.

“One Imperfect Christmas” is serious literature. The situations covered in the story span three generations. Therefore the reader ‘sees’ and ‘feels’ the story from three distinct perspectives.

When reading “One Imperfect Christmas” the reader will experience what it is like to be a middle aged mother overwhelmed by the guilt and anger she feels towards her incapacitated mother while at the same time having to deal with her wayward teenage daughter.

The reader will feel what it’s like to be a husband who is trying to do everything within his power to save his marriage and help his beloved wife. And the reader will suffer his anguish when nothing he does works and when, time after time, he is rejected by the one he loves most.

The reader will also experience what it feels like to be the teenage daughter who has no idea of the depth of her parent’s problems. The reader will watch helplessly as this loving daughter tries simple and naive solutions to the complex problems facing her family. The reader will feel the good daughter’s sorrow when her ‘foolproof’ plans come to naught.

Life often does not provide simple solutions to complex problems. The reader will also experience what it is like being a helpless parent in her sixties seeing how her problems are causing serious discord to the ones she loves most. Indeed, the reader will feel the angst of being powerless to do anything about problems that seem self-induced.

“One Imperfect Christmas” is a drama that calls for faith. It is a faith based story that is full of hope and challenge. The story features a beautiful fifty-year romance and what might yet, with God’s help, become a second fifty-year romance. While the story has ‘Christmas’ in the title, the action spans the period between two Christmases a year apart. It is a timeless story that can be read at any time of the year.

The story shows that sometimes the stresses of life can be too much. Given enough stress, a personal crisis may cause even a well disciplined life to spin out of control. Since this loss of control can be hidden from everyone else, at least for a little while, the victim is likely to suffer without any support. Others may even think the suffering victim is causing his or her own problems.

“One Imperfect Christmas” is not always easy reading but it is always worthwhile reading that is both rewarding and heartwarming. It’s not easy because it is so true to life. It’s not easy to watch and experience the obviously self-destructive behavior of the mother who is trying her best to get professional help but who is too fragile to find traction. It’s not easy reading but it is always enjoyable reading. I loved every minute reading “One Imperfect Christmas” from the first page until the last.

“One Imperfect Christmas” is serious literature. After reading the book I felt wonderful. I felt I had seen God’s hands in action. I also felt like I had done something good for myself: that I had learned things that will make me a more understanding and sympathetic person in the future. Reading “One Imperfect Christmas” was like watching a memorable Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. I believe most readers of “One Imperfect Christmas” will feel the same way.

I not only give “One Imperfect Christmas” my highest Recommendation – I consider it the Required Reading for One’s Christian Heart.

>“One Imperfect Christmas” Will Make A Keepsake Christmas Gift!

Vince

What Kind of Writer Are You?

Do you Strive to Write Books a Reader Can’t Put Down?

Or...

Do you Strive to Write Books a Reader Never Wants to End?

First, before I answer these questions, let’s stipulate that all writers are trying to write both kinds of books. At least, that’s what they think they are doing. Along these lines let’s also stipulate that all authors write both to the ‘needs of the novel’ and to the ‘reading experience’. Now let’s look at the real world.


The difference between the “can’t put the book down” (CPBD) authors and the “never want to end” (NWTE) authors demonstrates a difference in writing philosophy.

The CPBD authors are very interested in hooks. Hook the reader into the story, then hook her into the middle of the first chapter and then hook her into the next chapter. This is pretty much a cliffhanger approach in which the reader cannot resist reading just a little more to find out what happens next.

The CPBD approach is dominate today in much of romance. Everything seems to be in turbo mode with action going faster and faster. Active voice, POV descriptions, no time allowed to savor the experience. We are told that everyone has a degree of ADD. The MTV generation can absorb 250 images a minute. Life becomes a three minute video.

Editors seem to want CPBD books. Readers pick them up at Wal-Mart read the first line of the story and are hooked into buying the book. This is very good for sales but is it good for the craft? What is it doing to the story? Does it produce a sea of sameness and a hollow victory at the end after the last cliff is safely climbed? I think so. Yet, the statements: “I couldn’t put your book down" and "It kept me up all night" seem to be the highest form of praise.


The NWTE authors write books that provide the most enjoyable page-by-page ‘reading experience’. They may reward the reader five to ten times on a page with writing that makes reading a joy. This is often done with humor or with splendid descriptions of exotic places. NWTE books are fun to read in their own right. There is not an almost mindless rush to find out what happens next. It’s what is happening now that so enjoyable. NWTE books can be put down to be resumed at another time just as one would not ordinarily eat an entire box of fine chocolates at one sitting. You want to savor the book because you know you may have to wait a year for the next book.

NWTE books have their share of cliffhangers and hooks. A good use of a hook is in itself a reward for reading.

A few authors who write great NWTE books are: Janet Evanovich, M.C. Beaton, Alexander McCall-Smith, Lilian Jackson Braun, MaryJanice Davidson, and Diane Mott Davidson. I am now reading “Petticoat Ranch” by Mary Connealy which I would also would put in the NWTE category.

What’s the lesson here?

CPDB books are in demand by editors and readers may feel if a book does not grab them on the first page, it’s no good. This is not a good development as many classics would thereby become no good. I wonder if we are meeting the needs of ADD or if we are causing it. I think the 'cure' may be part of the cause.

I also think the rush to CPBD books will be short lived. Like exciting fireworks.

On the other hand, the NWTE can be read over and over because it is not that important to find out how it ends. These books, the best of them anyway, can be much more enduring and are more likely to be keepers.

A compromise is needed in the real world. I would like to see authors write their CPBD books but also enrich their stories with rewarding features that make the reading experience irresistibly enjoyable. To this end I would like to see a lessening of hooks and cliffhangers.


Vince

Debut Novel -- Dreaming of Home – A Five Star Delight!

Highest Recommendation! Future Award Winner!

Dreaming of Home, Glynna Kaye, Love Inspired, 2009, 213 pages.

I enjoy reading debut novels. I search them out. There’s always the chance of ‘discovering’ a new Star! I also enjoy reading debut novels very carefully to see if the author is doing anything especially well and original that I could incorporate into my own writing.

With “Dreaming of Home” I think I’ve ‘discovered’ a rising star. I say this because there is a lot to like in Glynna Kaye’s work.

Stellar Inspirational Content!

“Dreaming of Home” provides a truly inspirational reading experience. The emotions are genuine and heartfelt. This is because the inspirational impact arises internally from the unfolding of the story itself.

This is very hard to do well. Too often, with Inspirational novels, the inspirational content is added to the story to meet publisher guidelines. In such romances characters are prone to 'talk to' God in italic type every so many pages as if this inspirational content were a jacket put on the body of the story. A jacket I might add which could easily be removed without doing an injustice to the novel. (This tendency is most pronounced in Inspirational Suspense novels where action has to be given top billing.)


In “Dreaming of Home” the inspirational content is so well integrated into the story that I felt its impact immediately on the first page and continued to experience the warm genuine inspirational feelings throughout the entire novel. “Dreaming of Home” is how to write an inspirational novel. Here’s an example of what I mean:

“What a place. She could almost feel God’s peace penetrating her heart. Her mind. Her soul. Even when in desperate need, how often had she passed up opportunities to settle down and let God fill her with his presence? She didn’t have to come to a place like this to find him. She only had to get still, wherever she might be, and allow God to find her. P.130

The whole book displays this degree of spiritual sensitivity. If you like inspirational romances, as I do, then “Dreaming of Home” is a five star delight.


Stellar Use of Conflict!

“Dreaming of Home” demonstrates a masterful use of conflict. From the first page the conflict is ever-present and continually unfolding. The conflict progresses organically from prior events that arise internally from the story. The tension is like water under high pressure which is prone to burst forth at any time at any weak point. The pressure just grows and grows from the story itself as if it were a living thing. This tension grabs the reader’s interest and almost turns the pages by itself

For example, it is always iffy whether the hero and heroine can ever find common ground. The hero and heroine want the same job, the same house, and both are not ready (for their own reasons), to form a relationship.

I find this ever-present and ever-growing use of conflict to be very unusual and difficult to execute. 'How-to' writing books often give advice calling for three acts with choke points of no return— these points of conflict often are the result of external events. This is not bad advice, however,if you read a lot of romances you can often see these events coming. External events can seem artificial.

“Dreaming of Home” happens more like real life. This provides a more vivid reading experience which will be noticed when reading the story.

“Dreaming of Home” is well wroth reading.


Stellar Sensitivity!

The sincere inspirational content and expert use of conflict is enhanced many times over by the exquisite sensitivity of the writing. The plot involves cancer and the recurrence of cancer and the writing resonates so deeply, that I just concluded that these passages could not simply be fiction. I felt that the author must have had these same feelings. I was not surprised therefore that in the afterward the author wrote:

“I have faced a time of uncertain health issues myself, so I know what it’s like to choose to trust God.”

“Dreaming of Home” is about as good a debut novel as can be written.

Here is a little information about the story. The hero is Joe Diaz, the heroine, Meg McGuire. The story takes place in Canyon Springs, Arizona which is a mile high small community in Ponderosa Pine country in northern Arizona. The location is drawn beautifully and actually takes on the importance of a major character.


Highest Recommendation! Future Award Winner!

Vince

Are You Hooked on Hooks?

You Can’t Hang A Novel On Hooks



I’m not a big fan of hooks. In fact, to the degree that a hook seems contrived to the reader, to that same degree the book is weakened. A hook should not be there simply because a hook is considered necessary by the author. A hook that attracts a reader into a story only to blend into an unexciting narrative will only alienate the reader.

An unjustified hook is like an advertising headline that promises “FREE MEDICINE” only to later in the body copy disclose that the shipping and handling chargers are actually higher than the medicine is worth. Consumers would resent this and so will romance readers.

Rules for Hooks

1. The story premise should be strong enough that employing hooks are not necessary.
2. The narrative copy should be strong enough to insure reader interest.
3. There should be a multilayered ongoing series of anticipatory events (AEs) that continually reward the reader for turning the pages. These AEs should include short term AEs which resolve in a few pages, intermediate AEs which take a chapter or so to resolve, and longer term AEs which take several chapters to resolve.

Now, after the above conditions are satisfied, then an opening first chapter hook may be advantageous. This also applies to an end of chapter hook leading into the next chapter. However, one should first strive to write in a way that renders hooks unnecessary to insure reader interest.

You can’t hang a complete novel on a hook or even a series of hooks.


Vince

Totally Addictive! Delightfully Unpredictable!

‘Real World’ Christian Fiction…



Staunchly Traditional…Boldly Passionate

Five Star Excellence!

“A Passion Most Pure”, First Book in the “Daughters of Boston” Series 
Julie Lessman, 
Revell, Copyright 2008, 477 pages


“A Passion Most Pure” is a big book -- bursting with surprises page after page. Every time I thought I knew where the story was headed, the story changed again. I’ve reviewed over 1,000 romances and none of them adequately prepared me for the “Daughter’s of Boston” series.


Christian Romance with a Difference

“A Passion Most Pure” is a Christian romance with an importance difference. The men and women featured are ‘Real World’ Christians. These are Christians with heated passions, facing genuine temptations, who still, with the power of their faith, manage to do the right thing. Some reviewers may call this ‘edgy’. I call it “Real World” Christian fiction.


Learning from Four Generations


In “A Passion Most Pure” the reader meets four generations of the same family. Each generation faces a different set of challenges and yet each demonstrates the rewards of living a principled Christian life.



A Moral Compass that Never Preaches

While “A Passion Most Pure” never preaches to the reader, it does mirror the kind of moral behavior that Christians will appreciate. This is an important Christian book. There are many inspiration romances that tell the story of Christians who find love. “A Passion Most Pure” goes further than this by showing how God’s love and living the authentic Christian life provides the grace to be fully human and fully alive.

Young Adults Will Love This Book, Too!

Young adults especially will find this book fascinating. As the story opens, in the summer of 1916, the ‘heroines’ are just 16 and 18 years old. I say, ‘heroines’ because the reader can not be sure just who the heroine of the story really is -- nor can the reader be certain who the hero will eventually turn out to be!

A Delightful Challenge to Romance Fans!

“A Passion Most Pure” poses a delightful challenge to romance fans who have been conditioned to anticipate predictable happy endings. The reader simply has to wait until the final curtain before the uncertainties raised in “A Passion Most Pure” are resolved. These uncertainties make the story more like real life and less like fiction.

Expect the Unexpected!


Be prepared to expect the unexpected. “A Passion Most Pure” is challenging. Even though the book is 477 pages long, the reader won’t encounter a typically slow ‘falling-in-love’ episode. As early as page one, both ‘heroines’ have been in love with the same hero for many years.

A Timeless Tale

You might wonder how a story with such young heroines can capture the interest of a mature reader. That’s easy. In addition to being a boldly passionate romance, “A Passion Most Pure” is also the story of an extended family. Featured are many characters of different ages who are living a purposeful Christian life. There are the young lovers to be sure, but there is also the continuing, lifelong, romance of parents, grandparents, and there’s even a great-grandparent. The reader experiences many different challenges that a Christian faces at each stage of life. This is a theme that is universal and timeless.

Two Sisters in Turmoil

“Sisters are overrated,” the book begins. These may be the most foretelling three words I’ve ever read to begin a romance. For “A Passion Most Pure” involves two sisters in competition for the same things: the love of their father and the love of the same man. The story visits three countries: America, Ireland, and France. The reader can actually ‘feel’ World War I approaching as the news reverberates through the hearts and minds of two of the main characters: newsmen on the Boston Herald.

The Horror & Absurdity of Trench Warfare

The exceptional skill of the author becomes evident in her portrayal of WWI trench warfare. In very few words the reader sees, feels, smells and experiences the sudden terror and acute boredom of life in the trenches. Soldiers watch their comrades die of disease and shrapnel wounds during the day. Then at night they visit Paris night clubs. The futility and absurdity of WWI trench warfare (near Paris) is captured in amazingly few words.


A Most Wonderful & Worthwhile Book

“A Passion Most Pure” is a most wonderful and worthwhile book for readers of all ages. While I wouldn’t expect a young person to grasp every experience of value “A Passion Most Pure” offers, I believe it is a book readers will carry in their hearts for a long time – perhaps even for a lifetime.

More Blessings to Come

If you love “A Passion Most Pure” as much as I do, then you’ll be glad to know there are two more books in the “Daughters of Boston” series: “A Passion Redeemed” and “A Passion Denied”. These are available right now.



Vince

A Clarion Call for a new Christian Sub-Genre?

‘Real World’ Christian Fiction…


Where Faith Comes Alive and Christians Live like Real People

Five Star Excellence!

”Stop! I’m too young to hear this.”

“Faith shot her a cockeyed grin. ‘No. You’re not. It’s about time you hear about the real world instead of what you read in those books.’ ” A Passion Denied, Pages 1947-1948 in extra large type pagination, Adobe format, eBook.


With the above quote, Julie Lessman may have defined a new sub-genre of ‘Real World’ Christian inspirational fiction. Some call this budding sub-genre ‘edgy’ Christian fiction on the assumption that the writing is right on the ‘edge’ of being rejected by traditional Christian inspirational publishers. This is certainly true of many Christian publishers but “A Passion Denied” is not edgy in terms of the ordinary use of the language.

‘Edgy’ is as ‘Edgy’ Does

How edgy can a book be if I would gladly give it to my thirteen and fourteen year old daughters in the hope that they would read and learn from the experience?

How edgy is a book that espouses abstinence before marriage and even advocates the avoidance of the ‘occasion of sin’? As my old fifth grade teacher, Sister Mary Alice, used to say, “Christians should not lead themselves into temptation.” Avoiding the occasion of sin does abstinence one better. I would love it if all teenagers would read “A Passion Denied”.

How edgy is a book that does not even use one off-color word in its many hundreds of pages?

‘Edgy’ as ‘Jargon’

I believe the term ‘edgy’ is insider jargon which makes it seem to the layman that if the book took one step further it would descend into a sea of perdition.

For me, the term ‘edgy’ means ‘Real World’ fiction – that is, as far as any fiction can be ‘real world’.

What Counts as ‘Edgy’?

What exactly is ‘edgy’ about ‘edgy’ Christian fiction?

Using “A Passion Denied” as an example, I found the below features to be ‘edgy’ when compared to the over 100 ‘non-edgy’ Christian Inspiration books I have already read.

“Edgy” Elements:

1. The characters talk about sex. Some talk a lot about sex. For example, soon to be married sisters ask their married sisters about sex. Young wives, who want to have babies, talk about sex. Wives of all ages talk about too much and too little sex. These are real world conversations.


2. The hero and heroine share a deep, passionate, kiss – however, one or both quickly becomes aware of how these aroused emotions could overpower their better judgment and lead to sin. Thus they withdraw from what they know to be the ‘occasion of sin’. This element carries a very strong moral lesson. A young man may be a firm believer in abstinence but if he is fond of petting in the backseat of his car, abstinence will be the last thing on his mind. Again, we are talking ‘real world’ here.

3. In “A Passion Denied” wives are not above using their feminine wiles and even seduction to bring their husbands to their way of thinking. Well, welcome to the real world.


4. “A Passion Denied” also avoids the almost inevitable clichés found in typical Christian fiction. In the over 100 Christian Inspirational novels that I have read so far, the answers provided for why ‘bad things happen to good people’, (as in the death of a good person), always goes: “Gods ways are not our ways,” or “all things happen for the best”, or “the loved one is now in a better place.” The above explanations express fine sentiments but they show little insight or any genuine effort at understanding the complexity of the theological problems involved. I’ve never seen an original attempt at providing a deeper explanation for these serious questions in my reading of Christian Inspirational novels until I read “A Passion Denied”.

I didn’t find any clichés in “A Passion Denied”. The moral problems which the characters experienced were treated with genuine thought. The conversations between the priest, Father Mac, and the troubled hero, John Brady, were in the category of real world, wise, counseling. The author seemed wise beyond her years. The priest’s advice was “real world” and worth reading and thinking about.

What I Found ‘Edgy’

I did think it was ‘edgy’ to have a character, the wise old woman, re-translate the word ‘submit’ to ‘respect’ in the Bible quote: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Ephesians 5:22-24.

As a man, I like the KJV. However, this interpretation was very true to the character espousing it in the novel. Again, this is the kind of dialogue that you would expect to happen in the real world.

5. It would seem that Real World Christian fiction might render various Bible passages with meanings which not all Christians would agree.

6. “A Passion Denied” mentions actual religious affiliations! That definably is real world. In my over 100 Christian Inspirational novels, all the Christian characters were members of non-denominational churches. In the real world most Christians are actually members of denominational churches. In “A Passion Denied” there is no doubt that the south Boston, Irish families, were Catholic. In the real world of 1920’s that was what they really were.

A Strong Christian Book

For all its real world ‘edgy’ attributes, “A Passion Denied” is a strong Christian book. It demonstrates abstinence, avoids pre-marital sex, and provides a healthy and even glorious view of the manifestation of physical love between a husband and wife. Marriage is a holy sacrament and the love within that union should be blessed.

The Honesty in “A Passion Denied”

If ‘edgy’ equates to honesty, then it was this honesty that I enjoyed most in “A Passion Denied”.

About the Cover Art

On the cover of “A Passion Denied” you will find this quote:

“This Isn’t Your Mother’s Inspirational Fiction!”
By Romantic Times Book Reviews

This may be true, however, the cover art could easily be your grandmother’s cover art. No doubt the cover art is excellent, indeed, it is beautiful -- but it sends the wrong message. What in this cover art suggests that “A Passion Denied” is an ‘edgy’ Christian romance? Nothing!

If the goal is to develop a Real World ‘edgy’ Christian sub-genre, then a new look and feel will be necessary. Just think about the unique cover art that current new sub-genres display. I specifically have chick lit in mind. Chick Lit book covers ‘say’ Chick Lit loud and clear even though books come from different publishers.

There needs to be a new ‘look’ – a modern look – even when the book is an historical. Publishers would be advised to cooperate in creating the same look and feel. Perhaps there could even be a logo as in have a drawing of the earth with a cross behind it rising above the North Pole. What I suggest is making it very easy for a buyer to identify the ‘edgy’ Christian fiction when looking at books for sale.


Vince