Emme Cross's Blog - Posts Tagged "dan-brown"

As a writer, I keep hearing the importance of a good editor. Not just someone who can add a personalized touch to the typical Autocorrect, but somebody who can take a dispassionate look at the book as a whole--point out problems with the timeline, characterization and plot. And then, tell you very gently so your fragile ego doesn't shatter. Too bad Dan Brown doesn't have an editor. I have just finished Inferno. I listened to it as an audiobook, perfect while driving or walking the dog. First off, he made me want to visit Florence, so that's good. I've been to Venice and he captured the main bits there well. The plot isn't horrible...but could somebody send him a box of red pencils for Christmas? Do we really have to hear five times what's on the darned videotape? The repetition drives me crazy! It's as if he thinks the reader is really, really stupid so he has to point out stuff to us a number of times before we get it through our thick skulls. In fact, the entire book feels like a Harvard Prof is slumming and teaching the special ed class. He is condescending to the point of rudeness. I also get the feeling he's paid by the word. And the data dumps! That's what my editor says it's called when a writer stops a story in mid-flight to pass on facts and history. The entire novel is a data dump with the plot of a bad action/Logan's Run rip off mixed in. (In fact, the original Star Trek series handled the whole bit about population growth better on one of their episodes.) Don't get me started on the dialogue. And why, oh why, does he refer to the hero by his last name? More distance between the reader and author? And please don't allow him to write any more female characters ever again. Or humans. Or people who live in the modern world.