Kellie Thacker's Blog - Posts Tagged "character-development"
Hurrying It Up
Sometimes I think readers expect too much when reading a new book. They keep grasping for bigger and better but still end up disappointed. After reading book after book after book, I think the brain becomes burned out and the reader feels their need has not been satisfied. It’s seems like if the book doesn’t start out with five people dying, ten people as suspects and Peter, Paul, and Mary ready to hunt down the real killer then it’s labeled as dull. What has happened to character development? Plot development? Even descriptions of the characters surroundings seems like a no no.
Everyone wants action right off the bat without taking the time to learn about their characters and their pasts. The world is so fast paced nowadays that it seems books are having to follow suit. More and more books are being downsized from 500-600 pages to 200-300. Why?
And don’t even get me started on book series’. Normally, the first book in a series is mostly intro. Frodo didn’t destroy the ring in the first book. We had to learn about him and his family and their history and on and on before he could even start the journey. I believe this is the reason we cannot find true masterpieces anymore because authors are being pressured into speeding up their stories.
I know that my first book is very amateur and to some it leaves a lot to be desired, but at least I can say I tried very hard to develop my characters, give them backgrounds and a life. I tried to make them as real as possible. Some call it boring but I call it creative and descriptive. I call it nurturing the story and giving it backbone. Revealing too much in the beginning, to me, doesn’t give the story enough structure.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe all the recent bad ratings of books I thought were good are just hiccups and don’t mean anything. Whatever the case, I do believe readers may be getting too spoiled. I think it would do everyone some good to pick up a long classic like Lord of the Rings and rediscover the joy of knowing your characters.
Everyone wants action right off the bat without taking the time to learn about their characters and their pasts. The world is so fast paced nowadays that it seems books are having to follow suit. More and more books are being downsized from 500-600 pages to 200-300. Why?
And don’t even get me started on book series’. Normally, the first book in a series is mostly intro. Frodo didn’t destroy the ring in the first book. We had to learn about him and his family and their history and on and on before he could even start the journey. I believe this is the reason we cannot find true masterpieces anymore because authors are being pressured into speeding up their stories.
I know that my first book is very amateur and to some it leaves a lot to be desired, but at least I can say I tried very hard to develop my characters, give them backgrounds and a life. I tried to make them as real as possible. Some call it boring but I call it creative and descriptive. I call it nurturing the story and giving it backbone. Revealing too much in the beginning, to me, doesn’t give the story enough structure.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe all the recent bad ratings of books I thought were good are just hiccups and don’t mean anything. Whatever the case, I do believe readers may be getting too spoiled. I think it would do everyone some good to pick up a long classic like Lord of the Rings and rediscover the joy of knowing your characters.
