IT'S NOT THE READER'S JOB TO
"GET IT."
IT'S THE WRITER'S JOB TO
"GIVE IT."
(Christopher Lockhart)
A few years ago, everyone was raving about a Popular Novel. It sounded good to me, too, so I picked it up. I slogged through about 30 pages before I put it down. I found the writing dense and the subject matter confusing and boring. When I mentioned this to a friend, she said, "Oh, you've got to get past the first hundred pages. Then it gets good."
Whaaaaat??
It's not my job, as the reader, to "get through" anything. My only job as the reader is to bring myself to the page, to be open and willing to be carried away by the story. I will bring my imagination and my attention, my hope and delight. I will also, almost always, give the book a chunk of pages - not one hundred! - and a chunk of time before giving up. As a reader, I like a sense of mystery in those first few pages. Mystery, not confusion. Ground me in the story and its people first and then let those questions fly.
As I write, I ask myself questions - How can I bring my readers, seamlessly, easily into my story world? How can I make them want to stay? If I was reading this, what would I want to see happen? What would I expect to happen? How can I surprise my readers?
That's my job. And I love it.
I found The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to be like this...it took about 100 pages before it finally got interersting! But boy did it ever.
ReplyDeleteNo comment. :)
DeleteIf I have to make it past the first hundred pages, I'll never make it...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's not just me. :)
DeleteYeah, I'd never struggle through 100 pages of something just to finally "get it." I really have no patience at all and if a novel hasn't hooked me by about 30 pages or so it's rare that I will keep going and finish it. I am the same with movies or tv - if they don't grab me fairly quickly I'm out.
ReplyDeleteIf I watch the first episode of a TV show and it seems like it has promise, I'll give it another episode, maybe two. Movies I'll give about 30 minutes. Many years ago, my husband and I walked out of a theater because we didn't like the movie - and we were there with free passes! Patience is not our best virtue. :)
DeleteSuch a great point! At the critique stage you (okay, I) might want to defend confusing/slow/irritating sections that will eventually make sense, but you can't be over the shoulder of every reader urging them to slog through. You have to write the story that stands on its own from the start.
ReplyDeleteMy drafts are full of those slow/confusing sections, too, but hopefully the final version is free of them. :)
DeleteAmen to that! There's only been one book I sloughed through 100 pages because it was highly recommended by a read-a-holic friend. I would have been done 3 chapters in, except she raved. It was a good book with an awesome concept--but man was it tedious! To the author's credit, I finished the entire series. Still...
ReplyDeleteMadeline, you've been nominated for a blog award! =)
Hmm, I'm guessing the rest of the series wasn't like that first book. I wonder how many people stopped though and didn't read the rest of the series....
DeleteThanks for the blog award!
AGREED! With a hectic schedule, I cherish my reading time way too much to have to "get through" anything. :(
ReplyDeleteGood point about not wasting our reading time!
DeleteAMAZING quote!!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it!
DeleteI read a book like that, although I did finish it. And after the first 100 pages (it was a long book) it did turn out well. Luckily, I'm a patient person. I can put up with slow moving, but there's other things that make me stop reading.
ReplyDeleteBut the other thing about this was that MANY MANY reviews said this same thing. They raved about the book; it's just that that it moved slowly at first.
I am glad I stuck it out though.
I used to have a lot more patience when I was younger. Back then, I'd finish reading the book no matter what. Not so much anymore. :)
Delete