Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Read-through... Again!

I don't know if every writer has this problem, but it's a huge issue for me. Every time I do a read-through, I make changes. This time was supposed to be my final read-through of An Untold Want, but now that I have LisaP's editor voice in my head [right up there with my mother's voice in my head], I am again making changes. Not to the "and then" structure so much -- that's a dig at Lisa -- as how the voice flows, trying to smooth it out a bit. Not that it's wrong, but I just finished a novel [written by a very well known, well received, bestseller'er] that did exactly the same thing. Problem is that I noticed it in the novel I was reading [Thanks Lisa!], which means that others may notice it in my writing. Hence, editing. Again.

Which in turn means there will be at least one more final read-through after this one.

Sometimes I wonder if every other writer goes to this much trouble, or if they just trust that people will enjoy their work. I know I thought that one of the recent NYT bestsellers was very badly written, but people loved the story. And my real thought is maybe the average reader doesn't even know the novel is badly written. Although in this case, many of my friends who read it complained about the terrible writing. But it didn't stop them from buying the two sequels and reading them.  [I couldn't get past the first chapter, BTW. The female protagonist was so lame, she drove me into complete boredom.]

So should I just slam something together that will titillate the average reader or try to write something of a bit higher quality? I guess if I was just in it for the money, maybe....

With that said, please support authors who work hard at their craft. I'm not saying don't read badly written books -- well, actually, I am. But at least balance it out with well written books. And I don't mean you have to read literary fiction. There are a lot, a whole lot, of good writers out there in every genre.

Besides, reading well written books makes you look way more intelligent. 

2 comments:

  1. I've recently "closed the book" on re-reading my upcoming novel, although, like you, I've made changes with every read-through. At some point you just have to say "Enough already!" I think the adage "Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good" is apropos here.

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  2. Thanks Scott. I keep telling myself that I'm at that spot, but then I find something I want to change. But seriously, this is the last time. Maybe. :-)

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