EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AN AUTHOR
Hi to all my good friends and followers. I hope you're writing is progressing.
Before I begin, please "Like" and "Share" this blog post on Facebook , and "Retweet" it on Twitter yet. Also have you signed up for my email letters on my Blog Site? I would love to see you there and have you introduce yourselves and give comments to my posts. And also keep in mind "Bridgetown High" is still available on Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes&Noble and a few other places I can't remember. You can read some GREAT reviews on all of these sites.
So to begin, do you have any questions about how to craft a good novel?
Today, I'm going to let you in on some things you need to know if you are going to craft a quality novel.
Currently, I'm reviewing a novel for a lady who contacted me to share reviews of our novels. I won't give you her name or the title of the novel she wrote. I will say this, even though it's a published novel it needs help.
It's a murder mystery, but I have to admit she did a masterful job of making the murderer the sympathetic main character. He kills for money without remorse, men, women, even children. How does one create sympathy for for a mass murderer? I'm not sure but she did it and I'm still wondering how?
I think my main complaint is with the editing and formatting. There are numerous spelling and grammar problems which tended to ruin the story's experience for me. The book is written in first person, but she often goes between present tense and past tense, further making the book difficult to enjoy. To a writer with 30 years of experience in writing, editing, and critiquing (me) these things also ruins the story for me.
Also, she makes little or no indication of who is talking. There are many times when dialogue beats would have helped, you know "he said," or "she said," or "named individual, said." I found myself having to go back a few paragraphs to see if I could follow who was talking and who was thinking (of course being in first person, the thinking part was always the MC).
Like I said, the story line is great, with interesting twists. Near the end, however, and I'm close to that, she dumps a bunch of twists that are not logical based on what went on earlier in the story. I'm a stickler for logic. Whatever happens in a novel must make sense.
Now, the question is. How do I post this on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Smaswords, etc. All her previous reviews gave her 5 stars out of 5. The best I can do would be 3 stars, only because the novel was a fun read. I feel bad being the only bad score she has, but to be honest with her and my writing profession, I have have to post the way I see it. Maybe I'll tell let her about my review first and she can decide whether or not she wants me to post it.
What do you think?
See you next week,
Paul West, Author
Bridgetown High
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