Welcome to the first Insecure Writer's Support Group post of 2021! We're here to share our concerns and encourage other writers. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter.
Our hosts this month are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner, Sandra Cox, and Louise-Fundy Blue.
Here's our question for the month: As a writer, when you're reading someone else's work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people's books?
Writers are probably much more critical readers than pure readers. For example, last month, I read the first book in a cozy mystery series by a bestselling author. (Title and author name withheld.) The first chapter contained a mistake about the main character's profession (she had a degree that didn't exist). The second chapter was a breakup scene, but the structure of it didn't make sense to me. The unemployed boyfriend first worried about his girlfriend was going to pay the bills, then announced he had just landed a new acting job in a new city (rendering his first complaint moot), and then finally came out as gay after three years of being together. I found out later this author is supposed to be funny, so maybe what I thought were bugs were actually examples of her humor. However, I also found many of the side characters to be stereotypes, and the murderer turned out to be someone who hadn't been part of the story before then. These were elements that didn't work for me, but many of the reviewers on Goodreads seemed to enjoy the story. I think the readers were reacting to other, emotional aspects of the story that didn't work for me. I finished the book mainly for my annual Goodreads reading challenge. This year, I'm backing off on my reading goal slightly so I have more freedom to quit books I don't care for.
Perhaps this the best way to sum up my frustrations with other people's books: my personality type is INTJ, which is the rarest type among women. Many books that appeal to other people don't appeal to me, and I worry about making my works emotionally appealing to others. I'm hoping as I continue to write and try new genres to find more common ground with my readers.
What frustrates you about other people's works? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.
3 comments:
What is INTJ?
I find the super critical will love books (or movies for that matter) that I don't and vice-versa. They look for the perfect elements while I'm just looking for a good story and some time away from this world.
That story sounds a bit off to me. The second chapter would've ended it for me.
I'm an ESTP guy.
That mystery book does sound annoying.
I hope your New Year is going well. I only read and reviewed 23 books last year, but my goal for this year is 30. My other goals are to publish another fiction book in 2021, do the Blogging from A to Z Challenge in April, and increase the number of authors helped by Operation Awesome.
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