A blog post by KD McCrite, a writer friend and former neighbor about writing something well along with something ‘good’ pushed my button for justification of what many see as a bad habit.
I almost always read the end of a book first. If the book is even HALF well-written, I will go back and read through the rest of it, putting all the puzzle pieces together. This is my ’speed-reading’ gesture– if the book is junk in writing and/or publication, I can make a speedy decision to move on to the next book.
But, when I confess to my habit and explain why I do it “So many books are badly written that they aren’t worth my time and eyes.” I get the same expressions described in Writer to Non-writer.
Is it the writer id that insists on a decent tale? I can even endure being battered about the head and shoulders on every page spread with FORMULA and THE PLOT. Louis Lamoure was highly skilled at spending 10-20 lines on every page spread telling me why his protagonist was here at all. But a decent tale with interesting filler can hold my attention.
I have long enjoyed the mysteries of Agatha Christie and Dick Francis. They wrote well and I enjoyed their words even though I knew perfectly well ‘who done it.’
My neighbor will grin when I remind her of my rant over an Ozarks writer whose publisher/proofreader/printer is so BAD that the writer shall remain unnamed because anyone with that kind of talent who sells it in such trashy presentation isn’t going to get a commercial from me! This writer had “it”, but didn’t produce his talent. He should beg the forgiveness of trees for the waste of paper!
I have to admit that writing something good offers pleasure to readers who aren’t writers…who don’t watch for certain basics or object to being entangled in messy presentation. Readers who just like to have something to do with their eyes and don’t mind a loopy trail of words that never goes anywhere.
I have to recall that ‘genius’ is often recognized LATE in the story…many of my Victorian pet authors were not well received in their day. And, I’ve never seen a first edition of Mark Twain — maybe they didn’t clean it up either. (Although, I do have a copy of a hilarious essay wherein Twain ‘cleans up’ Washington Irving’s The Deer Slayer, challenging facts and measurements.) We may not be super-popular writers, KD, but we keep good company with writer/readers!
Treat yourself to an elegant read by following the link to KadyWords’ blog post. Writer to Non-Writer
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