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It’s a long story . . .

 

         
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I'm reading a good old fashioned novel at present to be reviewed next week. And by that I mean it's more than the quick 300 pages of many CBA novels. It takes time to explore multiple characters' thoughts and motivations. And I love it.

Long stories with good writing make wonderful reading. They go hither and yon, bring in peripheral characters and story arcs, and they don't hustle the reader to the finish without taking a real journey. Granted every author can't do this well, but I'm convinced those writers who love a good long book are capable of creating meaningful stories that take more than a couple of days to read.

I know not everyone wants to expend that kind of time on an epic novel or a meandering saga. Writers are constantly chastised, warned, and berated for including unnecessary words in their manuscripts. This can lead to a blatant disregard for the practiced and appreciative reader who loves to truly invest in a story. To indulge the characters, to feel their joy and pain, follow them as they run, rebel, rant, and rejoice. To be fully immersed somewhere else within the pages of a long novel.

I'm currently reminded how much I've missed that very thing in other genres besides thrillers.

 

Father, I know you love variety. We have only to look at your creativity in all things to see that. Thank you for giving me a love for writing and reading long stories. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

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7 responses to “It’s a long story . . .”

  1. Brenda Anderson Avatar
    Brenda Anderson

    You’ve got me curious … Can’t wait to know what you’ve been reading.

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  2. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    I love the long novels. It’s not done much at all these days and when done, hard to find done well. I’ll be curious as to your review.

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  3. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Okay, Ladies, I didn’t mean to mislead you as to its length. It’s 437 pages which isn’t really, really long compared to Tolstoy’s work, but for a CBA romantic/suspense it’s long. It’s not long for a Kristen Heitzmann novel if you go way back to the two novels which preceded this one, but she hasn’t written a longer novel since them, so this one is a pleasure to read. Brenda J., it won’t be your reading pleasure, but Kristen is a very good writer when given a lot of pages to work with.

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  4. Tim George Avatar
    Tim George

    Which always confuses me when I hear people say readers won’t spend their money on such stories. Have they seen Stephen King’s Under the Dome? 1092 pages for goodness sakes. I understand that King has a long established fan base that probably will take that kind of time. But it does illustrate a point. It isn’t the lenght of the novel but rather how much the story draws people in. I sure am glad the CBA mill didn’t get hold of Tolkein before he began to explore Middle Earth.

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  5. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    And couldn’t we cite many more “monstrosities” in the Classics, Tim? And what about Tom Clancy, although the one and only novel of his I read felt long.
    I don’t think a lot of CBA writers could now go the longer route because they’ve been conditioned to write short. It’s not about “filling in”. It’s about knowing how much can be said about everything you include in your story. It’s about exploration with words that mean something about many avenues. And when it’s done well, it’s awesome.

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  6. BK Jackson Avatar
    BK Jackson

    That’s where honing your instincts and going with them trumps the “rules” that are hyped all the time. Technically speaking, perhaps some subplots or characters COULD be deleted from long works with no adverse effect on the story overall. But aesthetically, they just make the book a greater joy to read because it adds richness.
    But writing an engaging novel of any length is not something that vast numbers of people can master, much less honing your instincts to the point that you can write a long novel and write it exceptionally well.

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  7. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    Great points, Brenda.

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