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When it doesn’t work . . .

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There are those moments or pieces or concepts or characters that just don't work in a story. Generally speaking, those things we identify as a problem for us might not even cause a brief ripple in another's reading time.

How many times have you loved a novel and would've given it 4 or 5 stars on an Amazon review and are shocked to read the comments given in a couple of 1 or 2 star venomous reviews? I'm not talking about those 1 or 2 star assessments that are written by readers who will actually admit it's not their favorite genre and manage to make a couple of thoughtful points instead of just ripping the author and story to shreds. It's surprising to see the exact opposite opinions of our own on a book we loved.

However, every so often, an author will include something, a device, a character who turns unexpectedly, something that doesn't work. A mistake. If the publisher let it go or the independent editor overlooked it or maybe the author argued to leave it in the story and won – whatever the reason to have it in the book, many readers agree it doesn't work.

Can you think of something you've read in a story that didn't work for you?

 

Father, help us to always write our best to honor you. It won't be perfect, but please help us avoid obvious errors. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.   

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5 responses to “When it doesn’t work . . .”

  1. Brenda Jackson Avatar
    Brenda Jackson

    I’m never shocked at a review—whether 5 stars or 1. At this point, I’ve pretty much seen it all.
    Off the top of my head I can’t think of a specific character example that was a mistake that should have been caught, but I have read stories where the bait and switch of the story should have been caught by an author’s beta, editor, whatever. I once read a story that I was excited about because of the back cover blurb and it had a great start–it gave the veiled or implied promise of a significant storyline. Unfortunately, that book quickly devolved into a less meaningful storyline and in fact completely departed from the implied promise. I’m pretty sure that was a traditionally published book so someone in the chain of command should’ve recognized the flaw, but they didn’t.
    Unfortunately for the author, I am a lot less likely to ever take a chance on their work again.

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  2. Nicole Petrino-Salter Avatar
    Nicole Petrino-Salter

    Your conclusion is usually the case. Sometimes I’ve enjoyed covers which were so disparate with the storyline that I wondered how they were stuck on the story. And, in one specific case, the story was horribly written (trad published) and awful.
    I admit some things that bother me may not bother others and vice versa. The end result is as you said – you had your shot to get me onboard with your stories, but you blew it. There are always exceptions or I can get over a minor disappointment. But don’t fool me twice.

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  3. Debra Avatar
    Debra

    I read and loved a book set in biblical times. It would have been perfect except that some of the dialogue was modern American! I enjoyed another story, and it would have been perfect if the heroine hadn’t cried so easily. She was military, and it didn’t fit with the rest of the way she was portrayed.

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  4. Brenda Jackson Avatar
    Brenda Jackson

    Debra,
    I wonder if the modern dialogue you experienced had to do with getting mixed messages from people who read the manuscript. It may simply have been a case of non-quite-right execution, but I’ve done critique work for people who told me “so and so told me to change that to make it more readable” etc. etc.
    But it sure does blow you right out of the story.

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  5. Nicole Petrino-Salter Avatar
    Nicole Petrino-Salter

    Deb, I think the key is when “some” of the dialogue is contemporary and some is not in the same historical story. I read a novel once where there was this mixing of “ancient” and modern language, and it really stuck out. I mentioned the oddity in my review. In that particular book, it really didn’t influence the story (which was speculative and symbolic), but it was very noticeable.
    Brenda, you make a good point.

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