I used to finish every book I picked up. Whether I loved it or hated it was immaterial, it was a book and it was sacred. A person had poured their heart into paper and I was going to honour that by reading to the end. I wasn’t hugely critical of books beyond “Do I enjoy this or does it bore me?” There was only one book I rage quit (A Feast for Crows, because the only perspective character I cared about wasn’t in it).
But then I started taking writing seriously. My apologies to the friends and family who now deal with my critical eye. I’ve turned back into a toddler insisting on asking “why?” and “how?” to everything. It’s taken me down rabbit holes into greater creative understanding. It’s ended many a book well before its story has even started to be told. I won’t be harshly critical of a book or its writer in this blog as I believe I am in no position to tell anyone else how to improve their writing. But there are lessons I learned from each of the books I’ve chosen to showcase here.
Shades of Magic Series, by V.E Schwab: Power creep is a challenge, as is foreshadowing. I quit reading the third book because of a grammar issue that just threw me right out of the book, but that was a straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I absolutely adore the first two books in this series. I plan on rereading them this year and hopefully finishing the third book on my second try. But it taught me to look at the challenges of fixing power creep.
We talk about power creep a lot in games, but I haven’t heard it spoken of much in writing. Shades of Magic reinforced the importance of finding creative ways to solve the problem of the bigger baddie. Just ramping up the power of your protagonist isn’t enough to give a satisfying ending. It’s also important how you handle your foreshadowing. I hope when I finish the third book that I’m going to have been chasing a red herring, but if not the foreshadowing won’t have led to a particularly satisfying reveal. In my own writing, I hope to ensure that the readers won’t be able to truly see the foreshadowing for what it is until the reveal – or the rereads.
“Scars are not shameful, not unless you let them be. If you do not wear them, they will wear you.”
Prince of Thorns, by Mark Lawrence: I applaud the author for this novel, as it is one of the few books I read to the end and can say it absolutely enraged me from start to finish. But boy did it school me. A story can be written about entirely miserable, cruel people and sell well. I’m not being harsh or critical with this assessment. Prince of Thorns is written about an anti-hero. Whether there is a redemption arc for him or not later in the series, I don’t know (I’m not going to finish the series). To me, there were immersion breaking power fantasies built into the main character that felt over the top (particularly pertaining to the sexual stamina of the barely teenager main character). It reminded me how carefully powerful characters need to be crafted to so that they can fit into their world, fit into the preconceived notions of the reader, and still fulfill the satisfaction of a power fantasy. Strong, intense, and skillful characters need to be balanced with foibles. Even the best trained, talented character should trip and fall on his face (proverbially and perhaps literally) sometimes – and do so in a way that’s a true foible. Not the ‘she’s so beautiful when she’s clumsy’ crap.
“Hate will keep you alive where love fails”
The Lotus Wars, by Jay Kristoff: It is a challenge to write a story immersed in someone else’s culture. I love the story in Stormdancer and I’m excited to read the next one. It reminded me to be careful with what elements of a culture I borrow from to create a new world (and that creating an entirely new world was a good choice for my book instead of trying to create an alternate fantasy version of a real-world place). I want to avoid readers feeling as if a culture is the window dressings on my story, not an integral piece to it. ‘Write What You Know’ means immersing myself in research rabbit holes to write as respectfully as possible. Research, research, research. When in doubt, change or leave it out. Representation and diversity are important to do correctly and worth the extra effort.
“To be a servant can be a noble thing, but only as noble as the master served.”
Thank you for reading through to the end!
-LJ