Inspiring Books
Dec 30th, 2005 by Sandra
I’ve been reading various odd things in the evening, most recently Angels and Demons by Dan Brown and Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and I’ve been inspired to write.
Not because these books are any good, mind you. Northanger Abbey is a very odd, early-sounding book of Austen’s, quite unfocused, sometimes silly, and with a mixed message. Sort of like Mansfield Park, only much, much stranger.
No, I found them inspiring because I could see what was wrong with the text and knew how I could avoid making those same mistakes. Take Brown’s Angels and Demons, for example. (Sorry, Laura!)
First, I’m pummeled by a series of short, sharp scenes that all end with A Dramatic Hook. Okay, we’re all told as writers that this is how it’s done, but there comes a point where we’re simply beating the reader over the head and maybe the reader needs a breather from our craft occasionally. The hooks become stylistically absurd (in my view, anyway) if the scenes are less than about three pages long.
Second, I have no emotional connection to any of the characters. Robert Langdon may be a very nice prof, but there’s nothing personally at stake for him in this book. He’s not typical hero material because he’s a bit of a beta, but as he’s wisked to Switzerland and then to Rome, he appears to be a man to whom things happen. His one Achilles heel — his claustrophobia — is discussed and then dismissed. Or at least it’s not brought forward in the plot in order to develop his character. In fact, there’s no growth going on for any of these characters.
So I found myself dragging myself through the last 150 pages, and while the action was ramping up, I was yawning. What totally unexpected thing can happen now? I wondered idly as I turned each page. And Brown doesn’t disappoint. But because he hasn’t made me care about his characters, I don’t care about his plot.
All this has made me turn my attention to my own Bombshells. How can I keep the emotional stakes high with each heroine? How can I make each one interesting and compelling, and how can her character growth be more intimately entwined with the adventure plot? So reading this kind of thing can be really good for me.
What books have inspired you to write lately?