... Now, I'm just wondering if everybody knows this but me,
and how clearly it
> comes across that a book is driven by one means or
another. I'm
too bullheaded
> to go for the money and change my style, but do
people consciously
shop for
> plot-driven novels? Birken gets printed in paperback
at 100,000
copies, and I
> can only assume there are many others like him. Why
don't I ever
see anybody
> reading this type of book, except for the occasional
Robin Cook
maybe? Also, how
> does Dennis Lehane sell so many books if
character-driven is such
a turn off?
> These are the questions I'm going to ask when I die
and go to
heaven, of
> course, but if anybody has any idea now, it would
be
interesting. ...
> Vicki
I'm not sure if I can competently discuss the interests of
today's reading public, although I think being able to right
something that is massively popular is a skill as worthy of
praise as being able to write something that critics acclaim
as having great literary merit. In the nineteenth century it
was possible to please both audiences, but it has become
increasingly difficult since then. Of course there's no
reason it can't change again.
As for myself, I like both plot and character development in
my reading, but if I have to go for one of the other I'd
chose plot. When I was younger I enjoyed works that were all
character and no plot (e.g., Samuel Beckett's novels) but as
I've gotten older I think I've gotten lazier and I need a
good plot to keep my interest. Probably one reason why I read
"genre" fiction more these days as well. Plot is important in
most crime/mystery fiction I've read, where what is going to
happen is usually as important as who it is happening
to.
However, I don't think a book needs to be driven by one at
the expense of the other. It's interesting that you
characterize your own work as character-driven--I can see
that in MIAMI PURITY (the only book of yours that I've read
yet, unfortunately) but I also thought plot was very
important. When I stareted reading I knew that something bad
was going to happen to Sherri and that she was going to be
betrayed, but you don't know how. That suspense, which kept
me interested, is really plot-related as much as character-
related.
Max
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 29 Apr 2005 EDT