Day 61: In pursuit of a book

Between You, me and the Lamp Post

Day 61: In pursuit of a book

Many of us, readers/writers are familiar with ‘A Women of Substance’ by Barbara Taylor Bradford. It is generally agreed that this is Bradford's masterpiece. I tend to agree. I read this book many years ago and found it riveting start to finish.

Then a few days ago I picked up ‘Hold the Dream’, the sequel to ‘A Women of Substance’. In general, apart from the Harry Potter series, I tend to avoid sequels as they are never as good as the original work.

This proved to be the case with ‘Hold the Dream’. The story failed to capture my attention and I was actually rather bothered by the subject of the book. In short ... Emma Hart is nearly 80 years old and leaves her empire to her favorite grandchild. Hm, this seems grossly unfair to me. Emma Hart has several children and a multitude of grandchildren, yet she leaves everything to her favorite grandchild. What about the others?

After a few pages I abandoned the book and went in search for something else to read.

The security guard of the company where I currently work told me that there is a mini library on the 5^th floor. I didn’t let the grass grow under my feet and went in search of that mini library. The guard didn’t exaggerate when he called the library mini ... just two shelves with a few books. 

Some were computer manuals, others were financial investment publications and there were a few self-help books. None were of any interest to me. I don’t understand computer manuals, I don’t have enough money to consider investments and as for self help books ... I’m doing just fine.

Back at my desk I looked up if there were any bookstores in my neighborhood and found one that was very close. According to Google it was a four-minute walk. Between my lunchtime I set off.

First of all, let me say that Google can’t be trusted. A four minute walk my foot, perhaps a pigeon can get there in four minutes, but it took me the better half of ten minutes. When I finally got at the bookstore address, I stared at a boarded-up shop window. According to the shop owner next door, the bookstore had closed some three years ago.

The man had good news for me though, he knew of another bookstore. Okay, where was that one located? It turned out that bookstore would require a fairly long walk, but fortunately, I could hop on a streetcar.

When I got off the streetcar I looked around me and ... there wasn’t a bookstore to be seen. I saw clothing stores, coffee shops, and restaurants, but no bookstore. Never mind, I would pop into the drugstore and see what kind of books they had. As it turned out, none. The drugstore still had magazines, but since there was little or no interest in books the drugstore no longer carried books. Again a piece of good news though, the salesclerk told me where I could find a book store.

To cut a long story short, I found the store. Not a chain store like Chapters Indigo, but an old- fashioned mom and pop store with books on tables, books on shelves, little home improvement items, kids toys as well as a counter serving coffee and baked goods.

The choice was limited, but after all I had been trough, I was gonna walk out with a book come hell or high water.

My book of choice ... ‘The Turn of the Key’ by Ruth Ware. If ‘The Turn of the Key’ is anything like Ware’s other books I’m in for a treat.

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Day 37: One dimensional vs. three dimensional

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 37: One dimensional vs. three dimensional

A few weeks ago, I had an idea for a story. A supernatural story. It’s a stretch for me, as I’ve never written anything like it before, but every now and then one must think outside the box.

For twenty chapters everything went fine, the story practically wrote itself. But then I hit a snag ...

A fellow writer said that someone had read her manuscript and found that her characters were too one dimensional. That she should make them three dimensional.

This got me thinking ... were my characters one dimensional? If they were, what could I do to make them three dimensional?

I posted this question in a writers group on Facebook but only got one satisfactory answer. Nick B said:

Imagine one-dimensional to be a shopping list.

Imagine three-dimensional to be a restaurant review.

Okay, I understood that I had to describe my characters in more detail. The question now was, how much is too much?

Take Barbara Taylor Bradford for instance. She is a well known and respected author of 35 novels. The first book I ever read of her was ‘A Woman of Substance’ which I loved. Since then I read numerous of her other books but eventually stopped reading her. 

Her stories were too detailed for my taste. Every outfit one of her characters wore was described in detail, as was the scenery and the meals. It was just too much for me. I didn’t need to know what kind of dress Laura wore, what she carried in her handbag, and what she had for dinner.

The opposite can be said of Lisa Jewell and her book ‘Trust Me’. All her main character wore was sweatpants and a t-shirt, day after day after day. All she ate was pizza, and over the course of the story, she drank liters and liters of wine. I wonder how this woman got anything done because she was either drunk or suffering from a hangover.

This makes me wonder how I should describe the characters in my latest story. Should I describe what they wear? What their home looks like? What they think, how they react? How much does the reader want to know?

I considered having the story proofread, but this will be of little or no help. Some people like a detailed description while others might think ... okay, just get on with it.

Another thing that confuses me is ... show, don’t tell. I’m not showing a story, I’m telling a story, so what’s wrong with that? If readers want a story shown, they can buy a picture book. When I buy a book, I’m interested in how the author tells the story.

Yeah yeah I know, as a writer I need to describe the places, the people and their feelings and emotions. But once again, how much is too much?