{"id":199,"date":"2013-06-03T15:18:11","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T19:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/?p=199"},"modified":"2013-12-30T19:11:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-31T00:11:00","slug":"anytbsa2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lgoconnor.com\/site\/anytbsa2\/","title":{"rendered":"PART 2: Are #1 New York Times Bestselling Authors Teaching New Writers Bad Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of months ago, my maiden blog post asked the question: \u201cAre #1 New York Times<\/i> Bestselling authors teaching new writers bad habits?\u201d<\/p>\n

The reason is because many new writers are fighting an increasingly competitive battle to get agent and publisher representation in traditional publishing. With overflowing slush piles and the increasing pressure on the industry, agents and publishers are choosier than ever. And their list of pet peeves continues to grow.<\/p>\n

As new writers, we don\u2019t always know what we don\u2019t know. Sometimes the only examples we have of what is considered \u2018good writing\u2019 are the books we read.<\/p>\n

\"Inferno\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As I sit here on vacation in Ireland, I\u2019m reading Dan Brown\u2019s INFERNO<\/b>.\u00a0 With everything I\u2019ve learned in the past year preparing my first book for publication, my lens has changed as a reader. I\u2019ve also learned there are a lot of editorial choices presented in books by bestselling authors that would never be tolerated if presented in the work of a first time novelist.<\/p>\n

Just a note, this is not a book review. I\u2019ll post that on Goodreads once I\u2019m finished reading the book. But\u00a0as entertaining as I find the book, there are some mechanics that bothered me so much I\u2019m interrupting my vacation to write this blog post (See the INFERNO section below).<\/p>\n

Knowing my hands would be slapped silly for including these editorial blunders, I feel compelled to highlight them. I\u2019m sure I will equally offend readers with something I do once my books are published. But I assure you, it won\u2019t be with any of the INFERNO mistakes below.<\/p>\n

To be fair, I\u2019ve included my observations in three sections mirroring the subject of the book, Dante\u2019s Divine Comedy: PARADISO (Good), PURGATORIO (Needs Improvement), INFERNO (Unforgivable).<\/p>\n

That said, here is what I found from a writer\u2019s point of view:<\/p>\n

PARADISO:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Great pacing
\n2)\u00a0Good Suspense
\n3)\u00a0Good action sequences
\n4)\u00a0Short chapters
\n5)\u00a0Great imagery
\n6) Well researched.Without a question.
\n7) Narrative (this will also appear below). Since there is complexity to Robert Langdon\u2019s puzzle, I don\u2019t mind learning through the overabundance of research presented in all of Dan Brown\u2019s books.\u00a0 His details actually draw you deeper into the story and allow great visualization of the setting.<\/p>\n

PURGATORIO: <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

1) Narrative.<\/b> At times too much, could live without it, or dips into passive voice. Overall, I could forgive this one.<\/p>\n

2) POV<\/b>. If you read my first blog post, you know how I feel about multiple POVs. I really enjoy them, and I flat out refuse to work with an editor who insists on three or less. But did we really need the POV of the security guard behind the gray door? In my opinion, we could have lived without the detail of the locking gate and ditched this POV entirely.<\/p>\n

INFERNO:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

1) Ending almost every sentence with \u201c?!\u201d or \u201c!\u201d.<\/b> Need I say more? Heads should be hanging in shame over this one. Like a disease, this spread across many characters. The effect: they are jarring to the eye; the characters come across doltish; and the intelligence is sucked right out of the story everywhere they appear.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong. Used sparingly, both of these can work. But let me clarify: if you have used them more than 5 times in the first hundred pages \u2013 you have overused them. Much less 5 times within 2 pages!!!!!!!??????!!!!!!!??????\u00a0 They become distracting to the reader?!?!?!?!<\/p>\n

This point alone set my teeth on edge, and made me shake my head in editorial disbelief.<\/p>\n

2) Using italicized internal monologue:<\/b><\/p>\n