by Jason Joyner | Jun 27, 2007 | Blog, fiction, writing craft
I didn’t realize when I started this journey that there are hazards involved. Sure, I could expect a few brave writers would be taken down by a cruel attack of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Others might succumb to Writer’s Cramp. Paper cuts can be pretty vicious in the right setting, mind you.
Undaunted, I proceeded. Unaware of the dangers awaiting me as I pursued this craft. Alas, I have fallen into this trap, and I am not sure how to free myself from its grip.
I’ve become a critical reader.
It seems that honing my craft has trained my eye for certain things to look for in a book. I do it unconsciously. I’m looking for active verbs, strong adjectives, and tired cliches. I analyze what I am trying to enjoy. I think it is a natural process-handymen usually start out by taking things apart to figure out how they are built. Novels operate under a similar pattern.
Before I tried to understand writing, I wouldn’t recognize a change in POV if you hit me with it (I wouldn’t even know what a POV was). The author could head-hop and hip-hop for all I cared.
Now I’m reading an otherwise really good book, but the POV changes in each new paragraph keep pulling me out of the fictive world the author is trying to portray. I have to stop and figure out where I am: “What? I thought it was Suzy who was the POV character. Now it is Joe.”
I’m really not trying to be so picky. It is operating under the hood anymore. I read, and I critique.
“Oh, that works.”
“What were they thinking?”
“Brilliant!”
Thinking back, there were sage writers who warned of this pitfall. Your reading may not be the same, they said. Ah, how I wish I could go back to the innocence of reading a bad novel and not knowing it…
On the other hand, I don’t think so-but be warned, you who strive to write. This fate could befall you as well!
by Jason Joyner | Jun 27, 2007 | Blog, fiction, writing craft
I didn’t realize when I started this journey that there are hazards involved. Sure, I could expect a few brave writers would be taken down by a cruel attack of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Others might succumb to Writer’s Cramp. Paper cuts can be pretty vicious in the right setting, mind you.
Undaunted, I proceeded. Unaware of the dangers awaiting me as I pursued this craft. Alas, I have fallen into this trap, and I am not sure how to free myself from its grip.
I’ve become a critical reader.
It seems that honing my craft has trained my eye for certain things to look for in a book. I do it unconsciously. I’m looking for active verbs, strong adjectives, and tired cliches. I analyze what I am trying to enjoy. I think it is a natural process-handymen usually start out by taking things apart to figure out how they are built. Novels operate under a similar pattern.
Before I tried to understand writing, I wouldn’t recognize a change in POV if you hit me with it (I wouldn’t even know what a POV was). The author could head-hop and hip-hop for all I cared.
Now I’m reading an otherwise really good book, but the POV changes in each new paragraph keep pulling me out of the fictive world the author is trying to portray. I have to stop and figure out where I am: “What? I thought it was Suzy who was the POV character. Now it is Joe.”
I’m really not trying to be so picky. It is operating under the hood anymore. I read, and I critique.
“Oh, that works.”
“What were they thinking?”
“Brilliant!”
Thinking back, there were sage writers who warned of this pitfall. Your reading may not be the same, they said. Ah, how I wish I could go back to the innocence of reading a bad novel and not knowing it…
On the other hand, I don’t think so-but be warned, you who strive to write. This fate could befall you as well!
by Jason Joyner | Jun 27, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing THE DIVINE APPOINTMENT (Howard Books June 5, 2007) by Jerome Teel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Jerome Teel is a graduate of Union University, where he received his JD, cum laude, from the Ole Miss School of Law. He is actively involved in his church, local charities, and youth sports.He has always loved legal-suspense novels and is a political junkie. He is also the author of The Election, another political thriller that we reviewed November of ’06. Jerome and his wife, Jennifer, have three children…Brittney, Trey, and Matthew…and they reside in Tennessee where he practices law and is at work on a new novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“They aren’t hiding just one something, but a bunch of somethings…”
Small town southern lawyer, Elijah Faulkner is a dying breed…an attorney that actually takes pleasure in fighting injustice by working hard for the little guy. But when he takes on a case to defend a philandering doctor with a pregnant wife in a seemingly open-and-shut murder trial, Eli is not so sure he is on the ‘right’ side.
Back in Washington D.C., supreme Court Justice Martha Robinson has died, presenting an unprecedented opportunity for conservative President Richard Wallace to impact the direction of the highest court in the land. He believes God put him in the presidency for just such a time as this…to make a Divine Appointment. Not everyone is thrilled with the president’s nominee, however. And some will stop at nothing, including murder, to prevent his confirmation by the Senate.
A lobbyist with a vendetta, a small-time Mafioso, an investigative reporter with a Watergate complex, and a powerful Washington political machine combine to create a fast-paced suspense novel that explores the anatomy of a murder, and the ripple effect that it creates across the country.
“Jerome Teel has crafted an intriguing political thriller…nice twists and turns to keep you reading. he paints vivid mental pictures that bring characters and locales to life.”–Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee’s 7th District
by Jason Joyner | Jun 27, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing THE DIVINE APPOINTMENT (Howard Books June 5, 2007) by Jerome Teel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Jerome Teel is a graduate of Union University, where he received his JD, cum laude, from the Ole Miss School of Law. He is actively involved in his church, local charities, and youth sports.He has always loved legal-suspense novels and is a political junkie. He is also the author of The Election, another political thriller that we reviewed November of ’06. Jerome and his wife, Jennifer, have three children…Brittney, Trey, and Matthew…and they reside in Tennessee where he practices law and is at work on a new novel.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“They aren’t hiding just one something, but a bunch of somethings…”
Small town southern lawyer, Elijah Faulkner is a dying breed…an attorney that actually takes pleasure in fighting injustice by working hard for the little guy. But when he takes on a case to defend a philandering doctor with a pregnant wife in a seemingly open-and-shut murder trial, Eli is not so sure he is on the ‘right’ side.
Back in Washington D.C., supreme Court Justice Martha Robinson has died, presenting an unprecedented opportunity for conservative President Richard Wallace to impact the direction of the highest court in the land. He believes God put him in the presidency for just such a time as this…to make a Divine Appointment. Not everyone is thrilled with the president’s nominee, however. And some will stop at nothing, including murder, to prevent his confirmation by the Senate.
A lobbyist with a vendetta, a small-time Mafioso, an investigative reporter with a Watergate complex, and a powerful Washington political machine combine to create a fast-paced suspense novel that explores the anatomy of a murder, and the ripple effect that it creates across the country.
“Jerome Teel has crafted an intriguing political thriller…nice twists and turns to keep you reading. he paints vivid mental pictures that bring characters and locales to life.”–Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee’s 7th District
by Jason Joyner | Jun 25, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, prayer, TL Hines
If anyone’s read any of this blog, you’ll see that I am a member of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. It is a group of bloggers who hope to highlight new books in Christian fiction. We are readers and writers. Some just like a good book, others want to review fiction, and yet more are studying the craft of fiction. It is a great little community, and I invite you to check it out if you are interested.
The thing is, it wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for TL Hines. Tony is the brainchild of this group as a way to spotlight Christian books on the web. He’s an author and marketing guru. He figured out how to use our blogs’ collective influence to get a book noticed on Technorati, a major internet player. We had the privilege of featuring his first book, Waking Lazarus, a year ago. Tony got too busy to be in charge of it, but a lot of what my blog is about is due to him and the CFBA.
I’d like to ask you to keep Tony in your prayers.
Today on Infuze they posted that he has been diagnosed with a serious form of lymphoma (cancer of the lymph glands). I don’t know Tony personally, but have interacted with him over the web, and he is tackling this in true TL humor and style.
Read the TL lymphoma blog for more!
It would be great for anyone you know who is dealing with such a chronic, potentially fatal illness. However, it is also just great writing and an insight into an intelligent, funny, and poignant man.
Keep an eye out for his next book, The Dead Whisper On, and the accompanying blog tour later this summer. And remember Tony in your prayers as he battles. I’m sure he will fight the good fight, but we can lift his arms and spirits as well!
Blessings, Tony.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 25, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, prayer, TL Hines
If anyone’s read any of this blog, you’ll see that I am a member of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance. It is a group of bloggers who hope to highlight new books in Christian fiction. We are readers and writers. Some just like a good book, others want to review fiction, and yet more are studying the craft of fiction. It is a great little community, and I invite you to check it out if you are interested.
The thing is, it wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for TL Hines. Tony is the brainchild of this group as a way to spotlight Christian books on the web. He’s an author and marketing guru. He figured out how to use our blogs’ collective influence to get a book noticed on Technorati, a major internet player. We had the privilege of featuring his first book, Waking Lazarus, a year ago. Tony got too busy to be in charge of it, but a lot of what my blog is about is due to him and the CFBA.
I’d like to ask you to keep Tony in your prayers.
Today on Infuze they posted that he has been diagnosed with a serious form of lymphoma (cancer of the lymph glands). I don’t know Tony personally, but have interacted with him over the web, and he is tackling this in true TL humor and style.
Read the TL lymphoma blog for more!
It would be great for anyone you know who is dealing with such a chronic, potentially fatal illness. However, it is also just great writing and an insight into an intelligent, funny, and poignant man.
Keep an eye out for his next book, The Dead Whisper On, and the accompanying blog tour later this summer. And remember Tony in your prayers as he battles. I’m sure he will fight the good fight, but we can lift his arms and spirits as well!
Blessings, Tony.
