October 20, 2008
Peeves
Yes, yes I’m grasping desperately at straws here! It was a long, quiet yet exhausting weekend thanks to MS. Buffy the Vamp Slayer. Kara (other dog) is happier than a pig in shit while I”m still trying to recoup. It’s like having a baby all over again–albeit a sweet one that I left crying in the bathroom this morning. All this is to say, I’m rather thin on the blog topic but I started thinking about this book I started reading last week–and won’t finish.
It was a YA book–and you all know how much I love me some YA–set in Houston. And the author went to great pains…GREAT PAINS to let me know she’d done her research on the city of Houston. So much so, I found myself rolling my eyes at one point and finally tossed it aside. I would have been satisfied with much more general scene setting–ie. not having I-45 run the wrong way. Funny enough, I’d tried one of her adult fiction books a few years ago and it didn’t work for me but I can’t remember if it was for the same reason.
OTOH I also started Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten this last week. I specifically picked it up because I loved The Summoning so very very much and apparently, they’re set in the same world. Bitten is also a book with a lot of backstory to take in and sometimes I’m confused–I tend to be a fast reader but I find myself going back to reread to make sure I understand stuff. All that said, Kelley also dishes it out in small enough doses that I don’t feel terribly overwhelmed.
When it comes to worldbuilding, whether it’s paranormal, urban fantasy or contemporary fiction, we walk a fine line between painting a picture and overkill. Less is more in my opinion, but what do you think? And what are your particular pet peeves? Please let’s not make it personal, k?
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PS for those of you waiting with baited breath, Mercury is finally direct–can I get a hell yeah? 
I am forever trying to add more of both those elements to my books. I don’t naturally write descriptive and if left to my own devices, I will fill a book with dialogue and action. *g*
LOL JOrdan me too! I definitely fall on the sparse side of the spectrum as a writer!
I was at a workshop this weekend with Eloisa James where she specifically mentioned that readers read for the character. You can’t let the story get lost in the details that are not advancing the plot, deepening characterization/conflict. etc. And just yesterday I watched a video with Julia Quin (is that with 2 ‘n’s?) where she also talked about making the deliberate decision to writer costumed dramas, or wall-paper historicals and for the very same reasons. I just want to get a general feel of the time/era/place. If you have the talent to weave a tapestry of setting without losing the threads of story/emotion/character, go for. But most of us don’t.
I read just dialogue (and maybe a line fo narrative just to ground me) when it’s get’s overwhelming. Don’t tell me ten times what color her shirt is; I don’t care. And If I know an area (like the Houston thing) I read even less afarid I will start thinking about the fact that such-and-such doesn’t look like that or the fact that last time I was at DFW airport there was little to no tumbleweeds rolling aorund…yeah read that one somewhere
>>tumbleweeds
I remember reading that in a contest entry a long time ago–or actually it was trees and grass outside of DFW airport and I was like WTF! Google bitch!
You know even though she was describing houston, it was stuff I’d heard of but wouldn’t have known if she’d gotten it wrong.
Google bitch!
That soooo needs to be on a t-shirt. lol.
LOL Don’t tempt me!!!!!
Google Bitch
I totally have to second this.
For me it’s not even too much description, but where is it in the book. If I’ve made it this far into the book just give me the story. I really don’t care what the house, or whoever, whatever looks like. By a certain point, I just want to know how the book ends.
>>but where is it in the book
OMG Nerd too true…..another HUGE pet peeve is (Note: yes I know I’m an author and God help me, please slap me if I ever do this cuz the sweet baby Jesus KNOWS I’m not perfect!), when you’re reading along and WHAM you run smack dab into some piece of expository bullshit that has little if any bearing on said scene and/or you, the reader, really DIDN’T need to know at that point in the story. And I’m not talking ordniary BS but completely-out-of-left-field-WTH! bullshit
It kinda depends…
Contemporaries, I don’t want a lot of description, basics will do.
Urban fantasy, sci-fi-ish, give me just enough and get on with the action (unless it’s hard-core sci-fi, which loves the technical stuff and I don’t usually read anyway…).
Historicals, I just need a feeling for the setting, getting bogged down in clothing, transportation, menu choices, etc., is a snooze.
But must confess I like just a BIT more description in a suspense or gothic-style story. They need the ambiance, I think, or they fall kinda flat.
yes I know I’m an author and God help me, please slap me if I ever do this cuz the sweet baby Jesus KNOWS I’m not perfect!
I’m reading Make U Sweat. I’ll let you know, but really you shouldn’t give me permission to cyber slap you. I just might do it for kicks.
Doesn’t matter where in the book it is, but stopping the story to tell me about the bunny rabbit the hero/heroine had at five does not amuse me.
Mel……YIKES!
Luckily I feel safe knowing there are/were no bunnies in MUS
Didn’t mean to sound so violent earlier. The docs have me on a liquid diet until tomorrow afternoon. Melissa without real food is very, very edgy.
I agree. TMI will make my eyes glaze over. When I start struggling to stay focused on a book, nine times out of ten it lands in my wallbanger pile. I like tiny splashes of info, not buckets.
Far too many world builders become world minutia builders in my opinion as a reader. I like the world building to remain vague unless the information is absolutely integral to the plot. I’m with you: less is more… and yea… no bunnies.
(((((((((MElissas tummy)))))))))
Tanya……….word…adn being beaten over the head with info also gets to me.
PS, Mel if you hate MUS please don’t tell me
Lol. I promise, but I doubt I’ll hate it.