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Originally Posted by Teresa Edgerton  Those efforts have to start somewhere. And if the time comes that someone rolls up their metaphoric sleeves and begins the heavy lifting, it would be nice to think that those in the SFF community hadn't added too much extra to the weight.
Here is something that bothers me: I'll go into a bookstore and start picking up books that look like they might be appealing. And I see book after book after book that includes words like "violent" and "bloody" in the book description and the blurbs. And I know very well that these words wouldn't be splashed over so many different covers if the people marketing these books had not very good reason to believe that violence and gore were actual selling points -- as opposed to characterization, world-building, or the well-crafted plot. As though we may be passing into a period when violence is no longer to be present in service to the plot, but as an aim in itself -- as though plots might be being crafted specifically to accommodate that violence. Or even when that's not the writer's intention, these scenes of battle, rape, and torture may be all that great numbers of readers are taking away.
Another thing that bothers me a lot is that readers won't just say, "I enjoy these books because they're exciting," they have to say the books are vastly different from anything else out there -- when they're not -- or more realistic -- when they're not. And I don't know whether this is because they are trying to make their taste in books sound more sophisticated, or because they subconciously feel that there is something there (or something lacking) that they have to excuse or justify. Better to find out what that is and why they feel that way, then cover it up with spurious arguments. |
I am bothered by this too. This is why I am such a picky reader. I started writing because I couldn't find anything that I liked to read. Violence for violence's sake doesn't appeal to me. I can't and won't read a book unless it has good characterization, world building and is well written. Sadly it seems less authors are willing to put the work into their storys to do just that. No matter how appealing the book cover looks or the back blurb sounds, I have to read a few paragraphs to get a sense of how it is written. Most of the time the book goes back onto the bookstore shelf. I hope something changes soon and better writing makes a come back because until then my bookshelves will remain woefully bare. Also and maybe this is off topic but has anyone else noticed that an awful lot of books are written in first person? Sometimes I don't mind it but most of the time I find its annoying.