Crafting Novels
Stories have a limit. They cannot carry everything. Commercial and private planes have limited capacity for passengers and luggage. The elevator can only take so many people. The bus driver says take the next bus when his bus is full.
Trying to cram things in the trunk/boot of your car will create a problem. You won’t be able to close it. Forcing clothes into your bag will damage the zip. Indeed, trying to squeeze into Size 12 jeans when you are Size 16 won’t work.
Writers should also write with capacity in mind. They cannot include everything, even if they have a passion for sailing. It should be included if it oils the story and keeps readers hostage. It should not be a distraction, like a fly that needs to be swatted.
But writers are at a disadvantage because readers determine capacity. A novel I picked up at the dollar store recently is way past its capacity. Am I reading a blog or a novel?
There is sexual harassment, drugstore workers dispensing wrong prescriptions, consumer protection activists, jury duty, a husband that is lost but not found, many parents making it difficult to remember which set of parents belong to which characters, stolen identity, critical characters introduced in the last eight pages and many other distractions.
I don’t think it was the author’s intention to distract. She thought she was giving characters more body. Unfortunately, it left me with the question, what is the story?
BEFORE REDEMPTION
This book by Teresa McClain-Watson is a good example of capacity, where the writer says this is the story, the places and secondary characters are here to give readers a smooth ride, to liking or hating the book.
It is classified urban Christian. I bought it because it was in the same box as the book above. I don’t buy Christian books because some Christians do things that will make Satan blush. Secondly, if I want a sermon, I’ll go to church.
Before Redemption is about Nikki and Dino, who met in Detroit sixteen years ago. They went their separate ways and meet later on in life under different circumstances. The writing is tight and characters are well-defined.
The novel does not have any clutter. Even the Jesus part is kept to a minimum, making it a good read that I re-visit from time to time.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
Trying to cram things in the trunk/boot of your car will create a problem. You won’t be able to close it. Forcing clothes into your bag will damage the zip. Indeed, trying to squeeze into Size 12 jeans when you are Size 16 won’t work.
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| Photo credit: online pic |
Writers should also write with capacity in mind. They cannot include everything, even if they have a passion for sailing. It should be included if it oils the story and keeps readers hostage. It should not be a distraction, like a fly that needs to be swatted.
But writers are at a disadvantage because readers determine capacity. A novel I picked up at the dollar store recently is way past its capacity. Am I reading a blog or a novel?
There is sexual harassment, drugstore workers dispensing wrong prescriptions, consumer protection activists, jury duty, a husband that is lost but not found, many parents making it difficult to remember which set of parents belong to which characters, stolen identity, critical characters introduced in the last eight pages and many other distractions.
I don’t think it was the author’s intention to distract. She thought she was giving characters more body. Unfortunately, it left me with the question, what is the story?
BEFORE REDEMPTIONThis book by Teresa McClain-Watson is a good example of capacity, where the writer says this is the story, the places and secondary characters are here to give readers a smooth ride, to liking or hating the book.
It is classified urban Christian. I bought it because it was in the same box as the book above. I don’t buy Christian books because some Christians do things that will make Satan blush. Secondly, if I want a sermon, I’ll go to church.
Before Redemption is about Nikki and Dino, who met in Detroit sixteen years ago. They went their separate ways and meet later on in life under different circumstances. The writing is tight and characters are well-defined.
The novel does not have any clutter. Even the Jesus part is kept to a minimum, making it a good read that I re-visit from time to time.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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