Charlie, over at her site, Smart Girls Love Scifi and Paranormal Romance, said - It’s not you - it’s me. She asks some excellent questions about why it’s sometimes hard to finish books. http://smartgirlsscifi.wordpress.com/2010/12/01/its-not-you%E2%80%94its-me/
I’ve been experiencing the same exact phenomena lately and I can’t decide why. Is my already short attention span growing even shorter? That would be odd, because my attention span has never been short when it comes to reading and books.
Over the past month or so, I find myself setting books aside after a few chapters. Right now I’m a hundred pages into a long, mainstream work of science fiction that showed such promise…I mean the premise, time travel, usually hooks me from the get-go, but I’m really struggling to read further and this book is an award winner. If you think it’s your books I’m not able to finish, you would be wrong, girlfriends. I’m not having issues with yours. It’s more mainstream stuff, NYT bestseller stuff.
So what’s wrong with this scifi book? As I said, the premise seemed promising. Travel back in time, blend in, study historical periods. Nice.
1. A few of the author’s habits are distracting me - for instance, her habit of head-hopping, sometimes within the same sentence. I find myself constantly re-reading, not only entire paragraphs, but single sentences in order to understand whose eyes I’m looking through.
2. The lack of sci-fi detail. I don’t need loads, but I need a few basic details so that I can go with the flow, so the stage is set, so time travel seems realistic and natural in the setting provided. As it is, the author seems to skirt the issue and instead she’s written fluff and sparkle. Therefore I’m struggling to find time travel credible in the world she’s created.
3. Too many characters introduced all at once and the majority of them are a caricature, annoying caricatures. Annoyance does not equal character definition. It equals annoyance. So…too many one-dimensional characters flitting across my brain screen, all at the same time, speaking in cliches.
4. A protagonist who does not seem up to the task of being, well, a protagonist. She’s immature, silly, not too bright and as annoying as everyone else. So far, she’s accomplished nothing. In other words, in one hundred pages she hasn’t moved the plot forward. Nor has anyone else, for that matter.
5. Nearly an entire chapter devoted to the protagonist’s bout of delirium, from her feverish point of view. How many times can I read the exact same sequence of sentences/non-sentences (in her brain) over and over and over again before I skip ahead to the next chapter? (Or wish she would just expire?)
6. A trope that only works in Soap Operas, Comedies and The Simpsons Cartoon - ye olde - “There’s something you should know…” conk! “I have to tell you…” conk! “Something’s gone wro…” conk! “Wait, I think there’s a serious prob…” conk! “Stop before you…” conk! And it’s used repeatedly, kind of like the protagonist’s delirium. I’m a hundred pages in and still waiting for a character to complete some version of that blasted sentence!
This is the 4th book in a row of mainstream works that I’ve struggled to get through. I think I’m just going to re-read Noblesword. Yup. Now there’s a good read. 
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17 Comments
Thanks for the mention. I’m glad we are all in this together.
Now that you mention the genre/mainstream differences it makes me wonder if my expectations have changed because I’ve been reading so many different types of books. Hmm. Food for thought.
I’m wondering if my expectations have changed because I’ve gone through the editing process a number of times so I’m reading with a more critical eye.
I just read a 1st person comtemporary book that made me feel the same way. After one hundred pages I wanted to throw the book against the wall. The author suddenly decided to make the heroine so unlikable I didn’t want to finish - yet I had to just to find out who this heroine could be redeemable. She wasn’t. A big fat waste of my time.
Maybe I should re-read Noblesword too!
And maybe I should spell check before sending comments out at 4am. lol
I also have noted my attention span dwindling but I think it is due, at least in part, to other, socio-technological causes:
1. There is more where that came from. When the basic structure and concept of a novel formed, books were expensive and rare. You bought it and you read it. If you had enough money to buy books you were probbably well off enough to have some leisure time. Therefore, besides fascinations like “taking a turn around the room,” playing whist, endlessly brushing, or walking, what else was there to do? If you had money, that is.
2. There is so much information available it has given most people the attention span of, of,…something with a short attention span. Therefore, something long and monotonous, like that book or a five full-page article in the NYTimes just takes too long to read and there is so much other info to digest. I like economy of words. Although I don’t much employ it myself. Have you ever seen a People Magazine article longer than three short pages, ie. six or seven columns?
3. Along the premise of #1, If I don’t like that I can easily download something else or watch TV.
And, of course, everything you said.
Thanks for turning me onto Charlie’s site. I wish it had GFC or RSS.
Amber - I love your typo! Up in the middle of the night again, I see! I did better last night - got up at 4:30 and was back asleep by 5. Sounds like your read was very disappointing too. I do go back to my ebooks when all else fails and I have a lot of very good ebooks from all of you.
Stephanie - your comment is priceless! Hubby loves it too. He suggested a post/contest based on your comment so check back tomorrow. Yes, Charlie’s site is very good.
Amber - I did the same thing recently. The heroine of the book was a waste of space. I kept hoping she’d get an arc but she never did. Arg!
Stephanie - thanks for the suggestion. I just added a link to make it easier to find the RSS feed. I agree - the changes in our lifestyles and culture have changed what we need and expect from books. Genre is the quickest to adapt. I know in the Romance genre books are getting shorter across the board. And in most genre fiction pacing has tightened. E-books are even more adaptable.
Love this Julia! Now that I am a writer and go through the editing process, I notice myself catching all sorts of “annoying” things in some of my fav authors. For instance (which I won’t name any names) I read this paranormal book by one of my fav authors. Her name is widely known and her series is at the top of charts. The thing is, I found her style of writing repetitious, the heroine downright annoying, the plot boring and not going anywhere, and the villain so obnoxious I wanted to throw the book across the room. This isn’t to say I won’t ever read her stories again because I love the series, but I find it hard not to find little slip ups I read that wouldn’t have driven me nuts before I started the whole writing process, but that now make me want to rip my hair out.
Great post! When I reviewed I always finished the book and now I’m in the habit. But sometimes it’s tough. I read a contemporary romance recently that I loved but the head hopping distracted me. I had to go back and reread constantly. I finished the book but I’m sure others wouldn’t.
Yes, Jenika, it’s different now. I find myself catching all the things my own editor would catch. It can be distracting. However, if a book really draws me in, those details stop mattering.
Gale - interesting. I know I tend to be impatient, but usually not with books.
I have that problem too. Most of the times it’s not that the book is lacking in detail, but it’s usually the characters that turn me off. And I’m becoming a bit disenchanting with authors who don’t even try to integrate characters from other cultures into their story.
I’m not saying these characters have to be the lead, but come on. Just make even a small attempt for the wide variety of people reading your books. I’ve lost interest in a couple authors because of that main issue. Great blog post Julia!
I think a lot of authors have this problem. I think it is because we get all excited to write the story and we are so full of energy and then the energy dies down because we either get a new idea that we get excited about or distracted by another project.
Delilah - yes, it’s kind of weird. I just don’t know if the problem lies with me or with the mainstream books that are being put out. Maybe this is why I tend to stick with nonfiction when I’m not reading a romance author I like. Even my go-to authors occasionally put out less than stellar work - which I’m sure I’m just as guilty of!
Savannah - I’m starting to realize that I’m not alone. It is kind of widespread.
I was such a bookworm in my youth. But anymore if it doesn’t hook me right out of the gate I never finish. And I’m sure I’m missing a lot of good books that way.
Hey Sandra - I don’t know if you’re missing a lot of good books or not. My husband loved Cutting for Stone while I slogged through half of it before giving up. My father slogged through the whole book and said he never got into it. I think my time is so valuable that I don’t have the time to slog through anything unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Julia, great topic. I gave up on mainstream romance during the early 90′s. I couldn’t force myself to finish any of them, and I had been a very determined and dedicated reader, even if the book was less than satisfactory.
In my case, I had no editor because I wasn’t published. So, it wasn’t because I had those kind of expectations. More, it was the over-simplicity of the writing and the heroine and hero were just downright boring. Plus, a writing style came into vogue that I’ve never been able to like, not one iota.
This is why I’m such a fan of ebooks and small print publishing. It gives authors and readers the opportunity to write and read more of what is truly enjoyable to them.
Savanna, I would love to know what types of romances you find off-putting. For instance, I cannot read anything with a TSTL heroine. I also avoid a book with the word ‘millionaire’ in the title. If I start reading a story and out that it’s totally formulaic…out the door. And…if I read a book and the author cannot write a good erotic encounter yet has thrown one or more into the story because she, or somebody else, thinks she should, I’m gone. I’d rather just read a good story - forget the sex. If someone is uncomfortable writing erotica, it shows.
I know I should not have so many prejudices, but I’m stuck with them and sometimes they are hard to overcome.