Random Ravings

You're at the movie theatre opening night. You've been waiting all year for this film to come out because the previews just looked so friggin' good and you had to be one of the first to see it. You've got your popcorn in one hand, a coke and milk duds in the other, and you are rarin' to go.

Now imagine that every single action scene in the movie could be compounded into thirty seconds... And you've already seen them all, because they put ALL the good parts in the preview... The rest of the movie is narrated ~ the whole way through, and quite boringly, I might add. So instead of seeing and feeling like you're getting down and dirty with all the juicy stuff, you're only told what's happening.

I'm currently having this issue with one of the books I'm reading at the moment... As a reader, I keep getting told what is happening when what I really want is to feel what the main character is feeling. Right now, I'm convinced that there is going to be a huge twist in which we discover that our "heroine" is truly a heartless robot from another planet (minus any cool superpowers) because the girl just doesn't seem to have a whole lot going on in her heart... or brain for that matter...

There are some epic scenes that last a whole two paragraphs, and I'm like "Wait, what just happened? Are you serious?" but there's no build up or emersion into what is going on, so I have to go back and make sure that I actually read what I thought I read. The author just keeps flinging crap at us like a monkey at the zoo, coming up with one action scene after another and doesn't spend enough time on building up to the scene or the characters' reactions, thoughts, or feelings about everything.

As a result, the characters feel one-dimensional, kinda like cardboard cutouts. I'd take a little less action if it meant the author would slow down, dig deep into her characters, and stretch out the important scenes a little longer so we can absorb and enjoy both the blessings and the curses.

If someone tells me a story, I don't feel any connection if the storyteller is monotone and just lays it out like a college essay. I need to see their drastic facial expressions and hear the rise and fall of their voice. Just hearing the basics of the events they are describing isn't enough ~ it's the tone and emotional current running through those words that draws us into the story. It's the buildup and the explosion that get's us grabbing onto the edge of our seats...

Point: Slow down and let us feel the story through the characters... 

Whew.... I feel better...

Happy Reading Everyone :)

~ Keely ~