The changing nature of writing...

Dear Everyone,

I love to read as much as I love to write and I have found that reading really fuels my writing. I love reading the works of Lee Child, Michael Connelly and John Grisham. Love them or hate them, the three of them are renowned for writing page turners. I love the way they let you inside the minds of the characters. They are experts at bringing the locations to life. I get enthralled by the action, tension and drama that they create and I enjoy the fast paced nature of their stories.

Now lots of the experts and commentators say that you write what you read and I hope that's true. I like to think that my book, Dead South, despite being a very different genre to the above best selling authors works, has those same characteristic. I wrote it to be fast paced and action packed and it's gratifying to see that lots of the book's readers think that it is. (Check out Dead South's reviews here.)

So, onto the changing nature of writing...

I just finished reading the 1899 novel Heart of Darkness by Anglo-Polish author Joseph Conrad. Not my usual fare, but I was really hoping to enjoy it, after all, in 1998 it was ranked by Modern Library as the 67th best novel (in English) of the 20th Century... However, I found it really hard going. Now, I don't think that it is because I'm a philistine, although that can't quite be refuted just yet! Or that the book wasn't any good. On the contrary, I think that it is simply because I am a child of my time.

The 21st Century reader and author are totally different beasts to their 19th and 20th Century counterparts. In fact, today's novel would be markedly different to something written 20 years ago. In short, the novel has evolved and it will continue to do so.

Conrad used intensely descriptive imagery, with very little conversation between characters - Heart of Darkness is essentially a story about a man telling a story. The reader is told everything by this man in sometimes excruciating detail, he gives you exact details of people and places, and it leaves little to no room to engage your own imagination. I found myself becoming passive in the reading process and as such I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped that I would. However, please don't let that diminish the truths of the book and what it was trying to communicate (The 1890s Ivory Trade is a both a harrowing and brutal subject). And anyway, it could be argued that it is unfair for a 21st Century reader to pass judgement on a 20th Century book.

However, the reality is that if written today, Heart of Darkness, would be a much different book. The themes would still be the same, but they would have been communicated in an entirely different way.

The best modern day authors work hard to keep the reader engaged throughout the story. They do not want you switching off or zoning out. They engage you by layering places and characters throughout a scene rather than in telling you everything about them in one hit. They allow you to use your own imagination and really become involved within the narrative.

If you have ever found yourself giving up on a book half way through, I would bet it was because you had become passive whilst reading it. You were probably spoon-fed everything and you had no way to engage with it and use your own imagination. We live in a time where TV and Film already do all of the work for us when we put the box on, so it is a real pleasure to be able read and conjure up our own images via a compelling novel.

Now as much as I love Child, Connelly and Grisham, I am not trying to say that they are the greatest authors ever. I'm not even saying that they are the greatest authors of our time. What I am saying is that they hook you with their stories and keep you coming back for more. Why else would they each have sold millions of books?

And if I am able to replicate what they do, whilst putting my own twist on it, then I will be a very happy man indeed.

Until next time.

David