An excellent article found on io9.com is a great way to get the blog up and running again, don’t you think?   This article is written under the premise that it is the opening which carries the short story; it grabs the readers attention and compels them to read the rest.  As I read the article I found myself thinking back to my most recent fiction attempt, which never got past 20k words for NaNoWriMo, and wondering which opening mine was, or even if it was applicable in what was/is ultimately a novel.

The 7 types of openings are:

1.  scene-setting

2.  conflict establisher

3. the mystifier

4.  third person narrator speaks to you

5.  first person narrator speaks

6.  the quotation

7. the puzzler

What’s great about this article is not only does it go into great detail about what each type is, it gives examples from great stories AND discusses when you should and shouldn’t use the opening in your story.  This is a great read and very helpful for writers, check it out!

The idea for this post came to me last night on a wave of inspiration after my husband said “don’t judge a book by it’s cover!”   I don’t remember what he was talking about, but my first thought was, that’d make a great post, because that’s actually a really stupid saying, as forward thinking as it tries to be.   The truth of the matter is pretty near everyone judges books by their covers; it’s inevitable.   The cover art is the very first thing, and if it grabs your attention, you turn the book to read the synopsis on the back.  If *that* grabs you, then you read the first page, or a random few in the middle to see if the book is worth reading.   Or at least, that’s the order I go with.   I’m usually very reluctant to give a novel a chance, if the cover doesn’t give me a visual of what to expect out of the story.

I think that most authors and publishers are aware of the importance of cover art to their novel, and I’ve seen many artists over the last few months, jumping with anticipation at seeing the new art for their novels, or sharing with  pride what artists have come up with.  This is how it should be!  Even self published authors generally try, or should try, to make an effort at creating their own eye catching covers; Photoshop is your friend!

Every once in a while, though, you have to wonder what the author or publisher was thinking when they chose the cover they did.   Bad covers range from the (unintentionally) extremely boring, to the unfortunately drawn, to those that misrepresent the novel’s contents.    There is also the intentionally boring, i.e. plain, covers that I’m not a huge fan of, either, but usually in those cases publishers still manage to make plain look interesting; the right font and colors can go a long way;  the cover for Cryptonomicon comes to mind.   Do you see how the subtle lines on the dark background draw you in, and the brightness of the title just pops?  The image makes the novel feel mysterious and intriguing and leaves you wondering, what could this novel be about?   Before you even begin to read, the atmosphere of the novel is created by the cover.

These two cover examples bring me to another point.  Cover art should be ART.   If you look at these two covers, the first may convey more information about the novel than the second, (as far as there might be a gun, a knife and a stick (baseball bat?) in it,) but it’s just not pretty – it’s not art.    I tend to dislike book covers that are simple photographs, unless the photograph is well enough done to qualify as art.  The image above does not, and as such, it flops.

The cover is your novel’s first impression; what the audience sees on the outside, they expect to read on the inside.  Even well drawn cover art needs to be careful, however of what the cover portrays.  There are plenty elegantly drawn covers which just don’t fit into the story.   For example, Terry Brook’s Genesis of Shannara series all feature a scene from the novel as the cover art.   However, the cover art for Elves of Cintra shows the main character standing in front of the cave of the ice dragon, holding a burning torch.  The problem with this, is that this series takes place not long after armageddon, in a time when technology still works – this series represents a switch from sci-fi to fantasy in the Shannara universe.   So, in reality, in this scene the main character is carrying a flash light, and not wearing fantasy-style clothes.   I actually remember talking to my husband about this when I read the novel.   I was unimpressed with the lack of attention to detail on behalf of the artist.

Anyway, this is, by far, not the only blog or website to point out unfortunate novel covers, so I’d like to give others a nod.   The most memorable, for me, is a comedy piece that Cracked.com did on the Best (worst) Fantasy and Science Fiction Book Covers.  I like this article the best because of the author’s humorous reasons of why the cover is so bad. Most bad cover art sites just list thumbnails of bad covers, but I did find an exception that I’m definitely going to have to spend more time going through archives, because the front page was enough to hook me.  It’s kinda like Cakewrecks, but for books;  Judge a Book By it’s Cover does exactly that, and it’s really quite funny.

I was completely at loss for a post today, and stared blankly at the screen for hours, because I’m not done reading the book I was supposed to be done reading for today.  Unfortunately my kids are in swimming lessons for this week, and next, both at completely incompatible times of day, so I’ve spent 2 hours driving every day when I could be reading.  It’s really put a cramp in my ability to sit around and do nothing.

I’ve been thinking a lot about setting, however, because it’s going to feature largely in my next review, and I decided that I wanted to say something about the importance of setting and how it makes or breaks the novel.

I think that the number one rule about setting should be that it has to be easily imagined; if the reader can’t picture it in their minds, then all the work you’ve gone to to create it, is for nothing.    A reader needs to feel that they are a part of the story, and can experience the setting themselves.  So, if you have your story set on the mountain top, make your reader shiver with cold, and feel the snow covered rock under their feet, make them experience the thin air, as wind in their hair.    Likewise, if they’re on a beach, they should feel sand in their toes, burning sun on their face, and smell the ocean on the breeze…maybe even hear seagulls.    I took a writing class as a teenager that taught us to use all our senses in our writing, and that’s what setting is all about.

This is really a no brainer to a lot of writers.  This is how completely fantastical settings of science fiction or fantasy can be so believable; because the writer makes it so that that impossible is possible.   This is not necessarily the case of foreign works, however.    I admit that I am speaking from a very prejudiced north american perspective here, however I have a very difficult time reading foreign books.

The novel that immediately comes to mind is Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko.   The book is part of a supernatural series of good vs evil that takes place in Russia (being as how that’s where the author is from).   Excellent book, with a great concept that I would have loved to read the rest of the series for, except for one thing:  I know nothing about Russia.  When the author described Moscow by street names and buildings I had no idea what he was talking about.  When he mentioned driving to a certain place in the country, I couldn’t picture where he was going or what it was like.   In the end, I felt confused and annoyed  which took me out of the story.   I also had problems with certain Russian cultural practices that just couldn’t identify with, that make the book too much work to read.

So how is it that some place that doesn’t even exist could come alive to me, when somewhere on my own planet can be so completley incomprehensible in my mind?   First of all I think that science fiction and fantasy writers are more aware of the job they have to do to create a world for their readers.  Perhaps those writing about a comfortable environment, for them, forget that their readers still need the world to be invented for them?   It’s something to consider, and working with that concept could very well make you a better writer.

I take back anything I ever said about the usefulness of Twitter; the number of amazing articles I’ve read lately, on the suggestion of writers, agents, editors, publishers, etc., has been phenomenal.

Take this one, for example, passed on by @WolfsOnLiterary: When Anyone Can Be a Published Author, by Laura Miller at Salon.com.  This is an article about the new popularity of self publishing in the literary market and how it is affecting the industry.

I have to admit that I am quite the traditionalist and don’t quite know how to feel about self publishing.  The snob in me wants to turn my nose up at it and declare that self publishing is for hacks who aren’t good enough to get published at real publishing houses.   However, I’ve read enough self published works to know that this isn’t true; quality is subjective, and what is turned down by one publisher may be loved by others.

After reading this article, what side of the fence do you sit on?