It's Independence Day, and to celebrate I wanted to spend the day reading a novel. I am a reading pig when it comes to novels... I want to read the entire book in a day, none of this read a little one day and a little more the next. AAAaaahhhh!!! To me, that is like pausing a movie a million times. Drives me nutty. So, I have to block out a day, which I don't do very often. This was to be a royal treat for myself.
However, since writing screenplays, and reading screenplays, I am spoiled. I'm used to tight writing styles that give description only if it is pertinent to moving the story. Now, I try to read novels and find myself feeling very impatient with all the description and blah-de-blah-de-blah. Oh my goodness!!! Get to the point! The novel I selected is a disappointment so far. The author writes too much exposition into the dialogue. The characters are talking about things that are common knowledge to both of them, which makes it obvious the writer just wants the reader to know the information. It would be like me talking with my husband about details we both know. For example:
Trudy said, "When we met in February of 1978 in Twin Falls, Idaho, you were visiting your parents during a military leave of absence." Kurt smiles and responds, "Yes, I remember. I was with my brother, John, the youngest out of seven siblings of which I am the middle child." Smiling wryly, Trudy teases, "And I was with Lonnie, the boyfriend of my roommate Jeannie."
See what I mean? No one talks like that, making the dialogue in the novel annoying. In reality, our conversation would go something like this:
"Remember when we first met?" Trudy asked.
Kurt smiles, "Yeah."
I've read three chapters and I don't know if I can continue. I think I will switch gears and watch a movie.
Happy July Fourth everyone!
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