My Guest this week has chosen to tackle a difficult question that many writers are asking: What do readers want these days? Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present...
Gunnar Angel Lawrence
Television and Movies Have
Changed Your Readers
An article in a law magazine once detailed the problem prosecutors are facing that they dubbed “The CSI Effect”. Jurors are more knowledgeable about crime scene investigative techniques and procedures all thanks to the last decade of being exposed to the hit television series 'C.S.I.' They expect DNA to snag the bad guy, and prosecutors are having a more difficult time trying cases with circumstantial evidence. Like it or not, today’s entertainment at the movies and on television has changed the culture. It has changed what readers look for in a good read.
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In an interview
not too long ago, Steven Spielberg stated that his film 'Jaws' would not be as
successful today as it was 39 years ago because the audiences are different. And
audiences are different because of producers like him. The audience today would
not wait until three-quarters of the movie is over before the ‘monster-reveal’.
In the same way that the audiences of
movies are different today, the readers
are different too. They are different because
of television and movies.
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Think about
writing from the perspective of someone watching a movie. In this example,
we’ll use the classic, 'Return of the Jedi'. The opening sequence of the film
begins with the massive newly constructed Death Star hovering in space. Forty years
ago a book describing the scene could wax eloquently on the silence and
stillness of the vacuum of space, the colors of the spaceship and serenity of
the planet sized weapon of doom. Three pages of excessive detail would paint a
picture for the reader to ‘see’.
Today’s reader
would tire after the third paragraph of description and want the action. The
shuttlecraft bearing the evil Emperor, the landing in the Death Star bay and
the opening dialogue between Vader and the Emperor would have to be forefront
and compelling. Descriptive is good, but in a generation of people who have
grown up watching action movies and television shows, they don’t have the
patience that we ‘old-timers’ had for waiting on that picture to be painted for
us.
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Two, three and
sometimes even four POV’s move the overall story along and provide a more
suspenseful arc to keep fans watching. When a book has one POV, usually the
protagonist, it’s like the novels of the past. When writing for today’s lover
of thrillers, at least in my case, I try to write to the pacing of one of these
type of thriller shows. There’s a lot going on, in multiple locations with
multiple characters and it sort of gels toward the end as they come together to
achieve their goal. These days, that is what I like to read. I like to ‘see’
the action unfold before me, whet my appetite for things to come and keep
reading.
The readers want
to ‘hear’ the infamous ‘24’ ticking time clock in their minds as they finish the
last few lines of a chapter, they want to keep reading, because the action
doesn’t stop. They don’t care all that much that the protagonist had a lousy
relationship with his or her father, although it may add something to the
story. It’s all about what is happening, leaving the ‘why’ sometimes altogether
neglected.
We can lament all we wish that today’s readers won’t experience the richness of Hemingway or Melville because of this ‘different’ culture that they have grown up in, or we can embrace it and use it to keep our readers entranced.
BIO
After years of
ghostwriting thrillers, conspiracy novels and mystery books, Gunnar Angel
Lawrence has published his first thriller. He is a native Floridian with a love
for writing thrillers, mysteries and action stories with fast pacing and a
unique twist. He lives in Saint Cloud, Florida with his dogs and is currently
single. Most of his time is spent working on the sequel to 'The Perfect Day' which is entitled, 'The Consortium'. The tentative date for release
is early 2015.
CONTACT
Thank you, Gunnar, for an interesting and informative article. Looking forward to reading 'THE CONSORTIUM' shortly.
Eric @ www.ericjgates.com
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