Last week I decided to give myself a mental reading break and re-read an old favourite, Jeff Lindsay's "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" - partly, as I mentioned, because I'd forgotten where I left off in the series! I stretched it to 7 full days... well, 5 plus two days of not reading because I didn't want to finish the book! In case you live under a rock and have never heard of Dexter, he is a blood analyst for the Miami Dade police department who kills other serial killers in his spare time. It's dark, and funny, and occasionally a teeny bit scary. Lindsay's writing style is simple and direct, but always manages to feel very lyrical, almost poetic. He makes a very dark subject feel light and alive. I often find myself worrying that I find being inside Dexter's head so normal! I suspect most people probably worry that they don't know 'how' to feel, or that their interpersonal relationships are in some way faked. At least, I hope it's not just me and Dexter!
I've been watching the TV series quite a bit recently, as well, so I wanted to make sure I had the story straight in my head, as they are very different. While I believe it is universally true that 'the book is better than the film', there are a few things I noticed this read-through that I think the show does better than the book, specifically the technical details of how the early bodies of the Tamiami victims were dealt with by the killer. It's relatively insignificant in terms of the story, though, so I'm willing to let it slide. I do prefer how the book portrays the individual characters. Deborah, for instance, is much smarter in the book! Also, the book makes the distinction between Dexter and his Dark Passenger, which is less clear in the series.
Anyway, I highly recommend the book, it's fantastic, in a dark way.
I was all ready to jump right into the second Dexter title, but heading out the door on Tuesday I changed my mind and grabbed a different book off the shelf. It is a self-published title I've had in the To Be Read pile for a little over a year now, and while it does not fall squarely into my preferred genre it is near enough that I was looking forward to it. I'm only a quarter through it, and I intend to finish it, but I've decided not to name the book here. It basically confirms all my worst fears about the self-publishing industry.
The story itself is intriguing, but the execution is painful. It is poorly formatted, it is poorly (if at all) edited, and it is poorly written. In the first 20 pages, I found 3 instances where the author had obviously decided to change the wording of a sentence halfway through, but didn't bother to go back and correct the beginning of the sentence so that it would be consistent. I can't see how a reader would miss something like that, so I can only assume the book was published without being read by some one other than the author, which is inexcusable. If you are publishing your own books, you
must put them through some sort of editorial process! One does not simply write a story and publish it unedited, it is folly! You don't have to pay a professional editor - exchange manuscripts with another writer, have your friends read it, get your significant other to give it a browse - but someone other than you must look at your pages before you release your creation on the innocent public!
Not only is an external reader more likely to notice errors, but they are also able to tell you if a part of your story feels a bit flat. Like, perhaps, your main character. Plot is important, character is vital. If you find yourself using enough flashbacks to fill a whole chapter in order to make your protagonist feel human, consider starting with a prologue - it's more direct and allows your reader to emotionally connect with the situation right way. This is especially important if your novel deals with a lot of 'techno babble' that people outside the field may not be familiar with.
I don't want to paint all self-publishing authors with the same brush, that's not my intention here. I'm just beyond frustrated that an author thought this was acceptable. I know there are many reasons that people choose not to go the traditional route when releasing their books, and I know there are many fine self-published books out there. However, if you are self-publishing because your book was turned down by a publishing house, don't just decide that 'big publishing' is trying to keep you down and your only resource is to self-publish. Please consider that it may just be that
your writing sucks. Please, don't give up! Keep writing. But get feedback and try to
improve your story telling skills. We are starving for new stories, I'm sure if you spend a little more time polishing yours the world will embrace it!
Happy reading!
