Edgy Fiction

[JO-ANNE VANDERMEULEN]

Wow, I have found my niche!
I have sent my manuscript to agents in both the secular and christian. Secular feel my plot is too "religious" or "spiritual". The christian agencies feel my plot is too explicit. I have taken my manuscript and have began revising my plot. First, trying to exclude the christian aspect and to hit the secular. Then, I will try to tone-down my plot and hit the christian agencies. I did not feel great about this. I wanted my manuscript to be accepted the way it was...edgy fiction.

[Bonnie Calhoun]

ROFLOL...so does all the other writers *snort-giggle*...and the "author" laughs all the way to the bank! :-)

[Rel]

Shar and Bonnie - and so do readers, believe me :) In fact, I chose not to review one of the said books as I simply couldn't give a postive opinion. I am more than happy to address inconsistencies etc in my reviews and things that don't getl but I choose not to write a review that would be damaging to an author. So there you go!

[Timothy Fish]

Suspension of Disbelief is a term that refers to the willingness of a person to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if they are fantastic or impossible. Every novelist relies on it. My comment was meant to say that we gain hope vicariously through characters that don't exist and can't prove anything.

[Michelle Sutton]

Timothy,
You always have something profound to say. How do you do that?

[Timothy Fish]

If what I say seems to be profound, it is probably because I analyze everything to the nth degree.

[Bonnie Calhoun]

I writing, I've always been taught, fiction has to make sense! Real life can be beyond belief, but you can't get away with that in fiction, and as the Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, and having to read an average of six novels a month, I can attest to the truth of that!

[Timothy Fish]

You are correct, but I think a better way to put it might be to say that fiction should not violate internal consistency. Anything can happen in fiction, from talking mice to happily ever after, but once the rules have been established, any unexplained deviation is a violation of internal consistency and the reader may conclude that the story doesn’t make sense.

[Bonnie Calhoun]

You are so right Tim! That is a perfect explanation! The only deviation from that is real life *snort-giggle*. I have so many bizarre things that have happened to me in this life, and I can't write about any f them cause there's no "setup" ...ROFLOL...or even a logical explanation as to why they happened. LOL...and sometimes I don't even believe that they're happening.

The "rule" part that you mentioned is essential to keep people like me from throwing the books against the wall *snort-giggle*, and I think it's cases of author's NOT setting up those parameters, that is so frustrating!

[Kimberlee Mendoza]

I've been kicked to the wall on reality lately with my newest book. One of those things I wish someone would have pointed out in a critique group. The question, how did they get plane tickets to Hawaii so quickly? And how did the MC compete in a main surf competition without prior competitions? Two silly things, but boy do people pick up on those things. It's killing me. But I'm learning to look at every angle. And hopefully, that won't happen to me again. Ugh!!!!

And on the HEA endings...I want it realistic, but I want it just the same. Call me a sucker, but life is depressing enough, don't most of us read to escape the abscence of a HEA?

[Michelle Sutton]

Nowadays you can get plane tickets to Hawaii within a matter of minutes so how does that cause a problem?

[Timothy Fish]

If we're talking Romance, HEA is a requirement. Stepping away from that, I like happy endings most of the time, but without the poignant endings of some books they wouldn't have the powerful message that they do. Have you ever noticed how many of the classics have poignant, even tragic endings? Writing to entertain is good, but to move people to action a book must end in a way that the reader doesn't like. We must leave our audience with the sense that there is a wrong that must be righted.

I know nothing of surf competition, but the thought that of allowing something to slip into my writing that cause people to question the validity of the situation bugs me all the time. I am currently dealing with some concepts that are so foreign to me that I question why anyone would allow themselves to get into these situations and yet there are plenty of real life examples on the news. I just hope I don't portray it in a way that it would not happen.

[Michelle Sutton]

Unless you are Nicholas Sparks. He makes big bucks on sad endings for his romances.