I had a comment yesterday from Jay Noel, and followed his link to his post called My Personal List of Sci-Fi and Fantasy Cliches.
It’s a pretty comprehensive list, and reminds me of conversations my friend Jane and I have about downloading free books. She did a post for me about how to turn readers off with your free sample. It’s such a good post, I feature it in the sidebar. But entire free books have become so common, we’ve been talking about how we decide to try or not try a totally free book based on the description on Pixel of Ink.
There are some we click past blip blip blip. Chosen one — blip. Discovers her unexpected ability to — blip. How can her heart decide between two men who — blip. The fate of the world hangs in the balance and only one man can — blip. We probably miss out on a lot of good reads, but the ones we — I should only speak for myself — the ones I pick are the ones that have an obvious originality. My descriptions for my own books are boring; I need to work on them big time!
Jay’s list is a good one to go through, whether you’re a reader or a writer. What do you WANT to see in a book? Maybe you’ll always go for a love triangle. Maybe knowing what’s going to happen from the first page is a comfort to you. Me, I will always read a book with a chick on the cover all darkish and tattooed and holding a bladed weapon. ALWAYS. If MR. AND MRS. BOJO JONES had had a picture of a tattooed, blade-wielding chick on the cover, I would have read it.
Well, that’s enough of that. Have a nice weekend. Tomorrow is Caturday and the next day is Sample Sunday. See ya!
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: Take one of Jay’s chichés and turn it on its ear.
MA
Holly Jahangiri
August 24, 2012 at 12:20pmI will ALWAYS read the “girl running away from the house” novels provided the house is perched impossibly on the edge of a cliff and there is a menacing full moon hidden by clouds. And possibly a bat or three.
Marian Allen
August 24, 2012 at 1:30pmMust the girl be in a nightgown, or will any attire suit you?