Want to write a memorable novel? One that draws reactions like “fully realized,” “richly observed,” “powerfully written?”
Of course you do, and because you handle language well, you never miss a chance to go full out for the complex effect, the mind-blowing metaphor, the subtleties of literary wizardry.
So why doesn’t your writing impress more readers? Rather than reading on, compelled to turn the page, why do they lay your novel momentarily and never to pick it up again? Why don’t they give enough of a damn–especially after you’ve stormed the heights with such a dazzling display of language pyrotechnic?
It’s a nagging question–and certainly not a new one. I’ll give my take on it tomorrow, in Part 2. But meanwhile here’s a one-word clue…”distraction.”
