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Date Posted: 02:41:58 02/27/07 Tue
Author: Theresa
Subject: A good story has to involve the real voices of the characters. I know these characters, they have to sound like themselves while I'm reading their dialog. If they don't then I can't get into it. If the story has original characters in the mix, I have to connect with them on a personal level and find them interesting, to keep reading. For example the two gay men who were Mac's mentors in one of CM's stories interested me. I loved them. So I read the whole thing. Inside for things that make a story unreadable.
In reply to: Pixie 's message, "Building off my last post..." on 19:08:39 02/26/07 Mon

1. Unless the story is really captivating and by an author that I know and love, then calling Mac "Mrs. Rabb", "Mrs. Harmon Rabb", saying "Mr and Mrs Harmon Rabb", anything that strips Mac of her name (first or last) and legacy in any way has me hitting the back button quicker than anything else (unless it's rape or violence or some such attrocity.). To me it's the last form of gender bigotry left, and I don't want to see it inflicted on Mac. If people expected her to give up her family name because she was a black woman the whole free world would protest. It's equally not okay to expect it just because she's female. I don't believe Harm has this kind of bigotry in him. Nor does Mac.

2. Cultural differences throw me right out of the story. I was reading one where Harm said he was going to the store to buy "nappies". That was it. I hit the back button. Harm's American, he didn't sound like himself there. If he were a British man it wouldn't have bothered me a bit, because I could hear it in his voice, but he's not.

3. Boring stories with nothing but sappy family life that have no real conflict to work out. The conflict doesn't have to be personal, it can be case related or otherwise. Little scenes are okay, but long stories about family life are a bore.

4. Harm and Mac acting out of character. Extreme cases are a story that I was reading where Harm barges in to Mac's apartment, rapes her, and then leaves. Another is a story I read where Mac is physically abusive and controlling toward Harm. Neither of them were this way. They loved each other, and were very tender in the moments when they let thier feelings show.

5. Stories where it is clear that the author is a just plain bad writer. They don't know the craft as yet, and need to practice. I encourage writers to write at any stage of thier developement, but I can't abide a story that is too poorly written, even if I give feedback that I think might be helpful, I don't read the whole story.

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Replies:

  • I agree with Theresa that the characters have to sound right. Staying true to the characters is the mark of a good story. On the flip side, NOT staying true to the characters is the mark of a bad story. If H/M start talking in flowery, sappy, sugary sweet language, then they no longer sound like themselves. They have become unfamiliar people who happen to have the same names as the characters we know and love. (NT) -- JJ (Ronda), 06:54:39 02/27/07 Tue

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