Blogger: Rachel Kent
I am at the Mount Hermon conference today, so I am not going to be able to comment on the blog. I will try to catch up on the comments over the weekend.
A multi-published writer mentioned in conversation with another author that she always makes the heroes in her books look like actor Harrison Ford. You know, the ruggedly handsome, Indiana Jones-type. She claimed that her readers never noticed the look-alike heroes. She chose to continue in this “rut” purposefully because Harrison’s a good-looking guy and none of her readers had ever written to her to complain.
I believe this is a dangerous way to write and I really don’t understand why she’d do it. By intentionally reusing a “rut,” believing that nobody will notice, she’s underestimating her readers’ intelligence and that’s not a good idea. Plus, Harrison (young or old) might not be everyone’s choice for a handsome hero. Variety is a good thing!
Reusing a “look” is probably not a huge mistake, but it’s the tip of the “rut-iceberg” for authors of more than one book. We touched on this a couple of weeks ago when we talked about character personalities. It’s always wise to be intentional about creating unique characters and books.
Have you ever read two novels by the same author and after you finish the second book you realize that the two plots are essentially the same? The same thing can happen with nonfiction. A nonfiction author is usually an expert on one subject, and it’s easy for the author to accidentally write practically the same book twice. I’m sure you’ve heard it said that every author only has one good book in them; I know for a fact that that’s not true, but I’m pretty sure that the saying is around because of these seemingly mass-produced books. Change the character names and title or reorder the chapters, and you have a “new” book. Be wary of this in your own writing. You don’t want to fall into this trap.
Are authors in too much of a hurry to produce books or is it laziness? Do editors want authors to write practically the same book again if the story sold well? Are readers too nice to point out to the author the strong similarities between plots? What do you think causes authors to essentially write the same book again?
And please don’t name names if you are going to mention a specific example. We don’t want to be hurtful to anyone here!
All I know is this: if I read the same basic plot twice, from the same author, I won’t pick up a third book by him or her. Life is too short, and there’s too much wonderful stuff to read, to be wasting time reading rehashes. Having said that, I hope I’m not repeating myself in my own writing. Ouch.
Hannah, are you back from your trip? How did it go? 🙂
Yes, I’m back. It was a truly wonderful trip. So much happened in those few days. And I journaled them! Thanks for asking.
I’m the same way!
It’s a harder question that I first thought it was, for a couple of reasons –
– Authors should ideally not stray too far from what they know, and personal experience is limited. My male characters are veterans (so are some female leads), and working in academia is a fairly common occupation because I KNOW these areas well, and create a realistic world. I could not, on the other hand, write about the Equestrian Life, even though I was in it for awhile when I was young. I just don’t have the ‘feel’.
– Readers do seem to like a degree of predictability; I know I do. When I pick up a Nevil Shute novel, I know that it’ll be a nice romance, with a good degree of physical adventure, and that the romantic relationship will follow a certain arc that will (or may not) have the protagonists together at the end. I know there will be no real ‘villains’ (I follow this trait), and that the challenges will be broadly similar from book to book. But I like this; it’s made Mr. Shute a friend.
– I think readers are more “mentally-visual” than they were, and having an icon like Indiana Jones with whom to identify a lead is probably a good thing for the general readership. I don’t like it, but I’m a writer and pretty good at imagining and creating characters. But everyone’s different, and Harrison Ford does imply certain ‘values’ beyond looks. Brad Pitts sets up different values, and Will Smith another set, yet again. Too much variety can call for the nurturing of different sets of readers, perhaps?
What a very thoughtful post! I love the idea that certain types of characters evoke different values. Very true.
And yes, an author does need to stick with what he or she knows, but there needs to be something new to give the most recent work added value.
I agree with you about liking similar product from the same author, but I need the book to be different at the same time. It is a fine line, isn’t it?
I definitely don’t think readers are too nice not to comment! I’ve seen too many nasty reviews on Amazon and Goodreads! Yikes.
🙂 Some readers can be pretty harsh!
It is a bit comical to think that there are only so many personality traits, hair colors, height descriptions. We can mix and match only so much, I suppose. I guess it could get challenging. But that’s what writers do … take the challenge. 🙂
And good looking main characters seem to sell more books (according to an editor I’ve worked with)! That limits the number of useable traits by far.
“Do editors want authors to write practically the same book again if the story sold well?” I don’t know. Do they? I imagine it’s tricky. If an author is becoming established and the editor sees their first two or three titles well-recieved, might they ask for a ‘rinse, repeat’ type scenario? From a genre standpoint, it seems like this could take a turn for the worse. Contract too much of the same thing and the market is flooded.
Maybe this is why we hear, “Be unique, but not too unique.”
For an author who’s been in the business for awhile and has scads of titles (i.e. Debbie Macomber, Nicholas Sparks, Tracie Peterson), I imagine it becomes more and more difficult not to write reruns.
Have a great time at Mount Hermon, Rachel!
I do think editors do encourage similarity to a certain extent and I think readers want it to an extent too.
I think it would be easy to write the same thing because of what we feel is handsome or romantic or suspenseful. We have our ideal person or situation and perhaps have not had enough variety of experiences to think of something other than our ideal. Maybe meeting new people and going new places can help us to see our world through different eyes.
Tough Call. I can see both sides on this one.
Louis L’amour basically had similar characters in each of his books, and found success. Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series (which I love) features men that are all ‘impossibly gorgeous’, and sometimes its difficult to tell them apart when I read her work.
I think it depends on the writing and the reader. I never tired of Louis L’Amour’s books and I can’t put Laurell’s down. People invest themselves in characters and character types.
I don’t see an easy answer on this one.
I think it depends how similar things are between books. It would be hard to build a following if one’s books were too dissimilar. People would have no idea what they were getting. You don’t want to stray too far from your “brand”.
At the same time, you don’t want to be cookie-cutting every book. Your work will get stale and readers will get bored.
It’s a tough path, really. Your books have to be similar enough to keep your readers, but at the same time be different enough to keep their interest.
I am now working on my second novel…..which is actually my third. My second one I put on hold because after my first novel, my “fans” who edit/review for me really wanted “more.” But my novel is a single title….and I wanted to keep it that way. But I understood what they were seeking….the romance of the settings: 19th Century England and all its novelties. So, instead of running out to a completely different topic and time that my second novel is placed, I decided to work on my third novel which takes place in the mid-19th century. I was figuring that after my first novel, my “fans” might expect/desire something “similar.” By the time they get to my third book, which I hope my fan base will love my style of writing/craft for storytelling/character development, will then seek me out as a writer and appreciate a whole new idea. I hope this was a good decision. Your thoughts?
Elizabeth, I had a similar experience. My friends loved my WWII story and asked me for a sequel, but the story didn’t lend itself to one. So I took a major secondary character and made him the protagonist of his own WWII story which eventually became my debut novel. Though I don’t have the expertise of an agent or editor, it sounds to me like you’re on the right track by giving your fans what they want. Wishing you the best.
Thanks Johnnie. Although I love my first novel…who doesn’t love their first?….I am thinking this second one might be the one that grabs agents’ attention. It is a wee bit more edgy and provocative….and thus, a twist on the Historical Romance. Might be the one that captures their attention; allowing for my first novel, which is a “sweeter” story, to be more marketable. I continue to write and work on being published all the same. Only time will tell me if I made the correct decisions!
The important thing is to keep writing new stories which is exactly what you’re doing. I love your enthusiasm. 🙂
I stopped reading the romantic suspense novels by one of my favourite authors after realising Books 1 and 2 of her new trilogy were essentially the same as Books 1 and 2 of her previous trilogy. I noticed because she had some unique plot points in the first trilogy, and reused the exact same points in the second. I don’t mind re-reading books I’ve enjoyed, but I do mind paying good money to read essentially the same books with different character names. And my reviews commented on this.
Why do authors do it? I don’t know. But as a reader, I felt cheated.
A reader recently pointed out that several of my heroes have similar qualities. She wasn’t complaining, but I was nonetheless happy to be able to tell her I’d realized the same thing and that my wip has a very different type of hero. I guess I’m just a sucker for a certain type of man, and without meaning to, I’d been creating various aspects of him in my heroes. I’m glad I realized it, though, so that I can be intentional about shaking it up and creating new characters. The one I’m working on now is a challenge – but worth it. Godly people – men and women – come not just in different shapes and sizes, but also with different strengths and weaknesses, different temperaments and temptations. I’m sure I won’t get to them all, but I look forward to trying! 🙂
I don’t mean to have an attitude, but how can she be sure some of her readers just don’t buy her books anymore? Some readers may not take the time to write an author to complain; they simply may refuse to buy any more of that person’s books.
I work in a supermarket. Many times I walk past products that have been pushed back towards the back of the shelf, making them harder for customers to reach. During slow times employees pull items forward so customers can reach them easier. That doesn’t always get the priority it should, and I wonder how many times have customers walked out of the store in frustration instead of asking for help to get the item. That picture in my mind is what led to my comment above. Readers may walk away from the author’s books, instead of writing her.
I agree! That’s why this comment really stuck with me. I found it odd.
One key thing is to have no two books in sequence have characters with carbon copy looks and personalities. If your heroine in book one is choleric, make the heroine of book two be phlegmatic. The same goes for the heroes. Don’t make all of the heroes be brooding with tempers; the heroines feisty and quick-whited. Give us variety. Make some of the heroes be sanguines who talk a mile a minute, laugh a lot, and bring the heroine out. Have some of the heroines be phlegmatic. They are easy-going, just want to keep the peace, and are very helpful to others. There are lots of people like that in real life. A book can still be realistic and have all four personality types.
There’s an author that I haven’t quite given up on reading, but I am almost ready to that point. The author has written more than twenty books and almost all of the characters are alike.
Thanks for stopping by, everyone! I appreciate your thoughts!
Absolutely publishers like “the same but different” because anything “too different” is too risky for their bottom line. But I know readers who stopped reading their favorite, well-established authors because, at some point, everything was the same. And when publishers (because of reader demand) push authors to produce one book a year (often more than that) of course you are going to get the same thing over and over, because that author’s well is dry–they are not being given the chance to let it fill up again.
I agree with it