Tag Archives: reading

A Matter of Trust

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A Book by Yuri_B, Pixabay

I recently read a book by an author new to me—something I regularly do. About a third into the novel, I was struggling to invest in the hero. It wasn’t due to poor writing or a lack of interest in the storyline. The setting and description was adept and colourful, the struggles real and the villainous threat compelling. And yet, I felt next-to-nothing for the hero and was perplexed, instead of intrigued, by a parallel narrative that I wasn’t 100% certain the author could (or would) link back to the dominant plot.

As a persistent reader it takes a lot for me to hit a DNF (did not finish, for the uninitiated). I wasn’t at risk of that with this story, but found this disconnect unsettling. Fact was, it was making reading hard work—and it was not the first time I’d encountered this. Reflecting, there have been other new authors, highly decorated authors, whose heroes I’ve struggled to invest in. But then I had an “Aha” moment, as Lisa Cron would put it.

It’s a matter of trust.

As an emerging author there is much talk of building one’s platform and readership connection, but this moment was enlightening. I’ll explain why.

Trust by Lisa Caroselli, Pixabay

When a reader picks up one of my books for the first time, or a first time read of any other writer, they are engaging in an investment of time and emotions—and if they really like it, sleep debt! 😜😴 Like any “relationship”, we as readers take a risk. And with relationships, history is a significant factor. When there is no history [insert “never read this author before”], the level of trust is … well … non-existent.

I’ve seen this in reviews on my novels—readers saying they would have no patience for unrealistic “instant solutions”, and gratitude when they discover a hard-fought, satisfying resolution. But first-time readers don’t know if you can pull this off. There’s no history; no trust. Subconsciously they’re asking, “Is it worth investing time, energy and emotions into this story?” That’s why, on the rare occasions I have an opportunity to watch a movie, I’ll sometimes select a low-end romantic comedy—it’s minimal investment so I can pull out at any time, without any compulsion to return.

That’s what I was experiencing. Could the author really pull the story threads together? Were these increasingly insurmountable odds and, frankly, repeat dumb choices by the hero, able to be redeemed such that they could culminate into a heart-stopping, hero driven, but ultimately satisfying end?

I’m happy to report the author did pull this off, and next time I read one of their books I will be less wary, but it was a valuable learning experience for me as a writer. How about you? Have you ever found yourself doubting your first-time reading of an author, only to read to the end and discover a life-time favourite? Feel free to drop a comment below. I’d love to hear about your experiences. 😊

Reading Reflections

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Like any civilised book launch, as part of the programme I will always read an excerpt from the new release. Easy right? I mean, it’s just picking the right place and pressing go, yes? Well, until I was involved in recordings for an audio book, I would have agreed. Nothing to worry about. But that was then. This is now … (Cue ominous music …)

Photo: Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Last year we began the machinations of producing Immortal Mistake as an audio book. Despite this process not turning out quite as expected, with a couple family emergencies thrown in for good measure, it was an excellent learning opportunity to really explore the nuances of storytelling.

Fast forward to the Immortal Mistake book launch and imagine me standing up with novel poised to the scene of focus. Eyes of attendees are homed, awaiting their first taste of the story. I launch in, and then realise there are multiple characters in this scene. And I haven’t paused to think about how I’m going to represent them. Sweet high pitch? Growly low pitch? Deeper than the previous character? And here they are again. Was that the low-pitched, softly spoken voice, or the more abrasive, pointed one? Conundrum!

Through the audio book work, I had become acutely aware of the need for consistency throughout the reading—from start of book to end—and how important it is to pre-plan how each character will be vocally represented and then keeping this consistent scene-after-scene. I had not given this a milli-second of thought before starting, for it had never been an issue in the past. But like I said, this is now …

For this reason I now have heightened respect for the talent of my parents, who feature in my earliest childhood memories of bedtime stories with me and my siblings. Night-after-night, they could get bold and bouncy T-t-tigger the T-t-tiger who looooves to b-b-bounce with just the right resonance, pitch and pace, whilst hesitant and worried Piglet was easily recognised before a page could be sighted. Pace and pitch were adjusted to suit mood and motion, so when the little chick is trying to find it’s mother, we didn’t need to guess which character was speaking. All around we delighted in those storytelling moments.

In reflection, this is more of a skill than I’d previous considered. (You know, back then.) Maybe I should ask Mum and Dad for some professional development before my next audio book attempt. 😉