Sometimes I edit for another publisher. These are manuscripts that they have
already accepted, and it is my duty to make sure the grammar is
correct, that there are no plot holes or inconsistencies.
I
do it as an editor, but as an author, I have learned quite a bit.
For
instance, one author – let’s call him Ace – usually writes
historical (light) romance set during World War II. I have a few
qualms about his writing style, but only one really made me impatient
with the story line. I immediately recognized that Ace was telling
the story of a couple - relatively minor characters he had introduced
in his first book. The girl of this couple was raised in a different
place from the others, and it was she he followed in this episode.
What irritated me was that he didn’t introduce the male half of
this couple until half-way through the manuscript!
Don’t
get me wrong; Ace doesn’t write the usual, run-of-the-mill romance,
and I don’t expect him to. Strongly interspersed among tidbits of
romance are great explanations of the way life was during that time
period, shown by what the characters do and expect. But I thought
waiting that long to introduce the girl’s love – after spending
so much time going through two earlier ‘boy friends’ – was a
bit much. It may have me wondering about my own timing in my romances
(which I write as Linda Joy).
And
then there’s ‘Bill’, who writes contemporary romances. Or
rather, one contemporary romance, which never seems to end. There
have been five volumes so far, and he thinks the story line deserves
at least another five. I find myself getting extremely irritated as I
edit these manuscripts. Each one ends on what others would consider a
‘Happy Ever After’, and yet, during the next episode, the main
characters immediately continue what they were doing before; jumping
to conclusions, keeping secrets, not being truthful, and being
super-jealous. They never
seem to learn to not be stupid.
I
can understand not wanting to set aside characters you’ve lovingly
created and worked with for a long time. And many readers enjoy
multiple volumes dealing with the ‘adventures’ of characters
they’ve read about before. However, there is a reason why the
typical romance novel is shorter than other fiction novels; there is
usually only so much stupidity a person can tolerate in their love
interest before they fall out of love, so to have an HEA ending, the
couple needs to realize they are making mistakes and stop
making
them.
Is
it possible to have too many volumes in a series of some other genre?
Probably, although other genres offer a far greater variety of
adventure types for the main characters to have to deal with and
learn from. Still, when I decide to work on another volume for some
series that I am writing, I will pause to consider whether the
continuation makes sense, if it is significantly different in context
from previous episodes, and if the main characters will be learning
from it.
I
thought I would be boning up on my grammar and punctuation. Sure,
that’s happening, but I'm also learning so much more.
