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| Writer's
Blog - 8. |
If you've been following these
blogs, you'll know that last week I was due to
read the latest chapter of my book to my
illustrious tutor and distinguished
fellow-students.
"What kind of book is it?" I hear you
ask.
Its closest relatives would be books by Carl
Hiaasen or Christopher Brookmyre. That
makes it part crime novel, part satire - and
possibly all crap, if I don't manage to carry it
off successfully.
Anyway, the reading went well.
The general
verdict was that the story was moving along OK
with some scenes working particularly
well.
Of course, some faults were
identified: in one place, a bit of humour was
too obvious, and, in another, a passage was too
long, slowing the momentum of the story.
So, as usual, there was work to be done...
There was another point that had occurred to
me already, but a fellow student highlighted it
last week.
He had noticed that, until near
the end of last week's reading, most of the
scenes had focussed on men. Women
characters had only made brief appearances -
until about 14,000 words into the book, when a
female character dominates a major scene.
As it happens, there are two female
characters who will play big parts in the book -
but so far they have only been on the stage
briefly.
The issue isn't one of political
correctness.
It is a question of
readership.
Will a large part of the
target audience lose interest if they see no
consistent female presence in the opening
scenes?
More next week!
© David
Gray
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