Blog Chain - Keeping the Faith

It's Blog Chain time again. Okay, technically yesterday was blog chain time again, but I didn't realize we did this thing on weekends, too. I don't blog on weekends. Hell, if it doesn't involve my daughter's soccer game or getting drunk and watching football, I don't do much on weekends.

Anyway, back to the business at hand. This chain topic was selected by Shaun, whose first post you can find: here.

Here is how he introduced it:

In writing, we talk a lot about grabbing the reader from page 1. From the first paragraph, the first sentence. I spend a lot of time working on my first paragraphs because I know that agents and editors are pretty much going to decide whether they want to keep reading based on that. It's the first impression. A crappy first page is like walking into an interview in your underwear. So it's important to grab your reader right away.

But what about those books that don't?

What are three books you would tell people that they need to keep reading even if they aren't immediately sucked in by the first page?

Before I share my three, I just want to point out that I'm a very patient reader. I don't have a problem with books whose stories take time to build. I've only ever given up on two books in my life, and it was never within the first five pages. Do people really do that? Give up on a book that quickly? Or is that only when industry professionals are considering work?

Right. So here's my three:

1) The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm listing this one, because it's basically famous for starting slow. Now that I'm a (somewhat) professional writer, I can see the point people are making when they make this argument, because the plot does take some time to get going, but in my opinion, it starts out just right. It's a vast world Tolkien was building, and it took time to get a feel for it. Personally I love every minute of it.

2) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling. This is one I'm a bit ashamed to admit. But it's an interesting story. I first bought this book for my daughter when she was about 6. I had seen Good Morning America talking about the lines outside of bookstores when The Chamber of Secrets was released, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. So I bought her the book. I read the first two or three chapters myself, and being the fool I was at the time, I scoffed. "This is a children's book!" I said to myself. "Clearly it's beneath me," was my second sentiment. So I'm sad to say that I gave her the book and it took another 4 years or more before she finally convinced me to give them another chance. I think she was on Goblet of Fire at the time. Well, this is going to sound cliche, and it probably is, but reading those books changed my life. I realized that great writing could be meant for any audience, and I've been reading, and loving, and writing, and toiling over, "YA" and "MG" books ever since.

3) The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulkner. This one I was reminded of by the blog chain member who came before me, Sandra. I'll link to her post at the end. This is a perfect example of this topic for me, because honestly? I still don't fully understand this book. I've read it three times. The whole stream of consciousness style is one I always struggle with. The first time I read this book it made no sense to me. But I came back a few years later, and read it again. Okay, admittedly, there are still parts that don't make sense, but it also contains some of the most powerful writing I've seen, and I've come to love it in spite of my ignorance.

So there you go. A day late and a few dollars short, that's my take on the topic. Be sure to visit Sandra's post, that came before me, and Kate's post, which will probably go up today (sorry, Kate)!