How to freshen up a detective series
ram
is how to keep a long-running series fresh. The worst-case
scenario is when authors let their detective run amok far
longer than necessary, leading to an exasperated fan base
that buys new installments out of grudging loyalty. Case in
point: The bite and vigor of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser"
series has diminished into softened decrepitude, with the
Boston private eye more content to sit around and lob
gentle sallies at his psychologist lady love Susan
Silverman (and marvel at the ones he gets in return).
Others know when to quit, such as Ian Rankin, who cut his
Inspector Rebus opus after 20 books with "Exit Music."
Better approaches come when the protagonist is given a rest
for a few years before his triumphant return...
Continued: http://tr.im/FreshenSeries
Annie C
"ram" <rema...@reece.net.au> wrote in message
news:VCACVO5G401...@reece.net.au...
> (LA Times) - One of the hardest tasks a crime writer faces
> is how to keep a long-running series fresh. The worst-case
> scenario is when authors let their detective run amok far
> longer than necessary, leading to an exasperated fan base
> that buys new installments out of grudging loyalty. Case in
> point: The bite and vigor of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser"
> series has diminished into softened decrepitude, with the
> Boston private eye more content to sit around and lob
> gentle sallies at his psychologist lady love Susan
> Silverman (and marvel at the ones he gets in return).
> Others know when to quit, such as Ian Rankin, who cut his
> Inspector Rebus opus after 20 books with "Exit Music."
The actual reason Rankin quit writing Rebus was because the character
reached retirement age in the real world of the Scottish police. IR was
writing Rebus in real time. It wasn't because we fans had reached a point
where we were buying the next in series because of anything resembling
gruding loyalty. Anything but. But I do agree that Spenser can go off to the
rest home now.
I liked Rankin's first in new series, "The Complaints" well enough. But not
nearly as much as any Rebus. I'll take a new Rebus anyday, even if he were
a secondary character -- say with Siobhan as the main protag... .
Annie
kat >^.^<
"Annie C" <anni...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:7mqogoF...@mid.individual.net...
>
iuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu (cat assisted post)
>
> I liked Rankin's first in new series, "The Complaints" well enough. But
> not nearly as much as any Rebus. I'll take a new Rebus anyday, even if he
> were a secondary character -- say with Siobhan as the main protag... .
>
> Annie
>>
>> Better approaches come when the protagonist is given a rest
>> for a few years before his triumphant return...
>>
>> Continued: http://tr.im/FreshenSeries
>>
>>
>>
>
>
mentorship, either.
kat >^.^<
in Rhinelander
where the kittens are on a tear...
Willow
"Case in
point: The bite and vigor of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser"
series has diminished into softened decrepitude, with the
Boston private eye more content to sit around and lob
gentle sallies at his psychologist lady love Susan
Silverman (and marvel at the ones he gets in return)."
The books got smaller, with thicker paper and larger type. Spending
the price of a new book for one that can be read in an hour or two is
enough! At least NINE DRAGONS was a full read, bad as I think it
was....
Willow
Lynn Allen
> As a former Parker fan, I agree with the the comment:
>
> "Case in
> point: The bite and vigor of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser"
> series has diminished into softened decrepitude, with the
> Boston private eye more content to sit around and lob
> gentle sallies at his psychologist lady love Susan
> Silverman (and marvel at the ones he gets in return)."
>
> The books got smaller, with thicker paper and larger type. Spending
> the price of a new book for one that can be read in an hour or two is
> enough!
I agree. Parker's book rarely rise to the word-count of a novella any
more, they're more like long short stories with a lot of white space.
Which is why I always get his books from the library. Sometimes I just
sit down there and read them. Why bother taking them home?
--
--
Lymaree
Manuel
Not exactly talking about Spenser, but I had in mind the scandal
created by Agatha Christie when she was accused of breaking the rule
of fair-play betwen author and reader by making the narrator the
culprit in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926).
Choosing unusual culprits is absolutely a way to freshen up a mystery
novel.
But how this can be done with a detective series? Changing the role of
the "hero"?
What happens if the story is told from another point of view? And
changing the point of view everytime a new story is told?
--
http://NewOnlineShopping.net Read the article about the Star Wars Jersey!
http://TechGamesBlog.com USB Gadgets, Music, a Magic Wand and... Star Wars.
Fire Tiger
> On 21 Nov 2009 17:32:02 -0000, ram <remai...@reece.net.au> wrote:
> >(LA Times) - One of the hardest tasks a crime writer faces
> >is how to keep a long-running series fresh. The worst-case
> >scenario is when authors let their detective run amok far
> >longer than necessary, leading to an exasperated fan base
> >that buys new installments out of grudging loyalty. Case in
> >point: The bite and vigor of Robert B. Parker's "Spenser"
> >series has diminished into softened decrepitude, with the
> >Boston private eye more content to sit around and lob
> >gentle sallies at his psychologist lady love Susan
> >Silverman (and marvel at the ones he gets in return).
> >Others know when to quit, such as Ian Rankin, who cut his
> >Inspector Rebus opus after 20 books with "Exit Music."
Where's the money in ending a series? What if your creative juices
are all dried up and blown away? Cannot a guy make a buck?
Seriously, I'm amazed any book reviewer is reading any of the new
Spenser stories. Once an author is in a rut or going through the
motions, they will very rarely change. They're milking their
franchise (a.k.a. fans) and not really caring anymore. Or they have
just lost the touch. They think they're writing good stuff but
aren't. Then the blame goes to those around them. To their agent,
publisher, friends and family. No one is willing to tell them the
truth either because they don't want their own gravy train to stop
(the author being it for them), don't want to hurt the author's
feelings (or feel his wrath), or they don't care themselves anymore.
And reviewers are telling them the truth since they've long since
stopped reviewing their series.
> Choosing unusual culprits is absolutely a way to freshen up a mystery
> novel.
And when the author has come up with all the new ones s/he can come up
with? Agatha Christie's stories commonly followed a set formula to
the point where other authors satirized her stories. Agatha pumped
out a new story like clockwork. Something new for her fans to buy for
Christmas. Sure, she mixed it up once in a while but the formula won
more than innovation.
> But how this can be done with a detective series? Changing the role of
> the "hero"?
>
> What happens if the story is told from another point of view? And
> changing the point of view everytime a new story is told?
Then the change of "view" becomes routine as well.
Making a series be as fresh as its original installments is always
difficult. If you let the main character evolve, authors commonly
make the mistake of having the character always getting better and
better by becoming a better person. And if the character is
intelligent, that's to be expected. However, once the character is
Snow White, what do you do? Who would want to read a detective series
where the sleuth is Snow White? Once you're perfect, what's there to
perfect?
And I don't ever recall any series where the detective continuously
got worse. Anyone know of any? And why would anyone read such a
series? Obviously, the guy isn't very bright or the slide would at
least stop, if not reverse.
Or you could put your main character on a roller coaster of getting
better and worse ... and then have your readers get upset that they're
on a roller coaster. Cannot this guy take a second and reflect on his
life??? Or you do what they do with the TV series "24", at the end of
each season, screw the main character royally over so he essentially
has to climb out of a deep hole at the start of each new season. But
that becomes old soon too ... and is the reason why I didn't watch
"24" after the fifth season.
Or you can do what Doyle, Christie, and Stout did and have the focus
be not on developing their main character but focusing on the
mystery. Their characters being fully developed. We didn't see
Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Poirot, or Nero Wolfe evolve. We met them
when they were at their top form. And that's how they got all those
impossible locked room mysteries. Mysteries that baffle the police.
Those don't routinely go to up-and-coming detectives but to the best
of the best. This route has the mysteries being the things that
change each time. Personally, I think a good series' main challenge
is making the next mystery harder than the first and significantly
different but not to the point where it is viewed as too unbelievable.
Scott Jensen
ggg
I am currently reading Jamie Lee Burke's Crusader"s Cross a resent
opus in his Dave Robichaud series. I believe Burke refreshes himself
by doing stand-alones, alternating venues with his Billy Bob Thornton
series in Montana which removes him from the
Louisiana Bayou scene. The totally different nature of the Big Sky
country of the Bitterroot Mountains as opposed to the close in high
humidity atmosphere of the New Iberia to New Orleans territory allows
him sufficient variety to keep him fresh. Works for him.
Barry