Over on my other blog, but thought I'd put the question out here for y'all too. Here it is. I'd love your two cents. Really, I would! :)
Here's a question for the readers & writers out there. What do you think of books w/ multiple storylines going on? I'm asking, because in book 1, we're also going to have some scenes (mandatory IMHO) that'll give rise to a new couple for a future book. Do you like multiple storylines if they're done well or do you prefer books that focus just on a single couple? I'm kind of ambivalent because I've read some books with multiple storylines that are done really well (Lynn Viehl comes to mind), but I've also read ones that completely ruined a book for me.
Thanks muchly!
PS>>>>This is a question in regards to the current WIP I'm working on. Just wanted to clarify. he-he
7 comments:
Works for me as long as I like the characters. My hands down favorite paranormal series is JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, but the flipping to the Lessers stories between the romance and action of the vampires almost always has be scanning the page and getting back to the main characters story. On the other hand, if it were a sub-romance story by characters I liked and wanted to know more of like Lisa Kleypas's Wallflower series I pay close attention because I know I am going to read all the books in the series and don't want to miss any details. So for me, it depends on the characters and the authors ability to grab my attention with the subcharacters and their stories.
It would depend on whether or not the second story line was relevent to the main story. I am reading Linda Winstead Jone's last book in her third trilogy now and she usually always has a second story line and I love it. They're short scenes and very well done that I actually find myself looking forward to them :).
I think as long as the second one has relevance to the main one, it's good!
Cool. I had to click a Google/Blogger "Adult Content" notice to access your blog!
I think you answered your question in your last few sentences. If the multiple storylines are done well and subtly, great. Nalini Singh does a great job with that. Sherrilyn Kenyon - sometimes ok, sometimes a bit inconsistently. But I do remember reading one of Sarah Graves' Home Repair Is Homicide mysteries in which the second storyline was so heavyhanded and poorly integrated that it ruined the book (and the series) for me.
I'm not really a fan of them myself. That's one of the big reasons I stopped reading Brockman. Just before I threw The Defiant Hero against the wall, I read the excerpt for her next book and there were so many POV I got dizzy. I like just the main couple with maybe a smaller secondary romance thrown in. For me - any more then that is too much.
This one is "iffy" for me. I recently read a book by an author who does this and in the big overall picture of the book it worked and I was thrilled to "see" characters again but I also felt like it took away from the main story in a way. I was wanting more of the main couple and felt like there were a lot of "interruptions" in their story.
I personally really enjoy multiple story lines. Tough thing is that they are very difficult to do well if it's not naturally your first writing style. As far as from a writer's perspective: It's a great (and fun!) challenge to do a multiple storyline piece well. From a reader's perspective: I am finding it harder and harder to get into books and stay there, I don't know if it's because I'm so picky or just because my tastes are always changing, but I find that (no mater what kind of book or writing style) multiple story lines pull me in faster and keep my brain occupied and, when tied together well, bring out the character development well, which is really important to me.
Cheers!
If it's done well I have no problem with it. I love Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters and from the first book it had 3 stories going - I loved it. I love JR Ward as well but I don't think she pulls off her multiple story lines quite as well.
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