Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Writing styles

I'm currently reading a book by Jonathan Kellerman and am paying close attention to his writing style, which I'm learning is very different from my own. He tends to use shorter sentences. He also adds in commas where I wouldn't, although, I'm the first to admit I use them more often than I think I should. He writes with the main character speaking in the first person while the chapters dedicated to the other characters are in the third person. In Missing Maggie, Kody is in first person, but so are Daniel and Kevin when we hear from them. That might be something I should rethink. Kellerman draws the mystery out by involving a lot of different characters, which I suppose you need when it involves detectives looking for a murderer. My plot line in Missing Maggie was slow to begin with, but then ended in a whirlwind. Kellerman has obviously had more practice with pacing. I'm not finished with the book yet so I'll be interested to see how it ends. Does he use an epilogue like I prefer so that everything gets wrapped up all nice and neat, or does he simply solve the crime and keep us wondering if the main character gets back together with his ex? 

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