Pre- Lunch Check in Part 2

 Good morning to my (1) avid reader and follower!

I'm off to a bit of a slow start this morning. Rain, chills, and lack of sleep have kept me in a state of lockdown at the house today. I feel a bit nauseous from my breakfast, but that's to be expected. I've overloaded on protein powder for the last few weeks and today was no different. 

Last night, I read a chunk out of Lee Child's "Killing Floor;" the first in the Jack Reacher series. My father recommended it to me, he's a big action book guy, and I knew I needed to spice up the library a bit with something outside of the usual contemplative and murderous ensemble. 

I'm glad I did. One thing I struggle with from time to time is blocking an action sequence on paper: where did the character move? How did they react? Do we use a run on sentence to keep the pace or should I jot a succession of three word statements? Or both?

Though I'm not overly fond of Lee Child's writing style, I have been appreciative of the way he allows the viewer to fill their own blanks in. He's descriptive when it's important, thorough as needed, and doesn't shy away from using words I never would have thought to use in certain scenarios.

For example, while describing a character who was spacing out or thinking hard about something, he used the term 'misted over.' I'd never heard or read that explanation before, but I like it. It conveys exactly what it sounds like. His mind was misted over. 

So what DON'T I like about Lee Childs? 

Before I continue, I know that there are a lot of die-hard fans of his who'd disagree with me, and I also know that 'Killing Floor' is the first in his series- his first book I believe- so to voice my criticisms on his first work is to be expected. He hadn't found his pacing yet. 

BUT. Many of the sentences are short. Too short. Like a low rise apartment. He doesn't use commas. Hardly uses them. From time to time he will. Most pages read like chop sentences. You can swing a mallet to the tempo. 

It reads like that paragraph. 

This is my opinion, and this is not to say that it's bad writing. I'm merely conveying that the chop-block prose bothers me from time to time. Am I hooked to this book within the first two pages? Yes. Will I finish it this week? Most likely. 

So I will leave you to your Thursday.
Have a great afternoon, and try to be better at something today than you were yesterday.

All the best, 

Chase Winter

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