ELLE

Wednesday’s blog heralded my first ever attempt at book reviewing. I survived unscathed. Truthfully, I enjoyed it. Kudos to Barrie Summy for organizing the monthly Book Review Club. Click the typewriter widget on the left to check it out. I counted 23 of us, and I read all 23 of the reviews. This took awhile, but seeing everyone’s different blogs and blog-talking with many of the bloggers made this time well-spent. I already look forward to next time (March 4).

Amidst all my book reviewing, Magical Musing’s Michelle Diener shared the rule of ELLE yesterday.

Enter Late Leave Early

No, I’m not talking about when you go should come and go from work. ELLE helps authors remember that scenes cut to the point. Moreover, they don’t linger (or worse, trail into nothingness).

Hearing about ELLE made me think about Tuesday’s blog on thinking cinematic. In fact, Michelle mentions that Law & Order works off of the ELLE principle. I mention cinematic and a TV show because that’s what the modern reader is accustomed to experiencing. And, people buy (and read) what they are used to seeing. Marketing 101 – the term is ‘branding’.

We’ve all heard enough about branding these days, but it is true. Despite that natural authoring urge to unfurl endless flowery prose, authors must realize that we are all used to action. Old books ease into their stories. New ones don’t, not on their first book to be published, especially.

ELLE.