Over-Writing

[bigsleepj]

People like Tolkien, Victor Hugo and Stephen King, (even Rowling in the later Harry Potter books) have all been accused of "Over-Writing"; i.e. taking everything they write into 800 - 1200 page books that never end. I am myself a terrible over-writer who would probably take a 2 page story and blow it up into 3000 page trilogy (not that I have but I could).

So I ask you what you think of thick overwritten never-ending novels like Les Misérables, Lord of the Rings and the average Stephen King novel? Is such lengths acceptable or should a writer be allowed to over-write?

[Felix]

Mm....I like reading, so I really don't mind the long ones. Sometimes if it isn't that well written it gets to be a bore-fest, but usually overwriting is fine as long as it's interesting. I think if a writer wants to overwrite, he/she should, if they don't, then they won't. I guess. *shrug* That's what I think anyway.

[Kaori]

As long as the book is well-written, I tend to enjoy long reads; Les Misérables is among my favorite books. I would also mention Lord of the Rings, Le Morte D'Arthur, The Faerie Queene, War and Peace, and The Brothers Karamazov.

With the interminable series, on the other hand, I tend to grow impatient; after several books, I usually start questioning whether it is worth my time to continue reading.

[uc pseudonym]

I think that over-writing should be defined by a theoretical ratio comparing the amount of writing to the scope of the work (not that such is mathematically feasible). For example, if a premise is worth a short story, making a novel based on it is overwriting. But if the story is epic in scope, I would also expect the size to be epic.

Therefore, my opinion varies. I feel that The Wheel of Time series is being over-written, and have largely dropped the series because of it. Though I feel the size of Lord of the Rings is good given its scope, on a scene by scene basis it is over-written (though that is a matter of different literary ages).

[ShiroiHikari]

Lord of the Rings' length wasn't a bad thing. It's just that he was SO verbose about stuff that I didn't really care about. Enough about the trees, okay?

Stephen King's writing style is not to my liking. He puts in a lot of gratuitous...stuff. So I don't really enjoy reading his work.

Some stories need more length. But sometimes, authors need to just learn when to stop. o_o

[Kaligraphic]

I like the face that Les Miserables has entire chapters dedicated to describing the battle of Waterloo, convent life, and french slang.

[Ingemar]

Length is only a problem for me due to my short attention span v_v. But a good writer can create vibrant images in a few pages that even the most skilled mangaka would require an entire 200 page volume to write. I got annoyed with comics and manga due to the fact that they spoonfeed you images to see and yet convey so little story in 200 pages. A good novelist can create a world in 200 pages, and a universe in 400 or more.

Length can be a good thing and a bad thing. It could show the author's inability to paint a large picture with few words or it could show his or her interest or dedication to a topic. Now, authors who drag things on and on, with no clear point are just... um.... stupid.

Sadly, I have never read Les Miserables or any (long) work by the great Russian novelists.

[uc pseudonym]

I like the face that Les Miserables has entire chapters dedicated to describing the battle of Waterloo, convent life, and french slang.

This is an unusual convention that occurs in numerous older works (chapters devoted to unrelated material). I wonder if anyone knows more about this practice than I do and would be willing to share about it.

For example, Moby "Richard" was a decent novel, but it has entire chapters devoted to information that is neither relevent nor (in most cases) interesting.

[Icarus]

This is an unusual convention that occurs in numerous older works (chapters devoted to unrelated material). I wonder if anyone knows more about this practice than I do and would be willing to share about it.

I don't know more than you, but in the "unabridged" version of The Princess Bride, there is a chapter devoted to the description of a lady's reply to a wedding invitation, an the clothes she packed for the journey there. Yeesh.

I don't really like over writing. Sure, a good universe is better than a bad one, but I'll take a small world where things are interesting over a universe where you have to watch the grass grow. Interestingly, the works of the Eddings are over written. Singularly, the stories aren't that bad, and the series' are pretty good. But when you read them back to back, you start to notice some similarities, particularly in the Belgarion and Mallorean. By the end, I felt that it had all happened before. The quest and the major players had returned from the first quintet, and the only things changed were the details.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Everything should do something for the story to move forward or characterise something better. I feel Lord of the Rings is overwritten and many other books but I really think if it doesn't help the story along, just ditch it (even if you enjoy the scene).
It will make your writing all the better. I can't say I have a problem with overwriting, more like a problem with underwriting. But that's a different story.

[Maledicte]

Everything should do something for the story to move forward or characterise something better....I really think if it doesn't help the story along, just ditch it (even if you enjoy the scene).

The Golden Rule of storytelling. You hit the nail right on the head.

However, while I enjoy sparse, terse writing with nothing wasted, I am also quite fond of stories with the little throwaway tidbit scenes that seem pointless, but in the end make the story more enriching. It takes a master storyteller to pull that off...I have yet to uncover that secret, hahaha. I personally find my writing too short.

That being said, most of my favorite books or series are terribly long--The Count of Monte Cristo, Shogun, Pillars of the Earth, The Pendragon Cycle--or terribly short, such as Of Mice And Men and The Phantom of the Opera. Seemingly no in-between...

[Kawaiikneko]

I LOVE long long books because otherwise I read them too fast. The unabridged Count of Monte Cristo was great~ And I still love the WoT series... I read them all one summer, but I didn't like the last two as much.