I picked up a used paperback novel from 1998, this week. I scrutinized the front and back covers, the interior layout, paragraphing, and the author’s writing style.
I was intrigued by how much the rules of writing have changed over the past twenty-five years. What once was considered to be commonplace is now touted as a “no-no.”
I consulted Amazon to see if this particular book—by a very well-known author—was typical of that era. Once I determined that it was, I decided to share my observations here.
Back in the 70’s. Front covers weren’t nearly as exciting and didn’t give many clues as to actual content, back covers didn’t always include a book description (in fact, many times the author’s picture was all that was displayed there).
The biggest changes I found were inside. Paragraphs were laboriously long, sometimes two pages in length! They were often single-spaced.
What we refer to now as “head-hopping” was quite common. The point-of-view of several characters found in a single paragraph! Finally, many times stories were “told” rather than shown by action.
This all makes sense because we now live in a world of texting, which prompts the use of short sentences. There is a lot of white space on our pages, as readers are familiar with that style on their computers. With so many movies and videos, readers want lots of action vs. pages and pages of introspection.
Writing/reading styles reflect the times in which we live. That means authors constantly adjust their “product” according to current trends in our society.
Fashions change. Tastes change. Due to our connection to social media, they race ahead at record speed. No need for us to be surprised that writing trends are constantly changing, too.
brenda poulos 