Mark of the Lion Series (Storytelling Vs. Writing)

[Karissa Chmil]

Hey, writers!

At the moment, I’m re-reading Francine River’s Mark of the Lion series (sooooo good, but research it first since it does deal with some very dark things). And I’m noticing something again – she head hops like crazy.

And states the character’s emotions a ton.

And. . . [insert long list of don’ts as far as writing goes]

But somehow, despite all that, her books are fantastic. Her characters are so real. Her themes are marvelous. Emotion is so strong and vivid, and the dialogue shows that well.

So my question for all of you – how do you think she crafted her story in a way that made the storytelling so strong and so strong that the weaker areas of writing don’t keep people from enjoying them?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

wonder | beauty | truth | love

[Trahia the Minstrel]

@karissa-chmil

Eeeeeek! I love Mark of the Lion! It’s one of my favourite book series of all time, now, because of the ending of book 2. That ending … Ah.

I went around for 3 hours after with heartburn ranting about how amazing that ending was to anyone who’d listen.

But yes, I did notice the head-hopping myself, and found it really jarring at first. Eventually I got used it, though, and didn’t let it stop me from enjoying the story. I’ll admit — I wasn’t completely sold by the end of the 1st book. But I read the 2nd one anyway, and when I got to the end of that, I proclaimed the series as good as everything my Mum had told me it was all my life.

I guess it goes to show when you have powerful themes, a powerful story, and a truly beautiful ending, people don’t care if you break the rules or do things that are considered ‘wrong’. (Also remember this was written a while ago, the strict rules about head-hopping might not have been a thing back then. Like, this was written more than 18 years ago.)

I don’t remember her describing the characters’ emotions blatantly as much, but I do remember it was emotional — especially with Hadassah and Julia. At the end. *HUGE SPOILER* When Marcus and Hadassah forgave Julia after everything, and still loved her anyway … (sobs) *HUGE SPOILER END*

Btw, the whole spoiler thing was for anyone on this forum that hadn’t read them. I know you have.😅

But yeah. Her story is amazing, and her way of putting in historical details and showing you how the characters feel is amazing, and that overshadows the fact that she head-hops — because everything else was so good.

I’m not saying we should head-hop ourselves, but I do remember Jerry B. Jenkins once saying in a training video about J.K. Rowling, ‘She broke a million rules and nobody cares, because her writing is genius’ or something like that. I don’t know if those were his exact words but that was the gist of it. Anyway, love that you started this topic! Finally a place to nerd about this!

Thank you!

The end of a story, a beautiful picture; a feeling of longing yet hope~
That’s my wish to create.

[Karissa Chmil]

@trahia-the-minstrel

Ooh, good thoughts, good thoughts. . . and, yes, it’s awesome finally finding someone who’s read them. XD

wonder | beauty | truth | love

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