So this quote from author AJ Betts gave me food for thought. So much so that I went and looked up introspection and retrospection just to get my head around these concepts.
Introspection is the internal examination of mental and emotional processes, which on the surface sounds kind of like exactly what you want to see in a book. Introspection when it’s on point and elevates a character is a beautiful thing to behold. The problem is, when is too much introspection a bad thing? When the character seems to do little else. What authors have nailed this for you as a reader?
Retrospection is about looking at past events in one’s own life. When I read this, I thought for sure it meant flashbacks. God knows, I’ve gone on about them recently, but I think it’s more than that. Retrospection can occur on events that have just passed and it’s kind of like: you know when you are having an argument and you only think of the perfect comeback much, much later, but by then it’s too late? (Anyone else feel like this? Or do this themselves?) Reading too much retrospection feels a little like that: why didn’t the character do or say these things at the time he was supposed to? I mean it does have it’s place right, but it’s one of those things that can get very boring, very quickly.
I realised while putting this post together, that I just finished a book that a healthy dose of both: it’s about an alcoholic teenager who is trying to figure out just why she is an alcoholic. And her life in general. The book is not without its flaws, but when she gets into awful situations and later on thinks about them, her retrospection highlights that if she wasn’t drunk, she would not be doing anything she does in the book, and she knows it — which is a painful blast of clarity for her. And readers.
But, on the other hand, the moments of introspection show she is selfish, a brat and dying to grow up even as she knows she’s still immature. And she certainly seems to whine like it. I think perhaps this part of the book might’ve worked better if we’d seen her before she became an alcoholic and understood why or how she descended into this state.
And description: do you agree with AJ Betts in regards to that? Have you ever spent ages paging through a chapter, waiting to get to, you know plot? Or dialogue?
What do you think of this writing quote? Which authors hit all the rights for you in terms of these traits? And what books just drive you nuts?
Interesting, I love the quote and as in anything in life balance is the key.
That’s right, balance is key. In general I find it hard to achieve that in life, but I absolutelu expect more from the books I read.
I do agree that sometimes, these things can be overdone. On the other hand, it all depends on a reader’s reading tastes. Some readers might prefer books with more dialogue than description, but I’m not one of them. I LOVE lyrical, poetic descriptions! As for introspection, I think it’s important in order for a reader to get to know a character. As long as it’s not overdone, I’m okay with it. Retrospection is the one that I think can be overdone VERY easily, as when a novel is full of flashbacks. Oh, I HATE that!!
To sum up, I think I have a higher tolerance for introspection and long descriptions than the average reader. Lol.
Thanks for such an interesting post, Verushka!! <3 🙂
Oh yes, everything depends on readers’ tastes, or in this case of these #LoveOzLit quotes, author tastes. And oh man, I agree with you in regards to flashbacks these days — and I don’t even know what started it, but I find it very hard to get into them unless they’re done absolutely brilliantly like in Revolver. I have to try and figure out how I got this way, I think. Hm…
P.S. It’s now 4:00 PM on Saturday, here in Miami! Lol.
14 hours between us I think??? A whole day!