A note to authors

[andrewducker]

If you start your book by introducing five characters at once, who refer to each other by a mix of first names, surnames and nicknames (and occasionally by some identifying feature) then I will finish the opening chapter with no idea who anyone is, or what they are doing.

I have enough problems with names in real life - I need to be introduced to characters one or two at a time, with each one labelled and identified so that I have some kind of internal handle on them, before the next ones are introduced.  More than that and I will bounce right off of your book.

Comments

[call-waiting.livejournal.com]

The Wire is pretty twisty, but it's not all that bad for following the characters. It did, however, confuse the hell out of me through the first couple of episodes trying to work out the Barksdales' family structure because McNulty erroneously refers to DiAngelo as Avon's cousin. Confused the hell out of me, that did.