G: Terry Goodkind

My theme for the A to Z Blogging Challenge this year is a mishmash of books, movies, writers and TV shows that have in one way or another taught me something about writing and helped me be a better writer. Some inspired my own stories and a few taught me what not to do. Each post is a one minute lesson on writing. Also stop by the IWSG blog for some April encouragement.

Terry Goodkind wrote and is still writing one of my favorite fantasy series. Picking up this book actually ignited my love of epic fantasy after I'd drifted away from the genre to read more romance and suspense novels. The first book in the series, Wizard's First Rule, introduced the two main protagonists. And woven into it was a dark history in the world Goodkind created as well as family secrets and hints at a history of war from centuries ago. It was epic. I couldn't wait to read the next one and then the next one and the next...  You get the picture. The series went on and on. One or two of the books after the first one were excellent but many of the others felt reworked. The male

protagonist discovers he's the most powerful wizard in thousands of years, yet too many times he couldn't use his magic for one reason or another. It got old. Most writers weave by accident or on purpose, some of their own moral and political beliefs into their books. A few books in this series shouted the moral beliefs behind the story at me. Even though I agreed with the viewpoint, I didn't want it so obvious in my fiction reading.

Lesson: If you write a series, don't drag it on and let your plots become redundant. I haven't written any series longer than four books. That's about the length I prefer for series I read also. Television series or movie sequels can outlive their uniqueness also. Don't use your novels to obviously preach. It can turn off your audience and make the book seem like a scripture parable.

Now that we're a week in to this month, here's a tidbit about April:
April come from the Latin, aperio, which means 'to open or bud' because plants begin to grow this month.

"You can use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." Maya Angelou

Have you read series that went on too long? Can you think of a TV show that went on too long or a movie series that shouldn't have made so many sequels? Have you read a book where the writer pushes a moral or ethical lesson down your throat?