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Book Review: The Warrior, by Ty Patterson

The good, the bad and the verdict. #1 For my first book review I have chosen The Warrior, by Ty Patterson. First, the Good: The book starts out in the Congo. Where our protagonist, Major Zebediah Carter is on assignment for the "agency." What ensues plays out like fantasy for most of us. He witnesses something unspeakable, is ordered to do nothing about it, and completely ignores those orders. Zeb goes on a Jason Bourne"ish" vengeance spree. Interrupting dastardly men doing dastardly things to women and children, but in the chaos, several of the bad guys escape. The Warrior starts out strong. You are thrown right into the action on page one. There is no warm up, cuddle with your hero "get to know you" back story lead-up or other frivolous fluff. The pace moves along at a fast clip and only stalls out in a few spots where you might have to put it down to look up something on google. Our hero engages in a therapeutic form of percussion that I admit I only understood because I looked it up. Perhaps its time to broaden my horizons. The writing in the book is tight and spares flourish for only a few small spots where Patterson seeks to set mood or allow the reader a wider gaze of spacial awareness. Side characters are introduced to ground Major Carter. Some offer depth and development, while others appear at times only to move along dialogue or tie together scenes. Secondly, the bad...guy(s) Zeb doesn't fight off waves of bad guys in The Warrior. Conflicts are strategic but sparse. This may disappoint readers looking for gratuitous violence, but I found it refreshing. Especially considering some thrillers devolve into heroes sliding from fist fight to gun fight right into another fist fight with machine-gun like regularity. With that said, there is actually story here. The main antagonist is Holt, a former military, turned private security contractor who led the group of willy nilly booty-plunderin bad guys in the Congo. As the story moves from the jungles of Africa to the concrete jungles of New York, Zeb's focus narrows, although a cleverly introduced journalist presents a "bigger fish," character that ties together the subplots nicely. Along the path for revenge, and ultimately redemption, Zeb is joined by "Broker" a private intelligence specialist who turns out to be Zeb's swiss army knife. After all, what would a thriller be without gadgets. The other characters that are introduced along the way add a little depth, although you probably won't get too attached to any of them. If for no other reason than the book's fast pace. Lastly, the verdict. Anyone capable of raping and torturing women and children deserves to die. We are all thankful that Zeb Carter feels the same way. Ugly deeds reap quick deaths, but in this case the quick pace of the book is almost a detriment. Some moments are highly anticipated, but flash by too quickly to appropriately savor. Tension builds effectively and it speaks to Patterson's writing that you genuinely start to care about the character of Zebediah Carter. This should speak volumes, considering at the start of the book you are prone to ask yourself:what sets this hardened, ex-military bad ass apart from Reacher and the others. Patterson effectively teases with his sullen and introspective leading man. Providing a delightfully flawed but deathly effective killing machine that hasn't completely given up on humanity yet. Like so many characters in similar books, you can tell immediately that he is a tormented soul. His clip, terse and sometimes painful dialogue speak to a scarred and traumatizing past. That mixed with his lethal combination of talents makes Zeb the character you ultimately want to learn more about. Small flashbacks and perspective breaks are used to add depth, but the real revelation comes in the end. Don't worry, I don't do spoilers. I picked up The Warrior on a Friday night and finished it only a few short days later. I found it a crisp, clean and thoroughly enjoyable read. I look forward to reading future offerings from Mr. Ty Patterson.

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Detail, unearned information and fishing. How much is not enough?

Readers beware. Every writer is different. Some want to take you along for a brisk ride, never stopping long enough to smell the flowers. While others want to take you for a leisurely stroll through their imaginary world, stopping to take notice of all of their vividly painted details. Some will disagree with me, but I think both styles have their advantages and disadvantages. It doesn't make one method more "right" than the other. After all, we aren't all going to like the same books. Some will always like specific genres, while others will argue over specific styles within a genre itself. One of the main reasons why I started my career as a novelist with a fantasy book was I was getting burned out on the same kind of books. I blame myself for this more than anything, I call it my "literary tunnel vision." And yes, I could throw myself a curve ball and try some different reading material. But sometimes that is easier said then done. I would go to the book store and naturally gravitate towards the same places, looking for the same authors and the same kinds of books. Take fantasy and science fiction. Part of me wanted something within the genre that just did things differently. Paint a different picture. Two parts there, paint a different picture, but also paint it in a different fashion. I am the kind of reader that wants to have to think about things. I am more than willing to dedicate the time and the brain power to dig a little deeper into the meaning and the significance. That is primarily why I write the way that I do. I want something to have significance. I want it to have impact, but I don't always want to just come out and tell you exactly why, or how it is happening. When you have to tell someone that means you aren't necessarily showing them. Some of my favorite stories do this, and it doesn't matter what medium. I think in the long run it can make revelations mean so much more. It makes it deeper, broader and more compelling. So many books give away unearned information. I know that authors will argue that without pertinent facts you lack context, or background. But I struggle with this, and would beg to offer back, "its all in the delivery." My philosophy is: If the character can't see it, smell it, or experience it, then neither should you. We step into a new world through a book, we see it through our character's, or in some cases, our narrator's eyes. Lets not spoil the view. Have you ever read a book with a lot of acronyms in it? Thrillers and mysteries may have a lot of these, especially if they are rooted in a military setting with appropriate vernacular. I have seen some books, told in the third person mind you, that include a lot of acronyms. And instead of having the acronym's meaning addressed and expounded upon through the narrative or dialogue, it is simply provided to the reader free of charge, usually captioned or bracketed. I don't know about you, but this bugs me. Not only does it make the book come off as dry but it feels a bit like an actor stepping out of character in a movie. Even if it is just for a fraction of a second, you are going to notice. I recently started thinking about how much thought you want to inspire in your readers. When someone finishes your book do you want them to have to sit down and think about things, or would you rather have them seamlessly push off onto their next project? I would think you want your story to stick with someone for as long as possible after they finish. Does the story draw them in, captivate them and set their imagination spinning? Are they thinking about characters and what situation they were in when the book ended? By all means you want to draw a story to a close, or if its a series, draw that segment of the story to a close. But I think it is important to leave people with something to think about after they have finished. Drop some breadcrumbs, instill some mystery but most of all, keep the imagination churning. If your book is going to have a sequel, is someone going to jump right onto the internet to find out when the next in the series is going to come out? Should that reader be mad at you, as the writer, for intentionally leaving them perched on a cliff with the only company of questions left unanswered? I can't say no, but it all depends on your execution. Therefore I must say "yes." I would rather have someone tell me, "I loved the story, but what about this...and this...and what is going to happen to this...and did this really happen?" Chances are strong that after they get done slapping you and bombarding you with questions they will ask when the next book comes out. In a nutshell, thread that worm, cast your line and sink that hook...sink it deep!

Removing yourself from the "Comfort Zone"

I started thinking about this after I finished proofreading Within. It struck me again when I picked up Wizard's First Rule, by Terry Goodkind. I got thinking about the "comfort zone" authors get into, and in some instances are unwilling to, or unable to break from. Now when I say comfort zone, I am referring to words or phrases that we fall back on, perhaps a little too often. Me personally, my comfort words are now, and then. It's funny when I put them together, now and then, but it's true. I would find myself beginning and ending sentences far too often with either. When we write, we have tendencies, and as those grow it becomes our "voice". As we write longer and develop our voice, it becomes even more important to not only expand our vocabulary, but utilize it as well. I started reading Wizard's First Rule recently, and I quickly realized that the word "came" was used frequently. He "came" awake...she "came" to him, are a couple examples of the early uses. Its not a bad thing, after all much of the English language assigns multiple meanings and uses for almost any word, but how much should we use a single word before it becomes a crutch? When a single verb or adjective is used in many different sentences, in many different ways it can frustrate certain readers. This is where a broader variety of verb may be utilized to color up the narrative, and thus pull the reader deeper into the story. I didn't realize my own over use of certain words because quite frankly the early writing process is far more stream of consciousness than anything else. But after I finished the creative functions and broke into the more critical steps I realized how badly I abused certain words. Even writing this post, I struggle to not start or finish sentences with "now" or "then", even now I am getting the shakes as my finger hovers over the keyboard. I pose the following questions to my fellow writers. When you are writing, how much thought do you put into substance vs story? How difficult is it for you to identify over used words, and/or change or find alternatives? And do you think that this should only be a consideration during the proofing and editing phases of a written work? And if you banish these considerations from the creature steps of a story, how much time afterwards do you dedicate to rewrites? Throw some knowledge at me, and as always, thanks for reading.

Discover what kind of writer you are

Writing can be like running, in order to preform well, we need to learn our limitations.  When we walk or run we automatically set our pace, otherwise we tire and ultimately labor.  Writing can be very similar in many ways.  It is important to gain context, and thus learn the best manner in which to work.

With that said, I'll jump back to the beginning.  When starting any project, novel, novella, short story, fiction or non-fiction, you simply need a seed of inspiration.  This can be as small as an idea, a character, a scene or even a conversation.  Build the first scene around your idea, sculpting the details as they come naturally.  It is never a bad thing to pop down to a new page and jump forward, or even start a new document and re-imagine the work you have already completed.  You may get far enough into the project and decide that whole chunks of material you have already written doesn't belong.  Do yourself a favor and do not delete it.  Instead, copy and paste it into a separate document and save it in its own folder.  Later on you will be thankful you did.

The more you write, the more ideas you will have.  Think of it as the flood gates of a dam, you are the one responsible for the flow, although sometimes you can't shut it off.  Inspiration and imagination can be tricky that way.  How many nights have I laid in bed trying to fall asleep, yet unable to as the ideas continue to churn and manifest.  Consider your earliest writing a wire frame model, it serves the important function of propping up the basis for your story.  As you continue to write, ideas should compound or change.  If you don't want to jump backwards to change them immediately then log them in a separate file, or buy a notebook and scribe them as notes.  The important thing is to get them down, if for no other reason than continuity later on.

If your work drags on in length it is never a bad idea to create a glossary of important terms.  The people, places, things and events that are relevant and important to your story.  This way, when your are writing a scene involving elements you touched on 200 pages ago you wont have to jump back and scour for the source material.  And as I touched on earlier, it will help maintain continuity and make proofreads and edits that much easier.

Visuals are never a bad thing.  If you have artistic talent, use it.  I believe maps are vital, if only for the writer at times to track and maintain spacial discipline when a story starts to sprawl.  Drawings of characters also help seed imagination, and ultimately will allow you to add depth to description within the text.  A white board, or cork board is a nice addition, if you have the space.  Ideas always allow different perspective when you can write them out.  If you involve other people in your writing process this will allow them to consider your ideas, as well as tweak, add to or redirect you to better ones.

Understand the software you are using.  Whether Apple or Microsoft, word processors offer a plethora of features that will aid you while you write.   Explore the settings, and while most of these programs offer real-time proofing options, few of them are activated right out of the gate.  Within Microsoft Word, if you open options and then go to the proofing menu you can activate several useful tools.  You can set the program to check for passive voice, relative clauses, possessives, cliches, contractions and many more.  Although I will say that if you have the software checking for too much while you write, it can muddy up the experience a bit, so start out with a few and move on from there.

We don't write 24 hours a day 7 days a week, so try and develop a methodology to your writing.  For example, when ever I sit down to write after a break, short or long, I always go back and read the last 2-3 pages I wrote before I stopped.  Not only does this help you jump right back into what is happening in the story, but it can also serve to jump start the imagination.

Lastly, I will say this.  There is always pressure behind a project, and none so much as that which we apply to ourselves.  Because of this pressure we are driven to write, even at times when the creative juices have dried up.  Change up the surrounds, get up and walk around or put on some music, but if your not feeling it, don't force it.  It is during those difficult periods that more harm can be done than good.  I have now gone full circle, and as stated in the first part of the post, learn your limits and tendencies.  Figure out what part of the day you are the most creative.  What your favorite places are to write, but also how writing affects you.  Try 1-2 hour blocks of time first and then take a break.  Remember that it is not worth the frustration and negative feelings you can associate towards a project if you force yourself too much.  From there, it is your show...good luck and write happy!