I saw this on Facebook the other day, and I found myself thinking “Have I ever created a perfect sentence? One that makes the reader say “wow. How amazingly beautiful.” I’m afraid one didn’t come readily to mind. I am not a literary novelist. I do not toy with words as if I were trying to find the perfect spot to place a tile in a mosaic. I see myself as a story teller. I want to tell a good story. I want to take the reader to a time and place and make them feel they are there. Those are my objectives.
One of the nicest reviews I ever had said, “I wasn’t conscious of the words on the page.” Thank you. Exactly what I wanted to achieve. But along the way it would have been nice to have created a perfect sentence or two. I’m thinking of my books that got Edgar nominations. (3 so far but no wins!) Did the judges find a perfect sentence in one of them? Or did they simply say “She tells a good story?” I rather think it’s the latter. I do think I achieved a few good descriptions like this one from the beginning of The Venice Sketchbook. “The sky was a perfect pale blue and the sound of bells echoed over the whole city. Swallows darted and swooped across the sky like tiny Maltese crosses, while seagulls screeched, and below, in the courtyard, pigeons strutted. “A city of bells and birds,” I said with satisfaction.
I suppose I could have used more imagery and compared the blue sky to something, but I’m not good at that. I just want to paint a picture, simply.
I’m sure some of the other Reds have created a perfect sentence. Julia’s It was a hell of a night to throw away a baby is about as perfect an opening as you can find. I am satisfied with the opening of The Tuscan Child: “He knew he was going to die. That was quite obvious.”
But perhaps my favorites are the opening of the first Royal Spyness book. “There are two disadvantages to being a minor royal.” And Murphy’s Law: That mouth of yours will be getting you into big trouble one day.” Neither is poetic or evocative but both let you instantly know the character who is talking. Both came instantly to me in first chapters that I didn’t have to revise one word.
So I’ve come to accept that the works of Rhys Bowen will never be part of the high school English studies. Nobody will have to write an essay on The Use of Imagery in the Molly Murphy books, and no PHD student will mull over the themes in the Royal Spyness books. But if someone said, “I wasn’t conscious of the words on the page,” and my fans write to me the day after a book is published, demanding “when is the next book coming out?” And I reply telling them that a new book came out yesterday, and they reply “I’ve already read that one”. Then I feel good! That is enough.
But I came across this quote from Kristin Hannah and it did make me stare and savor it. Well done.
So Reds, do you have any perfect sentences to share? Have you ever written one or two that you feel especially proud of? Or do you have a writer whose prose makes you gasp with admiration? I think Pat Conroy did that for me.
