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They work well for MGs. I liked them a lot when I was a kid.
And, of course, there's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, arguably one of the best and most influential YAs of all time.
You've really got to like the protagonist, is the problem, and it's rare to write a protagonist that everyone likes. There's no escaping them in diary format.
And, of course, there's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, arguably one of the best and most influential YAs of all time.
You've really got to like the protagonist, is the problem, and it's rare to write a protagonist that everyone likes. There's no escaping them in diary format.
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Personally, not a big fan unless it is really necessary to tell the story properly like in Flowers for Algernon.
Perks is a great book, yeah, but whenever I read an epistolary novel I get this nagging little thought...is this really how you write a diary? Do you really include dialogue in a diary? Dialogue is what really bugs me. No one can recall all the conversations of a day perfectly enough to write them out with quotes and everything?
I almost never do--maybe a snatch of conversation that really affected me or hurt me, but overall it's...pretty informal. Maybe THAT'S not normal, but well, I don't know. Most epistolary novels just don't feel real to me, diaries included.
I almost never do--maybe a snatch of conversation that really affected me or hurt me, but overall it's...pretty informal. Maybe THAT'S not normal, but well, I don't know. Most epistolary novels just don't feel real to me, diaries included.
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I generally like them, though there's definitely suspension of disbelief involved in reading one. I'm one of those weirdos who's always documented conversations in my journals, but I suspect that most people don't.
When a character's diary entries begin to read too much like regular old novel narrative, I start to wonder why the author made the decision to write an epistolary novel vs. a traditional narrative. That pulls me out of the story. Megan McCafferty's books about Jessica Darling (Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds) are like this for me. I can't figure out why it needed to be Jessica's diary; the format doesn't enhance the story for me at all.
I'm definitely a fan of Flowers for Algernon, as well as Dear Mr. Henshaw, a great children's novel by Beverly Cleary that includes both letters and diary entries. When I was younger, I would always try to find the diary novels in the children's and YA sections of the library.
When a character's diary entries begin to read too much like regular old novel narrative, I start to wonder why the author made the decision to write an epistolary novel vs. a traditional narrative. That pulls me out of the story. Megan McCafferty's books about Jessica Darling (Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds) are like this for me. I can't figure out why it needed to be Jessica's diary; the format doesn't enhance the story for me at all.
I'm definitely a fan of Flowers for Algernon, as well as Dear Mr. Henshaw, a great children's novel by Beverly Cleary that includes both letters and diary entries. When I was younger, I would always try to find the diary novels in the children's and YA sections of the library.
I loved Bridget Jones' Diary, and the sequel...best example of a diary novel I've ever seen. Great use of voice, and it was just so much fun to watch her stumble from one disaster to another, and her take on things was always hilarious. And it had all kinds of quirkly little details, like how she'd list her weight and number of drinks she'd had at the top of an entry (and how sometimes she'd blow these numbers way out of proportion). She really took advantage of the diary format.
Diary style doesn't really do anythng for me in particular, but if the way that main character tells it draws me in, then I'll keep reading.
Diary style doesn't really do anythng for me in particular, but if the way that main character tells it draws me in, then I'll keep reading.
I agree. There's a definite suspension of disbelief problem there that I can't get over, especially when someone bangs on and on for a couple of paragraphs about, "So and so's calling me now; I must go." If someone shouts on you or there's an emergency you have to go attend to, do you write about it first? Of course not!
God, I can't tell you how much I hated those f***ing travesties. Oh, I think I just did.
The only diary novel that's ever made me laugh is Grace Dent's Diary of a Chav: Trainers V. Tiaras and even that met with the usual total-recall-on-dialogue problem as well as writing about having to go quickly...but still stopping to write about said emergency before going off to see to it.
Word, Scarletpeaches. I'd rather read something totally informal that really felt like a diary than a story with dear diary and a date at the top. I mean in my diary I write my thoughts--they jump around and paragraphs are a whole page long and it's a bit rough, because when I am writing in my diary I let my emotions take over. It's not usually events that I write about, it's feelings. And I look for that in an epistolary novel.
For me, the only thing worse than reading a novel in diary format is reading a diary that someone thought would make a novel.
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When I buy a novel, I'm open to any way in which the author wants to tell the story, but no matter what way they use, they cannot violate the first principle of storytelling--you must grab the reader right away. I read the prologue, or a few pages of chapter 1 if there is no prologue, if I'm not hooked and taken in, I don't buy the book.
So, diary format? Yeah; I think that could be quite interesting.
So, diary format? Yeah; I think that could be quite interesting.
Oh--The Year Of Secret Assignments is another combination letter/diary (as well as associated memos) and it's fantastic.
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The thing about Bridget Jones's Diary is that it isn't a diary. Not really. The chapters start out in diary format, but they transition to standard first-person narrative partway through, until the end of the chapter.
I wasn't as big a fan of the book as some people, but I did think that was an interesting technique -- a few paragraphs of diary format, and then segue into a standard first-person POV, dropping all the diary-style abbreviations, etc., until the next chapter, where again it would start in diary format and then segue out of it. It was fairly seamless, at least to someone who wasn't a writer, analyzing the writing, but if you look at it, I think you can see where it switches in each chapter. For me, that helped with the suspension of disbelief, b/c it wasn't really diary format for most of the book.
JD
I wasn't as big a fan of the book as some people, but I did think that was an interesting technique -- a few paragraphs of diary format, and then segue into a standard first-person POV, dropping all the diary-style abbreviations, etc., until the next chapter, where again it would start in diary format and then segue out of it. It was fairly seamless, at least to someone who wasn't a writer, analyzing the writing, but if you look at it, I think you can see where it switches in each chapter. For me, that helped with the suspension of disbelief, b/c it wasn't really diary format for most of the book.
JD
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I'm glad for this thread. I'm currently working on something (YA) that just arrived in my mind one night (don't they all!) --it seemed like a good idea at the time. I've been burning to ask how people rate a diarised novel and, in addition, have been reading some YA examples to get a feel for how they are done well. Z for Zachariah is a gripping read despite the fact that you wonder how she had time to write in her journal whilst being pursued by a maniac. Go Ask Alice, is another one which compels without seeming too implausible IMO. Not sure how anybody could dislike Bridget Jone's Diary btw. For me the humour was top notch. It reminds me of an adult version of The Diary of Adrian Mole--another non-stop wit fest!
Why didn't I like Bridget Jones? Too whiny and needy-for-a-boyfriend and self-obsessed. I couldn't strangle her, so I threw the book across the room instead.
Yeah. I feel the same way about that moronic character in the "Shopaholic" books.
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That's the angle I loved!
Needy and whiny--I always thought that was the point of chick lit, when done well, of course 
.Oh, I so hear you there. "I'm in debt! However will I cope? I'll go shopping!" <insert random event that lifts her out of debt in an irritating deus-ex-machina ending to the crisis and let her overcome the boyfriend trouble>.
Repeat for the sequels ad nauseam.
I f***ing hate whiny women who get themselves into a mess and think a man is the perfect cure-all. In real life AND chicklit.
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but...but...but....Bridget is soooo tongue in cheek! I mean, Mr Darcy. That ain't no coincidence...
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