Things you love to see in novel
- Thread starter Stunted
- Start date
- Status
My name on the cover 
Interesting characters, that have flaws and good bits and a past and ...well you know are just like real people.
They misunderstand stuff and lie and get confused and cock things up BUT carry on anyway. My definition of a hero.
Evocative prose
A real emotional journey that I can sink into and forget the world
Interesting characters, that have flaws and good bits and a past and ...well you know are just like real people.
They misunderstand stuff and lie and get confused and cock things up BUT carry on anyway. My definition of a hero.
Evocative prose
A real emotional journey that I can sink into and forget the world
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Messages
- 43,746
- Reaction score
- 8,654
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Website
- www.amazon.com
My name on the cover
Interesting characters, that have flaws and good bits and a past and ...well you know are just like real people.
They misunderstand stuff and lie and get confused and cock things up BUT carry on anyway. My definition of a hero.
Evocative prose
A real emotional journey that I can sink into and forget the world
You took the words.... I've nothing to add, Idiots, except, perhaps, witty dialogue and a subtle sense of humour pervading even the most high-brow serious stuff.
My name on the cover
Interesting characters, that have flaws and good bits and a past and ...well you know are just like real people.
They misunderstand stuff and lie and get confused and cock things up BUT carry on anyway. My definition of a hero.
Evocative prose
A real emotional journey that I can sink into and forget the world
What they said
Multifaceted, young women. They don't even have to be strong.
Too often, the young woman is either just a love interest or just a victim.
Too often, the young woman is either just a love interest or just a victim.
Lots of interesting action and locales, a story that moves, and a happy ending.
I also like stories set in one place as long as there is action and movement.
It's nice to learn usless facts that you'd never hear about otherwise, as long as it's not overwhelming the story.
Feidb
I also like stories set in one place as long as there is action and movement.
It's nice to learn usless facts that you'd never hear about otherwise, as long as it's not overwhelming the story.
Feidb
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2006
- Messages
- 8,745
- Reaction score
- 3,097
- Location
- Toronto, Canada
- Website
- www.adriennekress.com
- Joined
- May 3, 2008
- Messages
- 303
- Reaction score
- 32
- Location
- Jawbone Flats, WA
- Website
- www.opendiary.com
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2008
- Messages
- 287
- Reaction score
- 8
- Location
- Atlantic City, Wyo.
- Website
- www.minersdelightinn.com
I want to "see" where I am but without a bunch of fluffy descriptors
I want to feel something about every character, not all in one page but progressively
I want the story to force me to open the book only once
I want to feel something about every character, not all in one page but progressively
I want the story to force me to open the book only once
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2008
- Messages
- 131
- Reaction score
- 13
- Location
- East Yorkshire - England
- Website
- www.facebook.com
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2006
- Messages
- 7,508
- Reaction score
- 800
- Location
- Winter Haven, Florida
- Website
- www.donaldmichaelplatt.com
Aside from great writing I want to learn something -- beekeeping, how something works, to a true feeling of time and place in Historical or Science Fiction.
Bittersweet endings.
Characters that you really feel you know, and really care about, who are realistically flawed.
Antagonists who mean well.
I also love it when a novel raises moral questions, but doesn't seek to answer them categorically - when it lets you work out for yourself what's more right or wrong.
And this:
Characters that you really feel you know, and really care about, who are realistically flawed.
Antagonists who mean well.
I also love it when a novel raises moral questions, but doesn't seek to answer them categorically - when it lets you work out for yourself what's more right or wrong.
And this:
IdiotsRUs said:
Smart kids. Not smart alecky, but slightly unusual. In fact, smart men and women, too.
Normal kids. Normal men and women, too.
Kind people, but part of the plot, not just character definition.
Evil losing, virtue rewarded, but nothing improbable.
Snafus along the way.
Colorful language and colorful characters.
Normal kids. Normal men and women, too.
Kind people, but part of the plot, not just character definition.
Evil losing, virtue rewarded, but nothing improbable.
Snafus along the way.
Colorful language and colorful characters.
No, I hate this!
I was reading a book while sick once, and I'd basically been on a diet of dry toast, water and peppermint tea for a day or so, and the MC kept eating chili, hamburgers, pizza...I remember at one point, he ordered a meal, and then went to the bathroom, and of course there was an encounter with a mysterious person in the bathroom, and all the while, I'm just thinking 'please let him go back and eat what he ordered! Don't take him off on some plot-related tangent now!'
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2006
- Messages
- 15,285
- Reaction score
- 5,629
- Age
- 60
- Location
- Australia
- Website
- www.australianflavour.net
Something that tugs at my emotions and leaves me thinking about the book when I have finished it.
Argyle socks.
You'd be surprised how often authors screw up on that one.
Not like it's hard to get right, either.
You'd be surprised how often authors screw up on that one.
Not like it's hard to get right, either.
I love it when the book im reading seeps into my dreams when I sleep. Usually only happens with long novels.
- Joined
- May 12, 2008
- Messages
- 1,487
- Reaction score
- 149
- Location
- Not here anymore
- Website
- www.inkspot.com
The same stuff I have in my own novels (especially characters and subject matter).
Well, it's a dumb answer, but it's one of the reasons I write the stuff I do, since I can't find it to read anywhere!
Other than that it's hard to put a finger on what I love or hate (in the other thread) exactly until I actually read something. I can easily say I hate to see vampires in a novel, for example, or that I love to see mythology, but hand me a particular novel, and perhaps I'll love the way the vampires are pulled off, or I will detest the way the mythology is presented. It depends. *shrug*
Well, it's a dumb answer, but it's one of the reasons I write the stuff I do, since I can't find it to read anywhere!
Other than that it's hard to put a finger on what I love or hate (in the other thread) exactly until I actually read something. I can easily say I hate to see vampires in a novel, for example, or that I love to see mythology, but hand me a particular novel, and perhaps I'll love the way the vampires are pulled off, or I will detest the way the mythology is presented. It depends. *shrug*
- Joined
- Sep 11, 2008
- Messages
- 165
- Reaction score
- 21
A character that travels around the world. I love to travel, so reading about the places I've been or want to go is like a mini vacation in my mind.
Someone's already said this, but food! I like reading about someone making dinner, especially if they're a good cook. It doesn't have to be relevant to the story, either. I enjoy good food.
I enjoy reading about a character's pets, too. Particularly if the pet adds comic relief.
Any book that gives me the peek into a lifestyle that I wouldn't get anywhere else.
Someone's already said this, but food! I like reading about someone making dinner, especially if they're a good cook. It doesn't have to be relevant to the story, either. I enjoy good food.
I enjoy reading about a character's pets, too. Particularly if the pet adds comic relief.
Any book that gives me the peek into a lifestyle that I wouldn't get anywhere else.
- Status