writing attuides inside a book

A while ago I read Paul Auster's New York Trilogy - fairly bland stories about private detectives and investigating people. But, boy didn't he do well. In each story he floated from attitude to attitude, questioning the basis of identity, contradicting what was said in part 1 in part 2. Truly great writing, that makes people come back again and again
I am not too sure what you mean. Readers will read any book that comes to them with a good reputation with great comments on the back. And they will read it again if they want to get more from it, or think there is more to get from it.
Don't worry about readers not being able to see what is going on. Thats almost irrelevent. Its about entertaining them. If they wanted to see it all, they would go to the cinema.

Hello, writersliving.

In nonfiction, packing attitudes inside a book is relatively easy. You can write a book of nothing but your essays or rants on whatever topic you please, as long as you have a subject people care about and a point of view that people are interested in hearing. If you take that approach, you would be best advised to start out writing opinion columns for newspapers or becoming a talk radio commentator before writing the book.

But since you posted in the Novels forum, I presume you want to put the attitudes inside a work of fiction. Usually, trying that directly does not work very well - if you're trying to write a book to make a point, make it nonfiction essays. Fiction is for telling stories. So, to put the attitudes in there, you must pack the attitudes inside of characters, then pack the characters into the story, then put the story in the book form.

To get the attitudes into the characters, you need to develop them. Fill in as much detail as to why these characters would hold the attitudes they have and what makes them tick. Write the story so the characters act like real, believable people. You will find a lot on this site about character development. Then make a compelling story that these people can be involved in. The goal is to put it all together in a book that people will enjoy reading. Then print out the book as a manuscript and sell it to a commercial publisher. They'll take care of putting it in stores and the like.

You may also wish to practice your writing skills a bit to polish up on your ability to communicate with your readers. I wouldn't be surprised if you are putting a good deal more proofreading into your writing than into message board posts, but proofreading your posts and checking to see if they are written in a clear, gramatical way that fellow Absolute Write members are likely to understand may make good practice for proofreading your books. Practice writing clearly and well as much as you can.

Good luck.

Engaging characters.

If the readers love the characteres, they will go back again and again and again -- it's like visiting old friends.

Stories are important, of course. But if you don't have good characters, people will soon forget the story and move on. But if you have great characters, they will come back and read it again...

Just think of all the classics or books you love the most, ones that you read again and again over the years... apart from engaging stories, what do you remember the most about them, that drives you to want to read it again? I'll bet it's the characters.

Tom Sawyer
Huckleberry Finn
Holden Caulfield
Oliver Twist
...

Yes Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) is a great example of the auther projecting his attitudes on life the universe and everything into a character.

I tend to find the protagonist in my works, tends to be a version of myself, into whom I channel my vitriol and bitterness and hatred of things that really bug me like....SUV drivers, Microsoft, large mean-spirited corporations etc etc.

writersliving said:

I have great ideas, but It kind of hard for me to put diffrent attuides inside of a book, the make the readers want to read it.

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First, Writersliving, hello and welcome to AW.

I actually have much the same issue as you do here, but for a different reason. I have trouble with different attitudes in a work I'm working on, because the only 'normal' ideas to me are my own. Do you follow what I'm saying? I'm afraid if I put different attitudes in my works, they'll seem too cliche or too stereotypical. In other words, I'm afraid they'll just seem fake to the reader.

How do you make it so readers want to read it? I'd have to say by making the attitudes as realistic as possible. I'd be more willing to read a book that is realistically written--in the characters' attitudes mainly--than one that throws out a totally new attitude I've never heard happen between certain characters.

writersliving said:

since you don't accually see what going on. how can I make the readers that read my book. what to get back and read it again

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I would say there are many things that can be improved upon....by all authors, not just yourself or myself. We all have, as human beings, the potential to continue improving throughout our lives. The three basic things I would mention are as follows:

1. Write your characters and their attitudes as realistically as possible. Don't be cliche or stereotypical. Let each character be real within your soul, because I believe personally that the more real a character is within you, the more realistic you'll write about them.

2. Always write like you're writing a book. What I mean by that is, no matter what you're writing, treat it like a project you're working on for publication. Whether it be a letter to a friend, or a post on a message board, or anything; the more you practice your writing style, the better it will show up in your published work, and the more people will enjoy reading your works.

3. Always be open to criticism. The main problem with the writing profession is that it is a tough, tough business emotionally, to handle. Which is why a writer should develop what some would refer to as a 'thick hide,' or at least be willing to accept any and every criticism as constructive and helpful. In the writing profession especially, taking criticism helps the individual build their skills and their knowledge to a point where they become not just published, but respected not only by readers, but also by other writers.


So overall, treat your writing with respect no matter what you're writing; always be willing to accept others' criticisms as they will help you become better; and most importantly, be honest to the characters you write about. Write them as though you were living their lives.

This is just my opinion, but I hope it will help you out. I hope you have a great weekend, and I wish you the best of success with your writing.