Which is more populare at the moment?

This might be an unpopular answer, as it's less of an answer and more of a non-answer, but don't be worried about what "normal people" want. Trying to cater to others is only going to harm your own work. What you need to be worried about is impressing yourself. Write every sentence like it's exactly what you would want to read. Be excited from beginning to end for every damn word.

It's that kind of devotion that really comes across in a person's writing. And you're much more likely to get a sale that way.

That said, books aren't movies, and pretty prose are at your disposal. No real point in wasting it. But every word should evoke a feeling and drive the story forward. If even one word is there just to please somebody (even if it's just yourself grinning over how clever you are) you should cut it out entirely.

Depends on who you are and how you write. "Popular" is a lousy question to waste your time on. It'll never get you anything but a headache.

Are you John Irving? Then you probably write with thicker prose than Stephen King. Are you Gene Wolfe? Then you are writing more flowery prose than Isaac Asimov.

(And yet, are they really? They are telling an interesting story, all of them, and they are including all of the text that is relevant and interesting and nothing that isn't, all of them. Remember that.)

Jen_D said:

Pretty prose laced with purple flowers, or minimalist action and dialogue oriented?

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Those are my only two choices?

I agree with Shane. Right now at this point, write for yourself. Get it on the paper and don't worry what others might think. The edit and make it better. Once it is out, people will read it. Then you can focus on what they want, if a sequal is warrented kind of thing. But don't even think about that point right now, just worry about getting it out of your mind and onto the paper. Don't even worry about the mistakes, that is what editing is for. Be writer first, then reader, then editor.

Amber

If you're asking this question...I have to tell you:

Just WRITE. A LOT. WAY more than you think you need to.

Your voice and your style will emerge. It might be lyric. It might be terse. It will probably be somewhere in between, and the important point is that IT WILL BE YOU.

"Unique" is popular always, if it's genuinely you.

My WIP is maximum action and dialogue orientated. No pretty prose laced with purple flowers (I don't know enough long and confusing words).

JJ

Jen_D said:

Pretty prose laced with purple flowers, or minimalist action and dialogue oriented?

I enjoy both, and the stories I'm writing/editing could work either way. But I'm usually the odd one out and wanted to get a feel of what normal people in the real world like/think.

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Your choices are the two extremes, and extremes are seldom really popular at all. Good story and good character are always popular.