This is a very interesting book meme!
and runs every week,
from Friday to Monday.
Be sure to check out her blog for
the hop participation rules!
This week’s question comes from Sue,
who blogs at Cookie’s Book Club!
Don't forget to visit her blog and thank her!
“What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?“
Another fascinating question! This one could easily take up several blog posts, since there are so many factors involved! However, I will try to be brief, which is not a very easy thing for me...
Different standards should obviously be applied to fiction and non-fiction. In the case of the former, the most important factor that first comes to mind is the believability of the plot and characterizations. How easily am I pulled right into the story, forgetting where I happen to be as I'm reading it? How completely am I able to relate to the characters, especially the protagonist? If the author doesn't succeed in transporting me right into the book's world, then I will not be able to continue reading it. If the characters are not three-dimensional people, I won't be able to continue, either. In fiction writing, as most creative writing teachers and literary critics will agree, the crucial ingredient is the suspension of disbelief. Without it, the reader will be pulled right out of the story, not into it.
In creating this suspension of disbelief, the writer must have a plot well-grounded in research. This is always necessary in writing novels that take place in historical periods in the past, or in cultures that would normally be unfamiliar to a reader. However, it would also be necessary for those writers using a contemporary setting. There's always some specialized knowledge that must sound authentic to the reader. With fantasy and science fiction novels, some research will still be necessary, particularly with science fiction. An SF writer should usually be knowledgeable about science topics and cutting edge technology, so that s/he can extrapolate into how present-day technology might evolve.
I also believe that emotion is very important in fiction writing. To me, nothing kills a novel faster than reading a scene which is supposed to have a lot of highly-charged conflict, only to have a character act like some robot, unless, of course, such a reaction is part of his character as written by the author. Two examples come up -- Mr. Spock and Data, from Star Trek. While these were originally characters in a TV show, they did eventually end up being book characters, since so many Star Trek novels have been written about these and other characters from the several 'generations' of the program.
Another thing I love in a novel is beautiful, flowing prose, and long, descriptive passages, if these are not overly frequent. A writer should strike a nice balance between dialogue and description. Too much of either is not good, but I definitely get quickly bored with novels containing too much dialogue, with very short, terse descriptive passages.
The following is a major turnoff for me: a protagonist acting in a blatantly cruel, unethical manner. I can tolerate this in a villain, or a minor character. If the main character in a book acts in such a manner, however, I can't stomach the book. This is precisely what happened when I read Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff is the main protagonist, and his behavior throughout the latter part of the novel utterly disgusted me! Another example comes from a vampire romance novel I read long ago, by a writer named Nancy Gideon. I don't recall the name of the book, but one of the main characters, a young woman in love with a vampire, chose that vampire over her own father at one crucial point in the story. This might not seem like much, except that her father was bleeding heavily after being attacked by this very same vampire. Instead of tending to him, she chose to go off to the vampire's house with him. Granted, the vampire regretted the attack, since the girl's father had been trying to help cure his vampirism. Still, the father was left behind, having suffered a serious wound. That book died for me right then and there, and I ended up getting rid of it!
Yet another thing that turns me off is a lot of foul language, and pornographic sex scenes. I can enjoy the latter if tastefully done. This, for me, means that no body parts are referred to by their vulgar names, nor are any 'kinky' elements such as bondage present. As for foul language, I can't stand it!! I particularly detest 'the F bomb'. I have actually gone back to a bookstore to return a book I have just bought, because it contained this word, as well as other, well-known 'swear words'.
So this covers my likes and dislikes in regards to fiction writing. I can see I would need another post in order to cover non-fiction writing, but I will stop here. I can always write a 'literary musing' on the topic. It seems I might be doing the same thing with fiction writing. I think I need to really expand on this...
Here are some examples of books I find absolutely riveting:
Daina Chaviano
You can find my review of this book HERE.
Ray Bradbury
You can find my review of this book HERE.
J.R.R. Tolkien
Stephenie Meyer
You can find my review of the first volume HERE.
Charlotte Bronte
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