THE EXCITING JOURNEY OF Writing
a Fictional Book
"IT'S A LUXURY BEING A WRITER,
BECAUSE ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS LIFE."
AMY TAN
BECAUSE ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS LIFE."
AMY TAN
WHAT MAKES A GREAT BOWL OF PASTA
8/1/2016
Have you ever said to yourself, "I just want to get away, sit somewhere, and read a good book." However, the big question in that statement is, what is a good book, or what makes a book good? Before I attempted tackle a task of this magnitude, I had to think about the question. Since it would easily take a book of several hundred pages to breakdown and answer those questions, I chose to take the smaller road. t is subjective, similar to when Uncle Bill goes to an upscale restaurant and wears a bright red polka dot tie! He thinks he looks great, his date on the other hand hopes that the evening ends quickly. The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling I personally enjoyed, as have millions of other readers. Yet, there are readers out there who say that they could not read past half of the first book. George Martin, Game of Thrones to me takes a certain type of reader. Let's go back in time, James Michener, and his big novels. Mario Puzo, his one great novel, The Godfather. Yes, I have picked popular books, which makes me a schlub like millions of other readers. In my younger years, when I was learning to be a performer, my mentor said one thing, "Entertain the crowd kid, that's why they're here!" Isn't that what it's all about, entertainment. When I read a fictional novel, I want to be entertained, as do most people. I want interesting characters, those that have flaws, who are intelligent, but don't know everything. I want stories that are plausible, with some stretch of the imagination. I want humor, suspense, romance, sex in the right places, and most importantly, I want to keep turning the pages to see what's going to happen next. I don't mind period pieces, in fact sometimes I enjoy them the most. Probably the most important part for a writer of a good book is descriptive writing. If the main character has chased the antagonist into an old building, tell me about the building. However, learning to say just enough about the scene without it being all consuming, is truly an art that only comes with practice of a writers craft. Currently there is one writer in the marketplace today who is quiet successful, and I have read most of his books, but when people ask me what I think my reply usually is, "The books for the most part are great, but he is one of the few writers who takes pages to describe a character eating dinner." I am over exaggerating I know, but it's true. Some writers are too long winded, while others need to add more. The importance of descriptive writing is without a doubt, assuming the writer's story has direction, the single most important task set before them. The reason that this post is titled, "What Makes a Great Bowl of Pasta," is simple. Go to Google Images or Bing and type in "bowl of pasta," and select the one that appeals to you the most. Once you have found the photo of choice, ask yourself this question, "why?" Simple answer, because it touched several of your senses. Taste, smell, and see. Now, a novel has to do the same thing, it has to stir the five senses and more, it needs to also touch one's imagination. I want to be able to escape from the daily grind, and read a good book. One that I think is good, which simply stated, is good enough for me. Thanks, as always, for stopping by, Robert Stephen |
AuthorRobert Stephen. Archives
September 2018
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