Thursday, August 22, 2013

What I Like in a Story

I've read so many books recently that were interesting concepts or great writing but the stories have been terrible. I have come to the realization that the books I love are the books that tell good or amusing or heartfelt stories. I'm in a book club, and our last pick was Colson Whitehead's The Intuitionist. Colson Whitehead is a good writer. But man is this story boring. The whole time I read it, I thought why didn't he write an article about race? The story concerns him not at all, so why bother with it? If you aren't going to tell a good story, why tell one at all?

I understand that "good" is a relative word, but when I can't ever forget that the author, I feel like maybe the author hasn't succeeded. Which brings me to myself. As well as reading a great deal, I write. I had a great idea for a book, or so I thought. Until I realized I've been writing a great concept and looking at an issue of storytelling which fascinates me, but I'm not telling a good story. I'm focusing on the wrong things. As Stephen King would say, I need to shut the door to the world. Write my story and then invite the world back in.

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