What Makes A Good Book?
What makes a book good to me won't be what makes a book good for you. But I'll still give you my opinion.
What makes a good book? Great characters.
I can't tell you how many books I've grabbed off the shelves, thinking the premise was great, the characters sounded great and together... they turned into either a boring or not believable read. I hate when this happens, but reading books that I thought would be good and having them turn into door-bangers has taught me one thing: to create characters I believe in for my own books.
Defining great characters is a bit more difficult. For me, a good character is believable. They may do fantastic things, have fantastic cars/homes/jobs but they are still people that as you're reading turn into people you can see yourself talking to. Maybe they have traits (the way they talk/think; the people they have relationships with; unique idiosyncracies) that you recognize from people in your own life or relationship circle and that draws you to their "book person". Above all, for me, great characters are people. They stop being someone you're reading about and instead become someone you're making a journey with. I'm starting to sound like Oprah, I know, but if you can't identify with the characters in books, what are you identifying with?
My CPs, my agent and editors tell me I create solid, believable characters. Some days I agree with them and other days ... I want to throw my characters out the window and close their book, but I work through the anger.
And usually with a little distance I see the core of the character through the angsty mists and I love them all over again.
My question to you is this: what makes a character great, in your opinion?
I agree with you completely, BTW, and your characters ARE great. What is important to me is that people in books be flawed. Doesn't have to be terrible flaws, but flaws nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteflaws. Totally agree - a flawed character is someone I can really root for. :D
DeleteI think it's mostly what you said, Kristi. If I can't relate to the characters I'm not going to finish the book. But setting also plays a big part. I don't like to read as if in a dream where everything is half there and half invisible. To me, setting IS a character and needs to be as completely filled out as the ones who speak. Not that I like a lot of description in books, but I like to know where I am, to see, smell and feel the location as I read. If I can't see where the characters are, what that room they're in looks like, if they are walking in a cloud of fog...same thing. I won't finish the book.
ReplyDeleteNice post. :)
great point, Calisa. I'm in the beginning stages of a new book - so I get to make the setting its own character. So far, loving it. :D
DeleteA great character, in my opinion, has flaws. No one can relate to a perfect somebody...
ReplyDeleteagreed, D'Ann!
DeleteWhat D'Ann said :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post, as always, Kristina! And your characters are very lovable!
thanks for coming by, Jennifer!
DeleteFor me it's a whole mixture of a bunch of things. A great premise, great characters and a must for me is great writing. If the characters are out of this world but the writing isn't good, I can't read it. I just can't. Bad writing pulls me out of the story and no amount of good characterization will keep me in it. If the writing is phenomenal but the characters are cardboard cutouts, I can't read it. So it all has to fit together for me.
ReplyDelete