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- A strong opening: A great book grabs readers on the first page and doesn’t let go until they’ve reached the end of the book. That’s why a strong opening is one of the most important elements of book writing.
- Compelling characters: Most great works of literary fiction have one thing in common: rich, compelling characters. Good characters draw readers in, giving them someone to love, hate, or identify with.
- An absorbing story: When a reader picks up a novel, short story, or other piece of creative writing, they want to be entertained by a good story. From the inciting incident to the rising action to the climax, a great story keeps the reader engaged from the first page onward.
- Sharp dialogue: Good books are filled with sharp, memorable dialogue. Bestsellers contain dialogue that advances the plot, demonstrates your characters’ personalities, and adds texture to the world of your story.
- Excellent Storytelling
- Excellent Writing
- The Final Word on What Defines A Great Book
Expert storytelling transports readers to new worlds, invites them to live unfamiliar lives, and inspires them to think more deeply about their reality. This skill lies at the heart of what defines a great book. And to perfect this skill, you need to master your genre, character development, worldbuilding, and more. What follows is a checklist of a...
You know what else defines a great book? The expert execution of mad writing skills. Because what good is an incredible story if you can’t convey the full masterpiece in your mind to the reader holding your book? Here’s your checklist for leveling up your writing.
Whew. A lot of stuff. But you can handle it. Just take it bit by bit, and remember that Dabble’s here whenever you need us. Check out DabbleU for articles that will help you master the skills we just discussed. (I linked about a million of them in this article to get you started.) Download our free ebook, Let’s Write a Book, for step-by-step guidan...
- Abi Wurdeman
- 8 min
- Give your story strong dramatic content. ‘Man has bacon and eggs for breakfast’ is not a story idea that is going to have readers clawing for a copy of your book.
- Vary rhythm and structure in your prose. Writing instructors often advise creative writing classes to write shorter, punchier sentences. Short sentences are great for increasing pace and help to make scenes that have tense subject matter tenser in mood.
- Create believable, memorable characters. Why do we find some characters more memorable than others? Because they have one or more of the following: Unique voices, personas and expressions.
- Make the important story sections effective. Each part of a story needs to be effective to make it good. Great openings create fascinating introductions to authors’ worlds, characters and plot scenarios.
- Great works may present and explain something about their own times, but also observe something larger and lasting about the human condition. A great work does convey the writer’s intentions, quite clearly, contrary to what some contemporary theorists argue.
- Great literature is based on ideas that are startling, unexpected, unusual, weighty. or new. Great literature makes us see or think things we never did before.
- Great literature is fine art. As such, it is aesthetically marvelous. Either the style of a great work is incredibly interesting and beautiful, or the drama leaves us breathless, or the characters or scenes are so expertly drawn.
- Great literature is complex enough to offer us something new every time we read it, especially at different stages of our lives. Like all great art, great works are based contrast and tension—not just conflicting characters, but also conflicting ideas, images, and viewpoints, allowing room for readers to entertain all sides, not just one idea the writer may be featuring.
Jun 1, 2018 · What makes a good book? Most people will have a way of answering this for themselves. For some, it’s the story, the characters, the originality. Maybe it pushes boundaries, makes you...
- Andi Michael
Sep 20, 2018 · For a text to be a masterpiece, it must employ all 8 of these key literary elements, from illuminating imagery, to philosphical inquiry.
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Mar 14, 2017 · One Writer Used Statistics to Reveal the Secrets of What Makes Great Writing. In his new book, data journalist Ben Blatt takes a by-the-numbers look at literary classics and finds some...
