Thursday, August 20, 2015

What makes your story worth reading?


This is a question I struggle with. I am keenly aware that millions of books are being published each year--why would someone read mine? People's time and pocket books are limited, I know that.

They know that.

I'm not going to try to sell my books to you, I promise. That's not what this is about. It's about a reason for writing in the first place. Do I think it's worth reading, writing, going through hours and months of revising, editing, cover design, and formatting? For some of my stories the answer was no. I scrapped a whole book once, three revisions in. Why? I got tired of reading it. And if I did, imagine what you, the reader would do. I think I speak for (most) authors when I say the most horrible thing a reader can do to us is not finish our book. To pick it up and read only a few pages, not drawing out the mystery to the final tantalizing end. In short, to get bored with the story (shudders).  

So, what makes a story worth reading? Only you, the reader, can answer that.

-Mel



3 comments:

  1. I think one thing in particular that makes a story worth reading is the main character; that is, if I don't like the main character, I'm not going to want to read the story or enjoy it very much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think the author is what makes a story worth reading. Every story has been done a million times, but not by YOU! Your voice is what you bring to the story and that is why you must keep writing!

    ReplyDelete