What Makes a Good Story?
Good Morning!
How is everyone doing? Well I hope. This is my first day back to work since Thursday, so I’ve got quite a lot to catch up on, but at least it’s going to be a short week.
Following up on last week’s post Why Do You Read, I wanted to take things a bit further with another great question.
To you, what makes a good story?
I’m hoping to hear your opinion as I’m sure there are lots of great diverse answers to this one!
For me, a couple things immediately came to mind.
An exciting first page or chapter
I’m a picky reader, and if I’m not excited by the first page or even the first paragraph, I will drop a book pretty quickly. Readers need to be drawn into a story, not the other way around. A first page doesn’t have to be action-packed, it could simply be beautifully written or intriguing to catch my attention.
Interesting, three-dimensional characters
Nothing is worse than flat, two-dimensional characters, so if the characters aren’t interesting with their own quirks, I won’t be fully happy with my reading experience. Lately I have a thing for snarky, outspoken characters, but there’s also something to be said about more introverted characters as well.
A high stakes plot
Nothing gets me more interested in a book than a high-stakes plot. You should be able to tell the scope/severity of a book’s plot in its blurb, and I tend to go for insanely high stakes. Is the world going to end? Sign me up. Is world domination on the rise by an evil magic-infused overlord? Love it. These are the types of books I am obsessed with finding.
All right, those are my first thoughts on what makes a good story, but what about you? What makes an instant page-turner?
Feel free to share, I’d love to hear your opinion!
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Great question, and great answers. What makes a good story for me? I love symbolism and a deeper meaning behind the story. I like things to lead to more than they appear. I like seeing characters struggle and overcome. I love animals in books! I love insanely powerful and arrogant characters who are actually a little bit soft and very scared inside.
Ooo I love your answers! Cant agree with you more!
😊
I agree with everything you said. I’d just add that I love a good antagonist . . . a bad guy (or gal or cryptid) that’s horrid and evil and dangerous!
Oh, that’s a good one! Yeah, a good powerful villain is always a good thing, especially one that seems impossible to defeat.
Oh this is a good question and one that’s hard for me to answer because I like different things for different books. I will say one thing that will always make a book for me is romance. I love when there’s romance no matter what the genre.
Nice answer! Romance certainly does have a place, doesnt it? I think it fits in best when the stakes are super high, something epic.
Yeah I love when they have to go through hardships to finally end up with a happily ever after.
Yeah, totally! An apocalyptic romance would be to die for if you ask me.
I’m pretty sure that exactly what Praying for Rain by B.B. Easton is. I haven’t actually read it yet but it is on my kindle.
Thanks for that recommendation. It actually sounds like something I would like. Might put on my TBR.
I haven’t read it so I can’t say if it’s good or not. If you do read it I hope you end up liking it.
Yeah, no worries. I sent myself a free sample of the writing, something I do nowadays with new authors. If it doesn’t pass that test, I won’t read it.