Feel free in comments to add to these or consider whether what we're reading works on any of these terms.
- be emotionally involving
- be relatable to readers' lives
- provide suspense with unresolved actions and problems
- address topics readers know in advance they enjoy
- have a good prose style on the part of its writer
- have distinctive voices on the part of its characters
- have character development and depth in its protagonist
- have interesting interactions between its characters
- have a satisfying resolution at the end
- offer thought-provoking moral lessons
- offer thoughtful social comment
- provide escape from our everyday lives
- open us to experiences different from our own
Saturday, January 31, 2009
What Makes Good Fiction?
I want to list the fruits of our discussion of quality in fiction from our first meeting. As I recall, various students suggested that good fiction might
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think having a distinct good guy and bad guy could also add to making good fiction. I don't think that ever good work of fiction necessarliy needs to have this; however, I have found that most do.
ReplyDelete-Carisa Auge
I think that in regards to providing escape from our everyday lives that what we really look for is a "suspension from reality." I heard this phrase used from my friend and I think it really fits in with what I look for in fiction. What makes fiction different from non-fiction is that there are elements to the story that are not bound by the everyday laws of the world. Anything could happen, and I think people like fiction for that reason, the impossible becomes possible.
ReplyDelete