Let’s say you’re
familiar with most of the basic guidelines when it comes to writing fiction.
You know none of these suggestions guarantees a good story, but you try to
apply them as much as possible. Can’t hurt right?
So you have a
sympathetic main character with a clear goal, obstacles in the way, high
stakes, an action-packed opening, a minimum of adverbs, active characters and
you keep it all moving at a breakneck pace.
But when you show
this tightly constructed thrill-ride to people whose judgement you trust, you
don’t get the reaction you were hoping for. They don’t hate it, in fact they
have lots of nice things to say about it, but it just doesn’t grab them.
They like the genre,
have no problem understanding what happens and why, and certainly there are
bestselling books out there with similar premises and characters so this sort
of story definitely can work, and yet... it just doesn’t.
What is the missing
ingredient? And what’s the best way to make sure it isn’t missing from your
story?
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