Good writing, for me, is all about creative ideas, dramatic openings, intriguing characters, atmospheric backgrounds and satisfying endings when you are writing fiction.
As far as creative ideas are concerned, hiding away in a small dark room doesn’t work for me. I find my ideas come best when I am out with people. I find myself observing them and imagining them in different situations. Before I know where I am, a great story line is flowing and I need somewhere quiet to get it written down.
If the first line of a story doesn’t grab me, I rarely read on. Perhaps my attention span is not great but, for me, first impressions matter. Ensuring your opening line is dramatic is the least a writer can do. After all, if a writer can’t be bothered to spend time on the opening line of two, how long are they going to spend writing the rest of the story?
We have all met really boring people in our lives. If your characters don’t intrigue, why would the reader read on? Ask yourself whether you would like to spend time with your character and that may show whether your readers will want to.
Characters exist in an environment. Everything they do relates to the world around them as well as the other characters. The more atmospheric the background to the action, the more likely the reader will feel they are inside the story and read on.
Having developed an interesting idea, opened dramatically and created intriguing characters against a well drawn background, if the story ends with a whimper the reader will be left unsatisfied. I really like a twist at the end but sometimes it is all about the characters resolving an issue. It may make them happier or sadder but it must resolve the story for the reader to want to read more of your writing which you hope will be the next thing they will want to do.
Good writing (good writting!) is difficult and has so many ingredients but, like a relationship, if the ingredients come together just right, the reader and the writer will both be smiling.
To read more hints and tips about good writing, check out my other site Hints for Writing Online Short Stories.
Bye for now
Rob
