Reply To: What do you look for in a story?

[Ginger Herten]

It took me a while to think about answering this, but honestly I’m just happy you write. It never occurred to me that I wanted to read a fantasy retelling of the historic events at the Citadel, but it was interesting. It gave me a really different perspective on Shannon Faulkner than the one I had from listening and watching news accounts on TV and the radio.

I’ve written stories that were more about having an idea and trying to force a story from it, and they come out a bit flat. Im pretty sure others pick up on them, because they are never particularly popular. I need to write them, because I need to get the ideas out, but they just also always leave me a little disappointed wishing I’d done better.

It’s the stories where I’m just inspired and can’t contain myself as I type out the words that I find I’m really happy with. The stories I have an emotional attachment to, not just an idea I need to explore. They aren’t always super popular, but I’m generally happy with them in a way that is different. They are much more likely to be somewhat popular though.

I mean we can go over my personal preferences, but that’s what they are. I don’t like a full clean to the skin shave, other people love those. In fact I would wager that those that love a full down to the skin shave outnumber those of us who don’t by a lot. You’ll go nuts trying to please everyone.

I do think that some of it just falls into the more generalized rules of good writing. Like when you get to the subject of forced vs consensual, I think there really does just have to be some level of conflict, whether it’s purely internal, or an external one, if some one is just “hmm, I think I’ll go get a haircut for no particular reason than I just kind of feel like it” it doesn’t lead to much of a plot no matter how well you describe the haircut itself. Conflict is always necessary for plot, no matter what kind of story it is.