What Makes a Good Book GOOD/Bad Book BAD? | Page 1 | The Creative Writing Guild | Guild Forums

Renkon Root

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Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 9:25 am

This pickled vegetable...

So, this is a question I like to bring up every now and again with different people, the question of what makes a "good book" good and a "bad book" bad?

Is it the author's narrative style?
Is it the subject they're writing about?
Is it the relative complexity or simplicity of their subject?
Is it their grammar and/or word usage?
Their character development?
How many sub-plots they incorporate?
How "original" the work is?
How "deep" the work is?
Or, is it simply whether or not the reader enjoys the work that makes it a "good book"?

What is your take on the matter?

... could kick your a** !!

Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 3:02 pm

In my opinion I would consider a book to be bad when there's no character development or the writing isn't very fluent/consistent.

In my case I read a manga where the main character had no development. It was full of action but the main character didn't see any of it. Also In my opinion the Halo novels I've read so far seemed to be one of those books that lacked that "flow" or consistency. But these are just my opinions

Moonlight Resonance

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Ziekara
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Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 10:05 am

Dream as if you'll live forever...

What makes a book (or any form of writing for that matter) good or bad is so subjective. I think most people can agree that proper grammar, consistency in both writing style and story, as well as some other techincal aspects can definitely separate good books from the bad, but with everything else, it gets into matters of taste and individual preference.

I for one find an interesting story that draws me in to be a better determinant for a good book than anything else.

For example, my favorite author is Amelia Atwater Rhodes. She writes teen novels, but what's always astounded me about her is that her first novel was published when she was only 13 years old! My favorite of her novels is named "Hawksong", and while it's writing style is very simplistic, and it lacks much originality in overall theme (two waring kingdoms must be brought together by the marriage of the prince and princess who, at first, despise each other), there is something about her way of story telling that gets me emotionally invested in the character's plight and because of that, it's remained one of my favorite books since I was a young teenager myself. I think many people reading her books might feel they are too simplistic, unoriginal and lack much depth, but because what I look for most is "appeal" (whatever that means rolleyes ), I consider her books to be "good."

I don't think it's possible to get a single definition for what makes something good or bad, but I do think that having a well rounded book (by which I mean, including all or many of the things you listed) will help more people to think it's good xd

I hope that all made sense.

...live as if you'll die today

Posted: Tue Sep 21, 2010 11:21 am

Ziekara

Dream as if you'll live forever...

What makes a book (or any form of writing for that matter) good or bad is so subjective. I think most people can agree that proper grammar, consistency in both writing style and story, ...live as if you'll die today

This pickled vegetable...

[bAnd yet we all can think of one book series in particular (that shall remain nameless) that is rife with spelling and grammar errors and yet has managed to become insanely popular. Most of this book's fan-base would call it "good" to spite its many flaws.

... could kick your a** !!

Quote:

Dream as if you'll live forever...

I don't think it's possible to get a single definition for what makes something good or bad,

...live as if you'll die today

This pickled vegetable...

And that is exactly why I like to ask this question every now and again. 3nodding

And all your points made perfect sense, Zi.

... could kick your a** !!

Renkon Root

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