Temporary? Insanity

In the increasingly long and drawn out saga of Kim-Trying-to-Figure-Out-how-to-Grow-as-a-Writer, there has been yet another epiphany/ah-ha! moment.

I decided to conduct an experiment. I selected a handful of books from my personal library, books that I tend to read over and over again. I picked up each in turn, read the first chapter, then put them down again. And then I waited. And waited. All the while feeling this gnawing in the pit of my stomach. An eagerness to get back to the stories I’d started reading.

Then began the pscyhoanalysis. What was the draw? Why did I want to pick it back up again? Why did I want to read this one more than that one? What, in essence, makes each of those books so compelling?

1) Ender’s Game. I read this book at least once a year and I never tire of it. As I mulled things over and realized that of all my choices this one called to me the most, it took me awhile to figure out why. Obviously, I know what happens. And while Ender is a very sympathy inducing main character, it wasn’t about him either. It was fascination with a set of circumstances so completely outside the realm of my experience. It was the world that Orson Scott Card created in that book that called to me. I wanted to immerse myself in it again, to feel that strange but somehow pleasing sense of displacement. For me, the draw is the setting.

2) Uglies. Scott Westerfeld also creates his own world in his series, Uglies, Pretties, and Specials. The draw for me personally though was the main character Tally. This book is written from inside her head to such a degree that you see and feel everything she does as you read. It’s indescribable, and in many ways addictive. So character. This is the main draw of this book, for me. Character.

3) Harry Potter. I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to add this to my experiment. I enjoy the series, but I’m not an ardent fan. Still, Neil was reading the last book again so I added it to my pile. Turns out the draw of the Harry Potter series for me is the plot. And the magic. I love how magic is interwoven into the plot. It’s fascinating and entertaining on a fairly simple level.

4) Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson. Character, plot, and setting. All of the above, as it were. While all the books I feel compelled to read often naturally have a mixture of these elements, they tend to have one main one that stands out from the rest. Not so with Mistborn. For me, there’s no separating them out. Everything is too intricately woven together. In my mind, this is a mark of a masterpiece.

5) Anne of Green Gables. Warm fuzzies. That’s what this series is all about for me. It brings me joy. It makes me happier to live the life I’m living. Anne is a shining example of living life joyfully and reading her story makes me yearn to be more like her.

6) The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. As with Ender’s Game, fascination wins the day here. Adams’ delightful wit and zany humour just suck me right on in. It’s not about the plot, or the characters, or even the setting. It’s the writing. There are few writers who can pull this off, I think. It’s the sort of thing best not attempted. It takes a particular sort of genius or insanity.

And although I don’t own a copy, I can’t help mentioning Twilight. I kind of wince as I do, because I hate pandering to the “hot topic” of the day, but all throughout this experiment it kept popping into my head. I think I figured out one of the reasons I’m not a fan of this series. The characterization just didn’t grab me. The plot was fascinating and it was a very compelling read, but the characters didn’t come to life for me the way they do for many. Plot is a great draw, of course, but I’m realizing it’s nowhere near enough to add a book to my list of Must Reads. Let that be a lesson to me, yes?

Naturally, I can’t help taking a little time to wonder how to apply this to my own work. How can I write something that will be so compelling people will want to own their own copy and read it regularly? What elements do I need to weave into my own story so that it becomes more than just a story? So that it is something that lives and breathes and calls to its readers?

I haven’t the faintest idea. But I think I’m going to have fun, and frustration, trying to find out.