Ideas

[Bakiryu]

:idea:

Hullo Y'all! As some of you may know Bakiryu (that's me! *points*) is a writer. Whose annoying muse deserts him from time to time. Now, my inspiration is back (for the momment *curses!*) So I've decided to ask you folks here at the Litnet.

What do you look for it a book? What makes you devour the pages like a greedy, half-starved child with a pocketful of sweets? What makes you pull that ONE book of the shelf, take it home and read until moonset?

What do you want? What do you hope to find in a book? And what books have actually delivered this?

I await your answers with baited breath *Not really I'm gonna sleep now but anyway*

Regards,

'Ryu

[andave_ya]

Sincerity in the characters. Gallantry, and a thorough knowledge of a lot of literature! :nod: Man, I'm such a nerd! :lol:

[Bakiryu]

Aren't we all? LOL. I embrace my inner *and outer* nerdiness!!! My knowledge of literature on the other hand, is subterranean and barely existant, I just read anything I can get my hands on!

(Ps. What did you think of the excerpt in my signature?)

[Mortis Anarchy]

Ummm, I like some satire thrown in with witty characters and maybe a lit bit of angst but not too much as well as some controversial themes or even when it shows growth in characters or delves into the minds of characters...yah know what I mean?

[kiobe]

Truth.

[Bakiryu]

Ummm, I like some satire thrown in with witty characters and maybe a lit bit of angst but not too much as well as some controversial themes or even when it shows growth in characters or delves into the minds of characters...yah know what I mean?

Sort of. I''m trying to write a yaoi-romance sci-fi futuristic story. There's some things that are a bit controversial for today society, such as: cutting, anorexia, homo- and a-sexuality. Angsty enought?

[Mortis Anarchy]

Perfect...Have you read Hairstyles of the Damned??? I like how books go into the minds of young adults or even adults....how it shows how they develop when they have problems..etc.

[Bakiryu]

Yes, I borrowed it from a friend a few weeks before school ended.

I can't decide If I should write the book on the first person or narrated by an unknown observer (in this case me.)

[bibliophile190]

A good story absoulutely needs to have believable characters. To me at least, a story where a character is too angsty/rebellious/perfect/troubled/ etc, just turns me off. Also, I want to be able to really care about the characters, laugh when they laugh, cry when they cry (even though I've never actually cried because of a book, but you get the idea). A good book has to let me escape. I want to be where the character is, and feel like I'm walking in their shoes, not just reading about them. Yes, I'm a total book geek, but I'd like to think of that as a good thing.

[Adolescent09]

A good story absoulutely needs to have believable characters. To me at least, a story where a character is too angsty/rebellious/perfect/troubled/ etc, just turns me off. Also, I want to be able to really care about the characters, laugh when they laugh, cry when they cry (even though I've never actually cried because of a book, but you get the idea). A good book has to let me escape. I want to be where the character is, and feel like I'm walking in their shoes, not just reading about them. Yes, I'm a total book geek, but I'd like to think of that as a good thing.

I'm not sure whether or not I sense a contradiction in your preferences in literature.. You say you don't like characters that are too angsty, rebellious, perfect or troubled but I've witnessed epitomes of characters who invest in these such moods who are crafted implicitly in a beautiful way. Perhaps your interests veer in a more contemporary direction but as far as classic literature has to offer the plight of most protagonists usually involves and is influenced by dramatic troubled behavior, rebellion and angst (although I'm not sure about perfectness). I think the contradiction here lies in your very truthful and universally held opinion that a book must have the ability to let one 'escape into the author's world' whilst sustaining pure belief in the realism in the characters. Suffice it to say that characters in classical literature ranging from Alexander Dumas' Edmond Dantes (rebellious) to Dostoevsky's Raskolinikov (troubled) and the same author's Alyosha (a bit too secularly sublime) have all been considered some of the most realistic characters ever to be improvised and embellished in print.

As for your other points, I agree with them entirely :)
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As for the discussion at stake... my interests in literature have already been answered by the previous repliers of this topic

[Sancho]

I like something new, something that hasn’t been done before (subject or method.) Of course a good old formula action-adventure-thriller-horror-spy-mystery-crime-romance-western-war novel is good too sometimes.

As a writer, you may be interested in this month’s Atlantic Monthly. There’s a pretty good article about mass market thriller novelist Harlen Coben. It goes into his method, his lifestyle and also the publishing business.

BTW how’s Hairstyles of the Damned? That’s one book that’s jumped off the shelf at me several times just because of the cover art. I haven’t bought it, but it got my attention. I wonder how many books are purchased just on the basis of the cover.

[Bakiryu]

BTW how’s Hairstyles of the Damned? That’s one book that’s jumped off the shelf at me several times just because of the cover art. I haven’t bought it, but it got my attention. I wonder how many books are purchased just on the basis of the cover.


It's not that great, there are much better books. I got bored after a while. One good book similar to Hairstyles of the Dammed is Sweetblood, that ones very good or try The Wish List by Eoin Colfer