By Josslyn Caskey
Staff Writer
What makes a good book? Well according to Google “A good book is one that makes the reader feel” and I fully agree. However, much more goes into what makes a good book. To me, a good book has four things: good pacing, good dialogue, strong characters, and an intriguing plot.
Good pacing is number one on my list for many reasons. For me, I like when the Author takes their time in explaining the scene or situation. Good pacing to me is a well-thought-out story that gives the reader a good sense of what’s going on. If a book has poor pacing it can sometimes feel rushed or information is easily looked over.
Good dialogue is another crucial part of writing or reading a good book. Writing dialogue for me is the hardest part of being a writer. Making dialogue sound fluent and natural is very challenging, but in the end, to me, it’s what can make or break a story. Reading a book with poor dialogue can be challenging to the reader and just not carry the tone across well.
The good characters in books are vital. They are another key part of any good book. When thinking about good characters. I think about well-thought-out characters with complicated backstories, or rewarding character arcs, both good and bad.
All these elements also help carry the plot of the story having good pacing, strong dialogue, and throughout characters help make the plot stronger. To me, the plot consists of key story elements, the setting, and the overall tone of the book. It’s a more minor element but is still important to me.
Using these four key elements in mind has helped me tremendously in my writing. The more we read good stories the more we can write even better ones.