Guest Blogger: What Makes A Great Writer? Top 5

For today's blog I have another Guest Blogger!  I am excited to have my Beta beta reader to blog today about what makes a good writer. I have to say that I totally agree with her Top 5 What Makes A Great Writer (and how happy it makes me that she thinks I'm a great writer)!

Like Katrina I love a good story. I am not a snob when it comes to reading but I have my favorite authors. Here are the tops 5 things that keep me coming back.

1. A great writer draws you in from the start. Get my attention right away and hold it until the story begins to unfold. A great writer pulls me in from the first page and makes me to want to read on. I always finish what I start but if I’m not enjoying the read from the beginning I might read only a page or two a day and I probably won’t read another book by that author again.

2. A great writer has a beginning, middle and an end. This one is pretty self explanatory but for those of you who don’t get it, your story needs to flow. Also don’t leave me hanging. Having a book 2 or 3 is no excuse.

3. A great writer stays focused. I enjoy side stories woven throughout a book but leading me too far astray is frustrating and annoying.

4. A great writer uses at least a grain of truth and does his/her homework. Threads of truth help me believe in what I'm reading. Futuristic stories can reference some truth even if it is just with the use of logic. There is nothing like reading a story set in a particular time period or a real place and knowing the writer didn’t do the proper research. Especially today when with a little help from the internet everyone can be a fact checker.

5. A great writer writes with depth. I want descriptions but not so detailed that half a page goes by before the story picks up again. Being able to picture where the characters are is important. I want to feel like I know the place. Set the stage and move forward. Write characters I want to care about. I want a clear picture of what they look like, what they wear, their quirks and their personality. If you do it right I’ll feel like I know them or want to meet them or in some cases never want to meet them. Writing with that kind of depth is where the magic happens!

There really is something wonderful about reading a book. For a while I get to escape into a world outside my own. I can meet people real or imagined that I might otherwise never have the opportunity to meet. I can travel to places I might never otherwise see. I can live in a time not my own. I can be informed and sometimes expand my vocabulary. A truly great writer can make that kind of magic happen.