What makes a good book?

Answer 1

it has to be interesting enough that i'd have a hard time putting it down, and it definatly has to have a good ending

Answer 2

A good writer makes a good book, but a good story brings out the best in a writer; whether fictional or non-fictional.

The writer has to be passionate enough about the story, that they are quite happy to spend long lonely hours writing and endlessly revising, until the finished result is polished and honed to near perfection.

Having reached the point where I am now revising and polishing a novel based on a tragic but amusing true story, I can look back and be amazed at the length of time it took to write and the almost obsessive commitment required.

As I have discovered, life itself is so complex and detailed, even six hundred pages of writing can only cover a tiny fraction of it. The trick is to retain the elements of truth, but at the same time to manipulate the story-line in such a way that it can be told economically and presented in a coherent fashion to anyone who cares to read it.

Even then, a book can never be good unless there is that additional....shall we say....X-factor?

If a writer can say, (as I can), that when writing the hilarious parts they were laughing, and as tragedy unfolded they cried at every carefully chosen word, then there is a good chance that it may move the hearts and minds of those who read it.

If writers achieve only that, they have done something, but if they make a bit of money from the end result, they have achieved the impossible.

Answer 3

1) An opening paragraph that comples the reader forward. If you bore everyone to tears on the first page, they'll never get any further.

2) Well-thought characters, who are neither super-human angels (the good guys) or beings of pure evil (the villains). The heros need some limits and faults (no one's perfect) and the villains need some good qualities.


3) Character developement. Our heros aren't going to be the same at the end as they were when they started.

4) Good word-choice and sentence structure. Try not to use and re-use and re-reuse the same word over and over again. Finding the right word is important, and varying your sentence structure helps keep the story from sounding monotonous.

5) An interesting story. Give the readers a reason to care about what happens to the characters, an end that the heros are working toward, and an end that doesn't leave them throwing the book in the fire and writing you nasty letters because you killed off their favorite character for no reason. When you need to kill someone, do it well, because readers do get upset when their fav. character dies (like in Final Fantasy 7).

6) Unlooked-for plot twists are usually good. If, after reading the first chapter, you know everything that'll happen in the book, then why read it? Give your readers something to think about.

7) Some profound thoughts expressed in the story. People like to get started thinking, and every book needs a morale, if you want to call it that. If you don't have one, people will probably invent one for you (though they may even if you have a lesson already in mind).

8) Good spelling/grammar. If people need to hire a cryptographer in order to decipher your book, something's wrong.

Well, that's about it, I think.

Answer 4

Something set in a new and different setting than the readers are used to, withg several different storylines running simultaneously. Then when these all start to link together it is very satisfying. Also as previously said by other people the characters must be interesting. The ending must not be disappointing. However the standard of writing must be good, otherwise the book will automatically be crap despite how good the characters are.

Answer 5

The reader! It's as simple as that! If the reader likes it then it is a good book! Even if only a handful of readers like the book, it is still good, cos it is good for them. Works on the principle the same as beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

If lots and lots of people like the book (Harry Potter for example) then you have a good book that will make money i.e. a best seller!

You can't say a book isnt good just because you, personally, do not like it!

Answer 6

What makes a good book, or what makes a book good? I assume you mean what makes a book good...I think a unique idea well executed is the first step. But it also has to tease the reader, pull them through the story, make them laugh, and make them cry. It's in the way it makes the reader feel. Like they don't want the book to end.

Answer 7

A very interesting storyline, one so good that you don't want to put it down and you just have to carry on reading it. One where you actually like the characters and you can relate to them and or you think oh my goodness this could me me, or I wish that I had a friend or guy like this.

A book that makes you either laugh o cry, or at the end makes you feel that you could read something else by this author

Answer 8

If you're talking about fiction, then a story we can believe in and characters we can identify with together help form suspension of disbelief - and an affinity with the protagonist(s). It's this affinity which draws the reader in. It mesmerises us.

Clear, articulate writing and an intriguing, imaginative plot will help keep the reader interested. But if either are ambiguous, irrational, or convoluted, then dear reader has to step out of the written world just to understand what the writer is trying to communicate - and then the spell is broken.

Answer 9

It depends on what sort you are interested in.
If not factual, you want a good plot, interesting characters and a lively style.
Factual books should be well researched, written interestingly and provide new insights.
Pictorial books should be well illustrated and presented in an interesting fashion.

Answer 10

A good book is one that you have to take to the bathroom with you to continue reading. One that gets your gripped within first few pages. Hate those books that you can't get into, but becasue you've read so mush of it you have to finish, and then you regret wasting all that time reading it!

Answer 11

paper and ink.

no seriously.... wow that's quite a lofty question, ... a very good question id say in fact.

i say (as a good book lover).....spirit, feeling and passion brought to life with words. brought down to earth for us all to relate to personally.

its a true art in itself. a universally relate-able reflection of the spirit....or at least the healthily imaginative mind.

you know when you've read a really, really good book. its an experience you wont forget...better than any film, because the imagery is created in you're own mind; which makes it much more personal.

if you're a writer yourself then i say "above all else, one must stay true to oneself", as Shakespeare most prolifically said.

i cant say im a big shakespeare fan, but one must still see the wisdom of the late legend.

good luck x
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