Everything Is Better With A Soundtrack
I'm listening to Harry and The Potters. They are an exquisitely horrid band, but the funny overwhelms almost all of the horror. Some of the songs are unbearable, but the others make it all worthwhile. Thank you, Kak, for giving me this band!
Incidentally, I've noticed that the world becomes a much better place when I turn on some music.
I've been thinking about what makes a good book, and I'm still of the opinion that popular != good, but certainly it's nice to get big sales when you've managed to produce a good book. J.K. Rowling didn't write great books, but she wrote very compelling ones that were highly accessible, great for kids, and fun for adults. There were no "irrelevant" details, so you never learned something about the wizarding world that wasn't going to be critical to the storyline later. This seems both good and bad. Introducing the thing before using it keeps it from seeming like you made it up to fix the storyline (eg. certain Star Trek things). But only ever telling us about things that are used later makes it easier to see the plot before you actually read it. On the other hand, it does keep the books relatively uncluttered. Hm...
Oh, and yes, I really am thinking mostly about fantasy and sci-fi novels, this being the kind that I most readily consume.
I think a good book is easier to make once you make good characters that people can form opinions and care about. Now, how do I go about creating a character with enough depth to be real...
Incidentally, I've noticed that the world becomes a much better place when I turn on some music.
I've been thinking about what makes a good book, and I'm still of the opinion that popular != good, but certainly it's nice to get big sales when you've managed to produce a good book. J.K. Rowling didn't write great books, but she wrote very compelling ones that were highly accessible, great for kids, and fun for adults. There were no "irrelevant" details, so you never learned something about the wizarding world that wasn't going to be critical to the storyline later. This seems both good and bad. Introducing the thing before using it keeps it from seeming like you made it up to fix the storyline (eg. certain Star Trek things). But only ever telling us about things that are used later makes it easier to see the plot before you actually read it. On the other hand, it does keep the books relatively uncluttered. Hm...
Oh, and yes, I really am thinking mostly about fantasy and sci-fi novels, this being the kind that I most readily consume.
I think a good book is easier to make once you make good characters that people can form opinions and care about. Now, how do I go about creating a character with enough depth to be real...