I think Rorshach said it best on the podcast. Writers are arrogant people. I assume (or at least I hope) that things that are interesting to me will also be interesting to other people.

I wasn’t attacking anybody, asking them to justify their book’s existence. I just wanted to know what makes it stand out. What you’re most proud of. Not just whether or not it might be an interesting story, but if you did something that’s not usually done, like making efforts to introduce your own philosophy into it or whatever, that’s all. I didn’t mean to make it sound as if you needed to have arguments to provide to anyone so that they should buy your book. Just your opinion as to what makes it good. Everyone thinks their stuff is good, but for specific reasons, right? But yeah, all right then.

I wasn’t attacking anybody.

To be fair, you did use some very confrontational language, and phrased your questions in such a way as to prompt me to react defensively.

@TakuGifian: I suppose your reaction was quite fair. I tend to fire off questions when I’m very curious about something and I didn’t think to rephrase anything because people around me are used to this and don’t ever take it offensively. Man, I’m sorry you felt the need to be defensive in the first place. The confrontational bit was totally unintentional.

To clarify, I’m genuinely interested to hear about any thought-provoking points that anyone introduced into their story. I wasn’t trying to say: Oh well, if you’re not breaking any rules or anything, I’m not reading your book. No.

I for one, introduce my characters as being very spiritual. Their training depends on it. And many of my characters are female and I portray them in such a way that I sometimes feel uncomfortable that children might read this some day. But I like what I did because I felt that I was original and did an okay job. Especially the bit with the spirituality. Being at peace with everything, the good and bad, is very important to me and I introduced this in the story even though it might be a complicated subject. I thought I did a good job of it and I’m quite proud of it. Just wanted to know if I was the only one in that kind of situation.

Also, I honestly didn’t think people would mind boasting about their brilliant ideas. Other writers I know, my friends especially, enjoy sharing their fantastic stuff so that people can ooh and ahh over it. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a little praise for damn good ideas.

@sansa: I like that. Just a mention of the words “swordfights” and “ninjas” is enough to get me to pick up that book. But that’s just me.

@happycrab: I admire how humble you are. Really, I do. :)

Shhh. No one noticed. Play it cool. :)

I actually like the confrontational way you put your questions, because it reminded me of being in a job interview (not that I like those) and having to be able sell my skills in order to get a job. It’s rather like writing a cover letter to a resume, actually. Not that I’m going to have to justify the contents of my book to everyone who picks it up, but in order to keep my writing from being just a hobby, it’s good to ask myself why anyone would want to read it. And because I’m great at avoiding questions, it’s good for someone else (namely, you) to ask them. :D

Anyway, generally I write stories that I want to read. A lot of the time when I finish reading a book or series, there are aspects of the story that I didn’t like or that felt incomplete or there were things I wished were included in the story that weren’t. So when I write I try to make a story that includes everything I want it to include, and begin and end in exactly the way that I want it to. I like to think that that’ll be enough to satisfy other readers, but of course it probably won’t, so a lot of the time when I’m writing I ask myself, “Is this part/scene/character/topic only interesting/relevant to me, or is it something that someone else reading it could enjoy or relate to?” Of course, the answer isn’t always yes, and I don’t always change my writing to accommodate it, but I’ve always thought it a good idea and it keeps me from being too long-winded about things, which I am inclined to do.

Also, I write about love triangles and apocalypses and cool weaponry and epic conflicts, so I guess you could say I’m buying into some of that annoying instant-gratification crap they call literature these days. :D

I like the stuff on job interviews. I think my ideas would be worth a person paying money for, but not the execution. Needs a lot of fine tuning, fixing and fleshing out.
Hmm relatable characters. Well the main guy has a strong bond with his little sister so there’s that sibling love some people might have. He’s cocky but not in an asshole kind of way so that probably wouldn’t relate to the majority of readers. He has daddy issues. And I’ve got some bullshitty highschool drama sort of stuff with a bully and a crush so there’s that. So far.
Basically I am trying to do a Harry Potter where there are lots of little mysteries and things that all come together in an I hope clever way. I haven’t read as much as i should have but I’m sure that not many authors have that level of plot threads all intertwined and coming together so brilliantly as JK does. Though JK had 7 books and I have 3.
And my thing is a journey while in HP we keep revisiting the same location and characters every year so the plot threads are more confined and she is able to slowly develop characters like Snape in amazing ways. Right now I don’t think I have that many characters with secret pasts and stuff so I’ll work on that. My story doesn’t have (not that it needs it) lots of huge events that happened in the past like the last fight with Volde.
I’m rambling and shouldn’t be comparing my story to HP but whatever that’s the sort of thing I’m trying to achieve. There probably won’t be anything amazing like SPOILERS a MC’s rat turning out to be the man who betrayed someone’s parents END SPOILERS but in the confinements of my story I think I’ve got some good stuff.
I am trying to make it a little bit anime-like. The magic system, world building and such allows for fights on a larger crazier scale without it getting too ridiculous for something that isn’t a cartoon (I hope). I think some of my locations are very extraordinary. And I simply think it has/will have exciting awesome action and events that will excite and intrigue the reader. Not really forcing any themes I think but I guess there is the sibling love one if anything.
As for breaking trends and stuff, I have looked at some tropes and cliches and am trying to purposely subvert them. I think I’ve done something different with plot coupons, prophecies and chosen ones. I want to also avoid bullshitty love stuff with the guy getting the one and only girl for him. I think my main problem with my story is I’m too blunt with some things. HP is pretty subtle. But maybe that’s because I know my own story.
I think that is all….

Why should you not? Anyone who’s bothered to more than glance at a work of mine obviously found something worth noticing at first glance — the title, the subject, the cover, whatever. It’s not like the contents are immediately visible at a glance, and a summary only does so much in representing the piece.

But let’s say we have none of those trappings. Let’s say we have nothing but the piece itself. Why do I think someone should bother to read it?

Why not? Curiosity is a rather powerful motivator for some, and those are the some I write for.

I write to explore things, to find the wonder in them. If someone else wants to come along for the ride, that’s great; the more, the merrier, after all. But if they don’t want to come along, it’s no loss to me. The main drive behind my writing isn’t to make money or to reach a wide audience; I write because I’ve found something interesting that I could explore and wonder about, and I figured there was at least one other person out there that would be interested in exploring and wondering about it, too.

Everything else, like money, reaching a wide audience, or even publication, is just an added bonus.

So why should you pick up one of my works? Because you might find something interesting inside that will lead you to wonder and explore on your own. And because if you’ve bothered to pick up my work just because it was there, your curiosity has already gotten the better of you.

Sorry if you felt I was being either intrusive or just plain rude.

Waitwhat? o_O

Haha, this is surprisingly tough for me to answer.

I guess I really just pour everything I have into what I write. My motto is “Write the best damn book, period.” So I would hope that some of that enthusiasm and shed blood would be catching. I write about real people and give them as much of their inherent three-dimensionality as I can, and hopefully they will catch the interest of someone.

I don’t actually know. Hahaha. Great thread, Sen.

Hm, I’d like to think I’ve done something unique- making a Dwarf in a Dwarf kingdom my main character for one and thus developing a Dwarf kingdom much beyond they drink beer and mine lots. Of course to make the economics work, they end up looking like a lot of other pre-industrial societies…

But a very early decision I think pushed my story into different territory. I abandoned a Hobbit/LotR’s hybrid and needed a new plot that wasn’t a rip off something else. My biggest struggle was coming up with a magic system that I could be intellectually and theologically consistent with the implications. I couldn’t rehash LotR’s (and I didn’t fully understand what Tolkien was doing anyways) and I didn’t want Narnia/ Archives of Anthropos style magic. And I certainly didn’t want to rewrite Pilgrim’s Progress which is where all my ‘magic’ systems would end up getting to stuck on. So I created a fantasy story with no magic in it all. I’ve since added it back in as I have a better idea of how to use magic. However, what it did mean at the beginning is the plot couldn’t revolve around an Evil Overlord ^TM or a magical trinket/ MacGuffin that would destroy the entire world.

Instead it focuses on the Dwarves trying to overthrow a human conqueror while the other nations stand aside for going to massive war again (think WWI balance of powers). However, individual soldiers are sneaking over the border to help on one side or the other.

But yeah, I’ll agree to the notion that it’s primarily my arrogance that I assume other people will enjoy reading what I write. :) I never really think of myself as arrogant, but I can’t get it out of my head that someday, somebody is going to want to read what I write. Yeah, I guess that’s a little arrogant, but it’s hard to operate in any other headspace. Hopefully I’m not delusional- then I need a Simon Cowell telling me that is the worst thing they ever read- ever…