What Do You Look For in a Good Book is my theme for this week's CFT post. Hope you enjoy.

The challenge for any writer, whether they're writing novels or story collections, is to ensure their book could be classed as "good".  Allowing for differences in taste I think what writers need to achieve with their writing can be summarised as:-

1. Believable characters.
   
2. Characters we can identify with.
   
3. A plot with twists and turns to keep a reader guessing.
   
4. The story has to have a "got to find out what happens next" element to it. Without that, the whole thing falls down. This element, for me, works best when the characters are so gripping, I've got to find out what happens to them. I don't need to like them. I just need to want to find out what happens to them. Sometimes it can be to follow a horrible character and experience great glee as they get their comeuppance at the end of the story!
   
5. An easy to read style. I've got to enjoy the way the prose flows. Easy to read takes time to get right and I learned a long time ago that whenever someone makes writing look easy, that same someone has worked for years to get to that point.
   

Good luck with your own writing! And whoever said writing is easy has never done any...!

Image credit:  All images in the slideshow are via Pixabay.

Nobody really needs a reason to love fairytales, of course, but for the less convinced I offer the following:-

1.  They are often the first stories youngsters come across and are a gateway into the wonderful world of reading. Once that spark is lit, there should be no turning back.  It is no coincidence that those who read more develop a larger and more wide ranging vocabulary.

2.  There is a clear sense of right and wrong in fairytales. (That appeals to children and those who decided growing up was overrated). 

3.  Some stories can act as warnings.

4.  The stories can reflect injustice and cruelty but also usually have those things stopped by the end. (In life so often these things are not stopped.  It is good to have stories where matters are rectified, justice is done etc.  This is something shared with good crime stories too).

5.  They're great stories (reason enough!).

My latest CFT post is a review of the annual Fryern Funtasia, which is a great fun event for all ages.  What I particularly love about events like this is the ongoing links with the medieval fairs.  It was appropriate there was a Hog Roast and an archery practice range (for children) at the event which was held on Bank Holiday Monday, 6th May 2019.

Historical links can be great for inspiring story ideas.  These can range from timeslip novels to ghost stories involving historical characters (do check out the works of Jennifer C Wilson for some great examples here).

I use historical links in flash fiction as a quick way to show when a story is set.  For example, if I mentioned someone's ruff was distinguished, you'd know from that one detail alone the tale was set in the Tudor court (Elizabeth's).

You can also be inspired by the stories of historical characters.  Anne Boleyn inspired my Dignity and Injustice which is on Cafelit (and will be in their Best of Cafelit  8 due out later this year).

So think about how you can use history to shape your own fiction. And a character's sense of history (their own, their country's etc) will affect how they think and act and can add great drama to your story.

My CFT post is a review of The Chameleon Theatre Group's latest production, Spring Trio of Plays.  This included Effie's Burning, Ghost of a Chance, and In For the Half.  The performances and the impact of the plays were fabulous.

I like going to productions like these as they are another way for me to take in story.  Reading will always be phenomenally important to any writer but that doesn't mean you can't take in stories in other media.  With plays particularly, you get to "see" the impact of well written dialogue and that can help inspire you with your own writing, whether you write scripts or not.  You get to hear what works.  Memorable lines stay with you for a reason!  The goal of course is to be able to create your own memorable lines in whatever format you choose to write.

Another favourite form of storytelling for me is audio books.  Being told a story by someone else is one of the great joys of human existence for me. Again you get to hear what works.  If you listen to an abridged version, and you have the unabridged book version, find out what they cut and see if you can work out why.  Does this have an impact on what you put into your story or leave out of it?

I don't watch a lot of film but it's a very valid way of exploring stories.  Learn to spot where the Three Act Structure is in the movie you're watching!