While I am writing more, I am also reading more. I read for enjoyment, but I am also reading to learn how others tell their stories. When something works well and draws me in, I learn more about what makes effective writing when I read. When something sticks out, I have the opportunity to think about what I might do differently. Here are some places I’ve started paying attention to from a writer’s perspective.

Plot

A story arc can make or break a book. We generally want to see exposition, call to action, action with a climax, and a resolution. Whether it follows story beats of Save the Cat!, a hero’s journey, or another story cycle, having a good plot/story structure helps engage a reader. If nothing ever happens, eventually a reader will disengage. Readers need to care about what happens.

Characters

Main characters should have something to learn or do. They are still growing as people, and that means their lives should be messy. They need flaws, they need to make mistakes, they need things that happen to them (whether internally, externally, or both). They can (and likely should) be likable and redeemable, but they are human. A reader wants a reason to stick with them and see where they go.

It’s also helpful when characters have a clear voice and are complex. I’ve seen others suggest asking yourself whether you could have a conversation with them and have a good idea of what they’d say/why they’d answer questions in a certain way. If characters are flat and underdeveloped, a reader may lose interest in their story.

Dialogue

When reading dialogue, pay attention to its pace, what it’s telling us about the individuals, what the purpose of the dialogue is, and whether it reflects the character(s) speaking. You may get lost on long monologues, when it fails to advance the plot, and when it sounds too rigid or unnatural. I’ve noticed when names are repeated too many times within the dialogue and how the dialogue is led into our out of (e.g., says, notes, etc.)—sometimes less is more.

Tense and Point of View

Try to understand what the tense and the point of view(s) given accomplish for a story. First person is going to be the world viewed from that perspective. Third person is going to be a bit more removed and could be more limited or more omniscient. Present tense places the reader at the point of action, where they’re finding out in real time what’s happening. Past tense is the recounting of a story after it’s already occurred. Tense and point of view can advance a plot, but they can also take away from it. There may also be trends on what’s more popular depending on when the story was written and genre, and it might affect marketability.

Setting

Setting descriptions can be incredible tools to set the scene and reflect a mood. They take balance to ensure that the reader can picture where everything takes place, but over-description can lose a reader. World-building in fantasy is a particularly prickly challenge. In Shield of Sparrows, Devney Perry does a great job of telling us about the places through the main character’s point of view as being unfamiliar with them. This means there wasn’t multi-chapter scene setting to bog down the beginning of the book. It made a fantastical world much easier to understand without losing action. Because we learn throughout the book, our knowledge grows from the main character’s perspective and flows naturally.

Descriptions

Descriptions need to be balanced. A reader needs to be able to picture what is being described without getting distracted. I actually searched “pupil dilation and attraction” this week because I saw pupil dilation so many times that I wanted to fact-check while I was in the middle of a book—I don’t want my readers pulled out of the action because the words I use are distracting. Brands may not be as important as having just enough detail to be able to imagine something (e.g., a floral minidress). I’ve also noticed when characters’ physical traits are over or under described—again, what tends to be most appealing to me is a balance that lets me as a reader use my imagination to fill in some of the blanks, especially if it isn’t relevant to the plot.

Show, Don’t Tell

When writing uses a lot of adverbs, adjectives, and character internal monologue/thoughts, it can take away from the overall story versus where writing builds that information into the action taking place. There’s a difference in depth between “She was angry” versus something like “‘No!’ Kate says, slamming the door. Her Do Not Enter sign tumbles.” If something strikes you as particularly poignant or effective, jot it down, because it’s likely something to strive toward.

Accuracy

This is tied to description. A reader needs to trust you (even if you’re an unreliable narrator) and not fact-check you. This is again striking a balance between giving enough so that a reader understands why what you’re saying matters without pulling out of the story to double check what you’ve said. We all may do this on occasion because of our backgrounds (legal studies killed most legal stories for me for years unless clearly satirical), but a reader stopping mid-book because a description is so jarring or wrong is not purposeful storytelling. In Love, Theoretically, Ali Hazelwood does an incredible job describing complex topics (e.g., physics) to make it approachable for the story without making me want to fact-check it. We are shown why it matters to the plot (there are two schools of thought, they have conflicting beliefs, he discredited her mentor!), not why I want to read about physics instead of the story. It serves a purpose, adds depth to the story, and isn’t a distraction.

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What have you noticed when reading (good or constructive) that has impacted or inspired your writing?