antryg
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The focus in fiction - 08/22/2006
For the sake of discussion, I'm going to break down a work of fiction into several components.
We will call them: Characters (this would include character development and interaction between characters)
Setting (the location of the story ie. real life, idealized past, imagined future or fantasy world)
Story ( are you willing to accept one big lie, everything realistic, the author has freedom to define all the rules)
I'm sure that you can come up with other important components as well and there is some overlap in the ways I've defined these distinctions. Which one of these though is what draws you to a particular work?
For instance, within the sci-fi genre we can have a story about an imagined future. Are you drawn to the hard science type such as Asimov where we can imagine science leading us to the time and place of the story and science is used as the conflict point as in his Robot stories? Do you prefer the creation of a time and world such as Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings
The draw of romance novels seem to reside in the character development and how the characters interact with each other. Fans of horror may not care if the characters do anything but react to the action around them, the story events are paramount.
So, if you are reading for pleasure, what do you choose?
Personally, all of these things are important in my choice. I first look to setting. I want something in a world unlike my own so I go to the sci-fi/fantasy section. I further refine my search based up the story. Sometimes I want a space epic and so I'll choose something by David Drake or David Weber. Why them? I like their realistic use of science within the story. They also develop characters that I care about.
Now I've logically shown how I choose a book yet when I look on my shelf I see that it is writers who develop great characters and have great character dynamics who are represented by multiple volumes.
How do you choose?
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