While Mark was contemplating why he would “never be a good writer” I was thinking along the same lines, but from a different perspective. I was thinking of all the top-level reasons why my books would never make any of the various YouTube booktubers’ “My Ten Favorite Books” list. Or to put it more broadly, why my books will never be considered great.
From all the lists I’ve viewed, I think that it is safe to say that the overarching element in creating the type of books that end up on these lists, is ambition. The author needs to be ambitious, and then write ambitious books. This ambition has several attributes, though not all are necessary to make a book “great,” but at least some of the characteristics I’ve listed below must be present.
One aspect is scope. Favorite books are often praised for their ambitious world building and the sweeping scale of their story. Long, elaborate sagas – often multi-volume ones – set in massive, detailed worlds, with unique societies – impress readers, at least in the fantasy genre.. And even in literary fiction, creating a compelling immersive world is often heralded.
Much more important to writing a classic is tackling big, important, and universal themes. Books that discuss or illustrate important social or political issues like racism, sexism, colonialism, alienation, religion and the human experience are often held up as great books. They may also explore emotional themes like grief, loss, depression, as well as friendship and love. However, on the whole, it seems that the darker the theme, the more impactful and important the story is perceived to be. In short, they address universal themes that transcend the story itself. And in science fiction, an amazing original idea might be enough. One key to greatness is weaving something thoughtful and original to say on an important subject into the story. Indeed, themes and ideas are so important that some books are great despite being “challenging” to read and to understand. Some might even be unpleasant to read. Making the reader think is a hallmark of great books. You know, a “eat your vegetables” sort of thing. It’s good for you.
But perhaps the most important ingredient in a great book seems to be its emotional impact. Many readers read in order to feel. The more a book makes a reader feel like they are actually living inside the story, the more memorable the book. Though ,again, like with themes, it seems like the darker and starker the emotions the story generates, the more people appreciate it. Perhaps experiencing powerful events and their accompanying emotions, at a safe remove from reality, is the ultimate goal of entertainment.
Another ingredient can be characters. Deep, developed, memorable characters make for memorable books. Memorable characters are often mentioned as reasons for people loving certain books, and indeed, sometimes they are the main reason for some readers. Still, I have a feeling that they play only a supporting role in most great books, often for the emotional impact their fates generate. A novel with a cast of memorable characters may be enjoyed and remembered, but I’m not sure characters alone are enough to make anyone’s top ten books.
And finally, we can’t forget the craft of writing itself. There is no one standard of great writing, but readers know it when they read it, though this is probably the most subjective attribute of a great book. However, like characters, I doubt that writing style alone lifts a book to greatness.
Are there more characteristics that make books all time favorites and classics?
As I said, this is a list of some of the reasons why I’m not a great writer. I’m not ambitious. I write pleasant books without tragedies. I write them as cleverly as I can. I write them to take my readers somewhere else; a “You can’t get there from here” sort of place, and in the company of mostly pleasant people. I write books that you’re free to forget – and then maybe read again someday. In short, not a recipe for greatness. But like my books, not a tragedy either.
How about you? How ambitious are you as a writer? What do you aspire to achieve in your work?
Writers Supporting Writers 
I’m not sure about this, Chuck. Ambition can take different forms. For example, a writer who works hard at becoming known on social media may sell more books than one who concentrates on good writing (whatever that is). And what is success? Some authors sell a great many books in their lifetime but are forgotten after they die. Others languish and struggle, but their books become classics after they’re gone.
Then there’s the element of luck, which is unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Those of us who don’t measure success in terms of sales should write books that meet (or aspire toward) our own standards of excellence, and not worry about other metrics.
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I was looking at this from a readers’ point of view and at the things that these readers admired about their favorite books. It seemed that what they admired was books that affected them emotionally – made them cry – or which they found that it address deep issues, which had them thinking about the story long after they read it.
For some reason I follow a half a dozen of these YouTube booktubers who mostly read fantasy, even though I’m not a much of a fan of fantasy. No doubt that style/genre of books had a influence on my criteria. Literary fiction may have other criteria. And in mysteries, you have writers like Agatha Christie whose books probably don’t meet any of my criteria, but are still famous and admired in the genre.
I was just watching all these videos, and realizing that the books they loved, and the reasons they loved them, where not what I write. Not exactly feeling sorry for myself, but recognizing my style has its limitations, as well as its audience.
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Well said, Audrey!
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Thanks, Liz!
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You’re welcome, Audrey!
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I guess I should add that my first few books were fuelled by compulsion rather than ambition. Since then, I’ve had the idea I should keep cranking out books until I die, but I’m not sure that’s realistic. If I manage to produce and publish two or three more, I’ll be happy.
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I just like to write, and have the time to do so. I just hope that I can continue to turn the rare idea into a story, but, if need be, I can usually fill up a blog post with this and that, to scratch my writing itch. So far, anyway.
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It’s a good plan.
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I try to do so much of what you discuss above, but it’s still a hard road. What is ambition though? I started out with ideas of my books becoming well-known, but soon realised how unlikely that was. I don’t aim to make a fortune, but I would like my stories to be read by many. I’m not a ‘pushy’ person though, won’t do much that some would, to get ahead. But my desire for readers is still a form of ambition. 🙂
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You are certainly right – it takes ambition to write anything, especially with the idea of sharing or selling our work to strangers. For most authors the idea of making a living writing forms a large part of their ambition. Or for some of us, just having our work read and enjoyed is enough.
That said, I do think that many of the books that well-read readers, critics, and scholars hold up to be significant works within a certain genre or context were written with that goal in mind – they were meant to be more than pure entertainment. The author had something important to say, or to be cynical, the wrote a book that this type of reader could find important ideas and themes within their work.
The good thing is that reading is very subjective, so that there is no universal formula for great books, I certainly don’t find my great books on the lists of the booktubers I watch.
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Thanks for yours. I’ll admit that I knew nothing about the business when I started out, and was convinced that I’d have a bestseller on my hands – it didn’t take long to lose that idea! My debut book was supposed to have a serious message, as well as being entertaining after its fashion, as does the rest of the series of which it’s a part. I’ve written a duo of psychological suspense stories too, that came to me on a sudden idea, and they have a bit of a message too. I’ve got used to the idea that my books aren’t mass-market crowd pleasers, and will appeal to a limited audience. Hence the idea of ‘fame and fortune’ is long gone, and I’m pleased if anyone reads and enjoys my stories. 🙂
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This is a very insightful and comprehensive post which cover quite fairly what makes ‘A Great Book’. I don’t have anything to add. It would be an ideal guide for someone starting out on the long road of Writing who has a ‘Great Idea’.
Personally, I have a long list of Great Books and Great Films I do not care for, but I’m cranky that way.
Like you I accept I will never be a great writer. On deciding that the world was filled with enough real life tragedy and Bad Guys coming first my fantasy based writing is all about the Good Folk getting through, with romance, heroics and happy endings. Yes there are bumps and trials along the way, and Quirks…I love quirks.
So there was a trilogy….it was ‘kindled’ on Amazon and even put out on a one week free- there were about a hundred takes on that. Response…..different story…Ah well, once the inevitable disappointment was processed and five years of false starts…..Maybe the new trilogy is growing.
My ambition these days is a simple one….Write it….Put it in a Blog Prompt of the month ….or in the case of longer works… Kindle it.
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Like you, my tastes do not well align with what are often heralded as great books. I DNF’ed Lonesome Dove, I thought Shogun was fine, but not great, I never could get through Lord of the Rings, sampled just one Stephen King book, and have no desire to try most of the books on the lists in question. Luckily for us, there are readers for every type of writer and every type of story.
I started writing my published work with only one thought – to write the books I wanted to read, but couldn’t find. I figured I couldn’t be alone, but I also figured there wouldn’t be a large market for them, seeing that these types of stories weren’t being published. I figured right on both counts.
Still, since I sell all of my books for free wherever I can, and have for going on ten years now, I sell books like a modest mid-list author, which keeps me from being discouraged. I might well feel very different if I felt the need to sell them for money, because I see how they don’t sell on Amazon. I’m lucky in that way.
The most discouraging thing is that every book seems like my last until I come up with a new idea, and an actual story to go with it, which is always iffy these days.
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Keep on keeping I say. Start with the words and the story will follow…(Did I mention – dedicated Pantser)
It my twisted ambition to write the most complicated convoluted murder mystery book, and still be working on it in my final hours.
The last words being…
‘My God. Then that must mean the murderer is………………………………………………..’
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Wodehouse was great. And your books remind me of Wodehouse, so I think you can be a great writer. In fact, I think I’ll go ahead and say you already are.
Sorry to be so disagreeable, but it needed to be said.
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Thanks, but I know a joke when I read one. Wodehouse, and Agatha Christie were authors who I was thinking of as sort of counter-examples of great, serious books. Their books were written to entertain, and do it so well that they have remained in print for a century or more. They are classics in their genre. But in the broader context, books that can be taken seriously, that address serious issues – without becoming dated – become “great books,” even by people who have no interest in reading them. In that context, I don’t consider Wodehouse’s books to be great. I read, enjoy, and admire them for exactly what he intended them to be, delightfully fun reads.
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I think it is far more important to entertain or produce feelings in a reader than to write something great.
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Having read two or three of your books, I do think you hit a couple of these elements. Scope … definitely. Also memorable characters.
But I’m much like you as well. I write to write stories. I write for the challenge of seeing if I can accomplish an idea I’m thinking of. I don’t believe I’m ambitious in the way you describe. I’ll leave it to others to decide if I have memorable characters (I’d like to think I do, but who knows what readers think) and the other elements you describe.
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Thanks, they are what they are, and I’m happy with them, though I also know the limits of my talent. As I said, reading is subjective, so these lists or the classics are, in the end, just books, that work or don’t for every reader.
Part of this discussion stems from watching a college English professor talk about books, and why this or that one is great. He makes is judgements on all sorts of things, like themes, prose, etc, that I don’t consciously pay attention to in reading, and consequently, in my writing.
In the end, the moment your book goes out the door, it isn’t yours anymore, it’s the readers, and it is what they think it is.
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My ambition is to write a book like “Dune” or “Starship Troopers”; a book the people keep coming back to and interpreting and writing in-depth analysis about. A book that has fiction nerds like me in the future constantly saying, “Like it says in [Berthold Gambrel’s Magnum Opus]… a novel with eerie relevance to the present day…”
And I’ll probably never do it, because I’m just not smart or original enough. My ideas are all second rate; pale ghosts of ideas already brought vividly to life by better writers. I am Salieri to their Mozart; a mere wannabe, forever in their shadows.
That’s why I also pursue my secondary objective, which is to be the critic who discovers and popularizes the next great writer.
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Don’t get discouraged. It takes time, and for most of us, a lot of time. All my published books I started writing after I was 60 years old, after 40 years of dinking abound writing. There are geniuses who can write wonderful books while still young, but I think that many writers fail, even after getting a publishing contract, because they are too young, too new to the world, to write really well. Young people wanting to write are what keeps the how-to-write business thriving. I’m not sure there are any shortcuts to writing. You have to live awhile to write well.
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Thank you for the encouragement! 🙂
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I agree with you. I will never be a great writer, either. However, I am sure that there are far worse ones in the world who get more success than me. Because success depends on visibility too, not only on good writing, on luck and other variables one has no control over.
I have ambition – ambition to learn more, ambition to finish what I start (be it writing or reading or something else), ambition not to give up when the bad side of people shows freely and, sometimes, unexpectedly. I received also bad words of all kinds regarding my writing, which I know I would never deserve. They hurt… but, as one of my characters used to say, „what does not kill you, makes you stronger!” They knew no better, could understand no better… I have my path and I am going on it – „Traveller, there is no path, you forge it by walking!” (Antonio Machado and the singer Joan Manoel Serrat – Caminante, no hay camino).
For some writers, success means getting paid for writing and not needing a proper job/ career for paying bills. I don’t see things this way. I am retired. I had a job in project management/ European Affairs, I have brought enough EU funds to my country, now it’s the time for the younger colleague to assert themselves. The pension is what pays my bills. I write from passion, because my stories want out of my head and on paper/ screen, to arrive to other people. When it will feel like a second profession, I’ll give it up, because it would mean something got wrong inside me in the meanwhile.
For me, success is about finishing a story and having it read, understood, appreciated. I know that not everyone would like my writing, exactly how I don’t like some good writers’, because I don’t resound with their stories, but I believe that each writer has her readers/ fans. I know some people are waiting for my novels to be published, and this is a success. I have reviews and chronicles, and this is success. I have a fan who sends me every year a knitted doll. All these mean success and appreciation. It doesn’t matter that it is at small scale.
It was a success to have some of my books displayed at the international book fair, even if there weren’t many sold. How could they compete with the big titles and price reductions at the big publishing houses? How would they be chosen, if not by someone who knew already about my name and my writing style? Not many people gamble on reading books by new Romanian contemporary writers…
It was a success to receive two literary prizes and to qualify for being published in anthologies for poetry and short fiction, even in the cases that I didn’t win a prize, because, naturally, others were better. Actually, in 3 years and a half from the literary debut, having ten published books (yes, the tenth is on the way, still in December!) and works in 7 anthologies (I think) and in several issues of 3-4 literary magazines, is more of a success than I’d think…
Of course I’d wish for more readers, for my books to be easier to discover by the readers… For more chronicles too, in order to be able to fill the form for the National Writers’ Union. But things will come in their own time, if they are meant to come. I am not a genius, just an average writer among many YA writers. It is enough, because people need books like mine, exactly how they need many other kinds of books. And success doesn’t always mean laurels and a money rain.
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Your writer’s journey illustrates what I was saying to Berthold – the journey often takes time, talent, and dedication, as well as the ambition to succeed. Alas, success is often little more than a lottery. Having written your story or book, submit or publish it, you’ve only purchased the lottery ticket. There are certainly things you can do to increase the odds of winning, but, as so many writers I’ve seen interviewed have said, in the end, it was a lucky break that opened the door for them and made that lottery ticket a winner.
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