7 Things I Hate And Love About Fiction

Writing Lessons Learned From Devouring 56 Novels Last Year

Photo by Chris Benson on Unsplash

I’ve consumed over fifty fiction books in the last twelve months. That number includes both reading and audiobooks. As a writer, I’ve learned to take notes about what I liked and disliked about the novels I read.

I do exercise this to teach myself what makes a good story, and more importantly, what can ruin one. Whenever I skim over passages or increase the playback speed on an audiobook to 2X, I ask myself why. What made me want to skip ahead? It’s not a perfect science, but neither is art.

Avoid Unnecessary Information (But Not Always)

Conventional wisdom teaches us that useless information should be edited out. If it doesn’t move the story along it doesn’t belong. I mostly agree with this, but I’m not a hardcore believer.

I’ve dug into a few hardcore science fiction novels that berate the reader with endless technical details that only distract from the story. I find the vomiting of technical jargon, pedantic background details, and esoteric facts a self-indulgent act as if to say “look at all the research I’ve done.”

In some circumstances, extra tidbits of info can enhance the story. It can provide insight into the world…