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When you read, what engages you?
10 years ago
I suppose, as happens oft lately, conversations with my local writer friend are predestined to spawn these sorts of ramblings. Truthfully, I've been feeling the urge to make an entry in the journal lately, but I've had nothing of worth to express that wouldn't betray an impression of pretense. It's a unique position to be in -- when you've been around in the babyfur writing community for as "long" as I have, and when you've simultaneously gifted it as seemingly little as I have. Given that, I'm self-aware enough not to speak as an authority, as if my word had any value.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Perhaps it's the introversion, or perhaps it's the professional voice bubbling to the surface, but I don't typically enjoy centering the conversation around myself; I can be proud, confident, even arrogant and critical at times, but I'm too afraid of loosing my hold of my shadow, for fear of destroying what good standing I still have. Instead, if I'm to communicate, I would rather present a discussion we can all rally around.
So, as the title implies, I'd like to ask readers and writers alike a question -- one that I have a personal stake in asking.
What does it take for a story to engage you? What keeps your attention locked to the pages? In other words, what do you, personally, consider a "good read"? And -- most crucially -- why does it engage you?
To these questions, and more, I've found it harder to answer them as the types of stories I like to read have grown rarer in recent years. Anyone who has talked with me on the subject knows I don't flock toward typical fare; I'm more demanding than that. Just as everyone else, I have guilty pleasures all the same, but I could still tear them apart for their flaws without sentiment, like a bitter, angry vulture. Until recently, I could never parse why this was -- why I wanted to pen tales the community as a whole seemed to shift away from. I still feel, in keeping with my previous journal, that homogenization is rampant as ever in "babyfur writing." But as laughable as that phrase might seem, time and again I find exceptions to the rule, ones that prove this genre, above all, is still my home.
Introspection. Emotion. Conflict. Meaning. Depth.
Any one of these has the means to engage me, to grip me into their world, so long as they are genuine. I read to feel emotionally satisfied, not to feel better about myself. I read to immerse myself in fantasies, not to fulfill my own fantasies. I read to experience powerful, visceral, gut reactions, sensations I can't quite put into words but for their capacity to remind me...I'm still human. Above all, I read, and write, to share in the experience, mature as a person, and step away from reality into sprawling worlds painted with careful strokes.
None of these concepts are foreign to "babyfur" ideals, yet none of them are achieved without effort; they are neither inherent nor innate, but imparted. I hold them in my mind as a standard that every writer should aspire to, and anything that falls short can never interest me. It may sound dismissive or condescending, critical or pretentious, but it can never be truer than now. Should I ever favorite your work, take it as the highest compliment from someone harder to please.
I'm interested to hear everyone else's opinion on the subject. So, again: What engages you, and why?
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Perhaps it's the introversion, or perhaps it's the professional voice bubbling to the surface, but I don't typically enjoy centering the conversation around myself; I can be proud, confident, even arrogant and critical at times, but I'm too afraid of loosing my hold of my shadow, for fear of destroying what good standing I still have. Instead, if I'm to communicate, I would rather present a discussion we can all rally around.
So, as the title implies, I'd like to ask readers and writers alike a question -- one that I have a personal stake in asking.
What does it take for a story to engage you? What keeps your attention locked to the pages? In other words, what do you, personally, consider a "good read"? And -- most crucially -- why does it engage you?
To these questions, and more, I've found it harder to answer them as the types of stories I like to read have grown rarer in recent years. Anyone who has talked with me on the subject knows I don't flock toward typical fare; I'm more demanding than that. Just as everyone else, I have guilty pleasures all the same, but I could still tear them apart for their flaws without sentiment, like a bitter, angry vulture. Until recently, I could never parse why this was -- why I wanted to pen tales the community as a whole seemed to shift away from. I still feel, in keeping with my previous journal, that homogenization is rampant as ever in "babyfur writing." But as laughable as that phrase might seem, time and again I find exceptions to the rule, ones that prove this genre, above all, is still my home.
Introspection. Emotion. Conflict. Meaning. Depth.
Any one of these has the means to engage me, to grip me into their world, so long as they are genuine. I read to feel emotionally satisfied, not to feel better about myself. I read to immerse myself in fantasies, not to fulfill my own fantasies. I read to experience powerful, visceral, gut reactions, sensations I can't quite put into words but for their capacity to remind me...I'm still human. Above all, I read, and write, to share in the experience, mature as a person, and step away from reality into sprawling worlds painted with careful strokes.
None of these concepts are foreign to "babyfur" ideals, yet none of them are achieved without effort; they are neither inherent nor innate, but imparted. I hold them in my mind as a standard that every writer should aspire to, and anything that falls short can never interest me. It may sound dismissive or condescending, critical or pretentious, but it can never be truer than now. Should I ever favorite your work, take it as the highest compliment from someone harder to please.
I'm interested to hear everyone else's opinion on the subject. So, again: What engages you, and why?
Still, I see sort of a common theme among works I like. I love the characters. I don't mean I'm in love with them (though, Kyell Gold's Dev Miski, what a hunk), but, they captivate me. They've got rich inner lives, complex motivations, and have more of a reason behind their actions than deus ex machina.
Kyell Gold (he's a popular writer, just using him as an example) did a really great job at this...until "Shadow of the Father." It was hands down, one of the worst things I've ever read. Can you guess why? The main character was a winy, spoiled little brat who bumbled his way around, without any purpose at all, and had no inner life except whining about how much he hated his father for being gay and having a consort while simultaneously sleeping with his best friend.
By contrast, "Waterways" was one of the best things I've ever read. The deep struggles of the protagonist, Kory, with his sexuality, the beautiful gay romance, the deep themes of the book, about coming to terms with being gay...a masterpiece.
I'd say that really, it's about deep, complete characters. Great characters can carry the thinnest plot, but, even a great plot can be dragged down by stale, cardboard personalities.
It's not a hard concept and it gives any good story a hint of mystery. it also means that you don't have to dump tons of exposition about the main character right off the bat and let it build up naturally.
If the words on the page serve little purpose other to add to a word count or contain boring dialogue that has little impact on the story I tend to lose interest. Even if I'm reading smut I expect it to stay on subject and not go off on a tangent that goes no where.
A really good read makes some part of body feel something. There's a reason why there are phrases like "gut wrenching" and "heart pounding". They're the things that a make the difference between something that I might just read the first few chapters of and the thing that makes me finish something in a night. It's the problem I've had with several books that are part of a series (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was the first time I recognised the difference for me, personally) because I feel as though I'm trudging through stuff for the sake of the next one.
For me, when I'm writing, I try and keep everything concise but with enough description to keep the reader up to speed. It's a balance that I find really difficult to get, but it's worth aiming for.