: Re: How do I know what I'm writing is interesting to the reader? I'm starting to wrap up the gestation period of my first book - right now I have a notebook filled with a lot of observations

@Martha805

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The Room is about a man whose love life runs off the rails and ends in a brutal break-up. This is a topic that a lot of people are interested in. La La Land is about the same theme. Shrek seems like that's how it's going to end leading into the final act. I can't begin to list how many breakup songs have hit the top 10 charts.

The reason people don't like The Room isn't because the premise of the story is bad. It's because the movie was poorly executed. Honestly, you can probably make a story about any premise you want to. Would you be interested in reading a book about someone learning how to work at a post office? Apparently a lot of people would, because Terry Prachet's novel Going Postal is held in high regard. Would you read a book about a bunch of rich, stupid twenty-somethings going to Spain and getting drunk all the time? That's the plot to The Sun Also Rises, a cultural touchstone written by Ernest Hemingway. Heck, you can describe The Room as being about a spoiled rich guy who has awful relationships and then dies, and that's also the synopsis of The Great Gatsby.

Don't worry too much about whether your premise is workable. I contend you can make a good story out of literally any premise. What determines whether people will read your story or not is how well you've executed on your idea. So practice writing a lot, make multiple editing passes on your story, join a writing group, ask friends who can give honest critiques to read your work - do whatever it takes to be certain that your writing is solid, and your story will come alive.

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