: Re: Is it bad if I don't like the "best" books in my chosen genre? (This question is about reading but it pertains to writing as well). I write fantasy, and as a result, I've read a lot of

@Odierno164

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I notice the books you don't like you consider "too long", "too long for something to happen", "too boring"...

Despite you saying you like characters, longer books without much happening are likely character-driven; i.e. there is less plot and more character development.

There actually isn't a lot of character development in Harry Potter, it is much more of a mystery/action series than a character-driven series. Just like Sherlock Holmes was an interesting character, but not a well-developed character; we watch Sherlock through the window called Dr. Watson, we don't know what Sherlock feels like or what it feels like to be Sherlock. We watch Sherlock like we watch a stage magician; we don't read Sherlock as if we are Sherlock, we don't see his uncertainties or insecurities or regrets or guilt or inadequacies, or even how he feels about his drug addiction (just that he dismisses it as an issue).

You don't have to love character-intimate fiction; but it sells very well. So does mystery/action, so does horror. If you can be more specific about what you don't like in the stories you wouldn't read again, which passages or scenes you don't like or are uncomfortable with and which you do like, then you will go a long way toward defining the type of story you like and would like to write.

I agree with Galastel; there is absolutely nothing obvious about liking Harry Potter. JK Rowling is technically not a great writer. She gets an A for plotting and writing a mystery, an A+ at pleasing young adults, an A+ for imagination, but only a C for writing. This is probably why "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was rejected 12 times.

You will become a better writer if you use some analytic skill to figure out why you like some books and why you dislike other books. That is how you learn who your audience is, and what you want to avoid writing about, and what you need to fill the pages with instead. Perhaps you just want action or physical conflict or more danger every dozen pages, or continuous mystery and clues, or more comedy, or more new magic every few pages.

There is nothing wrong with not liking some fantasy; but there is something wrong with not bothering to understand why you don't like it. If you aspire to be a professional, you will take the time to understand. It will improve your writing.

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