Hi! I was reading your book geek out post and I saw that you were reading The Coldest Girl in Cold Town! I love Holly Black, one of my top authors, but I honestly didn't like that book... at all- well, no the first chapter was very good and because of that I read it all in one sitting, but the rest I didn't enjoy! I wanted to know your thoughts on it so far!

I really liked it! It was a good fun read, the plot and the character arcs made sense within themselves staying true to the motives and behaviour that had been set up which I really appreciated. It did what it promised and that opening really was hella good, as were certain twists. Like, I knew it was coming because I write so much that it really takes a lot for a good twist to surprise me, but it was still a great moment. 

 I don’t know if I’d like it as much the second time round, but it was a perfect fit for me for the few days and mood I read it in. 

Also, Gavriel. Oh lord Gavriel. 

I really like Holly Black from what I’ve read of her so far.

In the case that I have the “rough sketch” of both the ending and the beginning of my fiction story what do I do to keep the story interesting to the end? Do I need to add sub-plots, Character arcs? I’m lost. How can I make it more enjoyable to read?

If you only have a rough sketch of a beginning and an endthen you don’t have a story, you have two rough scenes. You’re essentiallyasking me how to write an entire story (and have it be good) so you’ll find thebasic answer to that in the “Plot and Story Structure” tag. You may have toread through a few different posts to get a complete picture.

For the rest of your question, you don’t have to addsub-plots, but they certainly help add depth to a story. The important thing to remember is that they aren’t there to pad astory out or be an “extra adventure” – they need to add to the main plot andhelp drive it forward. If a subplot seems meaningless to a reader, thatmeans that it was either poorly written, poorly integrated into the story, orboth. A good subplot can’t be taken out of the story without some sort of hole,but they’re separate from the main plot in that they aren’t a directcause-effect player in the outcome. A subplot can affect a main occurrence, butit can’t be the sole reason for its distance (or then that’s actually part ofthe main plot). One thing newer writers struggle with is juggling multiplesubplots, which I also have a post to help with (link embedded).

Character arcs aregenerally quite important because they mean you have dynamic characters whogrow and develop over time, which is a big driver in making sure a story isinteresting. Don’t Be Afraid of The Static Character (link embedded), butmost stories don’t benefit from them unless they’re heavily plot-based, like amystery. Typically, character arcs come from interaction with conflict and thisprevious post (link embedded) goes over how to make sure those arcs make adifference.

Enjoyability of a read highly depends on what you’rewriting. Adding horror elements to what’s supposed to be solely a romance novel(when it isn’t properly marketed or the author isn’t honest in the summary)isn’t going to score you any points with your general audience. Poor quality ofwriting can hurt enjoyability, as can plot holes, overly convenient events,fake-sounding dialogue or characters, unnecessary additions that take up too muchspace, etc.. Generally, you want to look at the genre you write in to get anidea of reader expectations and preferences (particularly the best-sellers orhighly rated books) and know that if you try and subvert expectations then youhave to work with the tropes rather than against them. Claiming to write a typeof story that’s “nothing like anything else” is a good way to lose majority ofan audience because genres are defined by expectations, and sense of familiarityoften helps potential readers pick things up.

Another thing you can think about it: What do you find enjoyable to read? You shouldn’t completely throwaway the opinions of others, but you have to write this thing so it should besomething you actually want to write. The interest of an author helps greatlyin upping quality of work— it’s like how an audience tends to find speechesmore enjoyable if the speaker is passionate and knowledgeable.

But like I said before, at the core of your question is justasking how to write a good story, which is the goal of pretty much any writer. Thisblog has many resources beyond just the links I gave and I recommend you lookthrough them and do some personal research because every bit of advice I giveis about writing a better story.

Good luck with everything!

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I want to one day publish a few WIPs I've been working on for a while now, but over the last year or so I've been suffering more and more from chronic fatigue and other medical issues. I find I'm able to write in spurts, some times more coherently than others, but I'm wondering if publishing is a realistic goal for me, at least right now. I suppose if anything I should keep in mind self-publishing, because of my broken schedule?

I think self-publishing is the smarter move for you, sinceyou’d be a first-time author and publishing companies are very unlikely to getbehind (or would quickly drop) someone with no name who has severe trouble meetingdeadlines for a project.

Remember that publishing is a business and they employwriters to get money. Any sort of first-time author is a risk for an agencybecause that author doesn’t have much of a reputation to drive sales, thereforeyou must prove yourself worthy of their investment. It’s completely possiblefor someone with chronic fatigue and other issues to get published, but itwould likely be a hard struggle to find a company that’s willing to deal withthe constant pushed-back deadlines and delayed production. An author whoalready has a following and reputation can often take leave for health withouttoo much trouble. Companies also expect (AKA write it into your contract so youcan’t just back out anytime you want) for you to market your work, which meanstraveling and showing up to book signings, conventions, hosting meet-and-greets,basically a lot of things that require extended stamina and time. An authorthat can’t do that is a liability for book sales because print books have tosell at a higher amount than self-published (or e-books) to make money.

Since I’m recommending the self-publishing route, here aresome things to keep in mind:

If you self-publish and get successful enough, there’s achance that a publishing house may want to take you under their wing, and atthat point you’d probably have enough of a reputation that your health issueswouldn’t be a concern for the company.

Good luck with your potential publishing!

Thinking of asking a question? Please read the Rules and Considerations to make sure I’m the right resource, and check the Tag List to see if your question has already been asked.