A Matter of Curiosity by Erik Smetana

I've mentioned before that I am in the home stretch of completing a MFA in writing, something I did more for my own selfish personal enjoyment. So last night sitting there in a room of writers the question came up (I'm going to paraphrase here), "Imagine you had never written a story before, what would you want/need to learn first?"

Some people shouted out plot, a few said setting, others characterization (this resulted in some comments that you can't just have aimless characters with nothing to do and nowhere to do it at), pacing, POV, voice (not sure if this is actually teachable, but okay) and on and on.

Flipping the question on it's ear for a moment, what as a reader is important to you in a story?

What makes one story better, in general, than another? I'll admit that I read Chuck Palahniuk because of the voice (and wit) which some critics have described as a college-educated Oregonian 30-something male, but I digress. I read Steve Berry because of the quick pace and the action, his books are the sort that I can sit down with on a rainy Sunday afternoon and zip through. I find myself mesmerized by the characters in John Green's books, so much so that my personal library has gone from zero Green titles to three (all of his books) in a matter of weeks. My point is, I read different writers for different reasons, but in the end I suppose it all comes down to one thing: a good story.

So, why do you read who you read? What is it in a given writer's ability to cobble together a story that makes it work? Are you drawn to particular keys over and over, across many writers? Or are you a bit like me and go for different books for various reasons?

And for the writers reading this, what do you consider your strongest area? Where do you need improvement? What resources would help you improve? Just some food for thought.

Note: Don't you just love PostSecret, especially the extra bizarre ones (see the pic above)?