What Every Story Should Be

Here’s a quote from Donald Maass, in The Fire In Fiction, about the manuscripts he sees:

“Lackluster stories turn up every day, too, in the submissions sent to my literary agency in New York. The manuscripts of published and unpublished authors alike too often lie flat on the page. They fail to engage, to excite my imagination. Feeling little for the characters and unenthusiastic about where the story may go, I scribble notes for my rejection letters.

“Then there are those manuscripts that lift off. From the first sentence, I am immediately drawn into the world of the story. The protagonist is someone about whom I immediately care. Secondary characters come alive, and even the antagonist surprises me. I cannot help but read every page as the author unfolds his purpose, whether it is to scare me, to satirize, to uplift me, or just to amaze me.”

I read this and thought, “Oh, yes! That’s what every story should do.” I’m so disappointed when they don’t, especially when a story is really well written, but doesn’t quite work. The ‘almosts’ are the worst, for me.

And so, back to work, striving to make my stories lift off.

Maureen