You often wonder what makes a writer great. Some achieve fame overnight, while others get it posthumously. Some writers approach the purely whimsical, while others deal with burning social issues of the time. There have been great writers in every age all over the world, and the one thing that binds them together is that they have produced masterpieces that are still talked about and read today. There are no simple rules to be a great writer, but all great writers share a few simple traits that help them to achieve greatness. Read on to learn what these are.
1. Attention to detail
Great writers are able to help the readers enter the world they have conjured up in their book. This is only possible if great attention to detail has been given in the story. Detailed descriptions of the characters can help the reader see the person in their mind’s eye. Similarly, rich and lush descriptions of the setting can actually transport the reader into that world. Spinning words into a wonder of descriptive details, a great author builds up a fantasy land for the readers, which they willingly enter again and again.
2. Vivid imagination
Great fiction authors need to have a vivid imagination. To push the boundaries of literature by creating characters and worlds, which have come purely out of the author’s mind, authors must have the ability to use their functional knowledge of the world around them to embellish the world they create. Imagination is required for thinking up fresh plot-lines, to draw up interesting characters, and to make up breathtaking climaxes. Without imagination, there can be no fiction and there can be no storytelling. All great authors share this trait. Indeed, all fiction authors do.
3. Commitment to writing
A great author is not one who wants to write. A great author is one who needs to write. Writing is a skill, it is an art, it is a passion, but it is also a lifestyle. There is a high level of commitment required for those who are in the writing business. No matter what happens, authors need to continue writing past the inevitable failures, the disturbances by the mundane realities of life, and everything else that comes their way. Great authors are able to take everything in their stride and continue to pour their passion into their writing.
4. Storytelling skills
Before there were writers, there were raconteurs. Oral storytellers who went from village to village, telling stories spun out of thin air. Fiction writing is just a more sophisticated form of the storytelling of yore and great writers have the same art of storytelling in their blood. Without storytelling skills, a fiction book cannot sustain itself, irrespective of the genre. Great writers take pains to ensure that the reader is spellbound from the first sentence and maintains that equilibrium till the end of the book.
5. Research skills
No matter what kind of genre the book is about, it is important to stick to the basic rules. For example, an author writing detective fiction would do well to learn about the different methods of how detection actually takes place. Similarly, if the book’s setting is in a hospital, it makes sense to understand how hospitals operate. Hence, research is an important aspect of storytelling. Without solid research, the story appears shallow and worse, untrue. Great authors are also great at researching data and weaving the information within their stories to give the best possible results.
Image credit: Bill Bradford on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IMG_20141217_101736441.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Kavitha is a freelance content writer and French translator, and has been working in this field since 2008. She has degrees in computer applications and international business and has a background in business and international trade. She enjoys learning languages and is currently learning Japanese. Her interests vary from books and writing to travelling and history.[/author_info] [/author]