Feelings

I have noticed something about good books versus great books.  A good book will hold your interest, intrigue you, keep you guessing.  And when you are done you might recommend it to a friend.  You may or may not read it again.

A great book, in my opinion, makes you feel.  How it makes you feel can vary greatly.  You may feel rage or fear, joy or sadness, outrage or contentment.  Does the book make you cry or smile involuntarily?  Does it make you want to get up and right the wrongs in the world?  Does it satisfy, as if a warm blanket were wrapped around you?

I have used this test on my own writing.  Stories that make me feel, even though I wrote them, are my best.  Others that are interesting, but don't really make me care about anything in particular, I know are lacking.

I'm not sure that some types of feelings I will ever be good at writing.  I don't know that I can invoke anger; I wouldn't be happy writing something so full of injustice to elicit such a response.  But I can write words that evoke emotions drawn from love.  We cry because we love, and we smile because we love.  And I can write about love because I have been greatly loved.  I grew up in  a loving home where I never doubted that my parents loved me.  That made it possible to go out into the world and love others and be loved by them.  And my parents still love me, and, to quote Robert Frost, "that has made all the difference."