liking

I'm doing an exercise. Cringe. Hate them. But this one is pretty good, I think. And easy. You write what you like about books you read in one column. You write what you don't like in another. Then, when you write a story, you do what you like and ignore what you don't. It's a way to achieve your own style and voice. And, it's taken me FAR TOO LONG to come to this realization.

So in the LIKE:

• Straightforward language in narrative.
• Snapshot descriptions.
• Dialogue with conflict and tension, very unbalanced, lots of questions, cutting off, redirection.
• Concise internal narrative that contradicts action or adds to character.
• Powerful, simple premise.
• Some premises just for fun.
• Detailed worlds shown mostly through character.
• Complicated plots via conflicting goals.
• When the premise and plot tell the story.
• Plenty of room for reader interpretation.
• Combining ordinary elements in extraordinary ways.
• Violence, hatred, dedication, revenge - emotions and actions that take me outside my comfort zone
• Exploration of evil
  

I have some stuff in the don't like column of course, but I thought I'd just stay positive for today. Like in critique, we learn a lot from what we like and what we do well.

What do you like?