What is Your Reading Doorway? > Likes and Comments

Inspired by this article: (https://teralynnchilds.com/nancy-pear...) and a few recent conversations here on GR, What is your reading doorway? What makes you fall in love with a book? And maybe stick it out when it has flaws?

Story— Plot. Action. The sequence of events that the character(s) go through to reach the end. These are page turners, the books you can’t put down, and that keep you needing to find out what happens next.

Character — People. Protagonists. Villains. Heroes. The cast of characters who embark on the story. Books in which the characters feel real and you miss them when the book is over.

Setting — Worldbuilding. This is what makes you feel like you’re in another place or time (or even this exact place and time). Makes the world feel familiar, and makes you want to live in or visit that place.

Language — Words. Grammar. Style. These books make you want to savor every word, to the point where you’re not sure you even know or care what the book is about.

Or a different doorway altogether??

Character is my preferred doorway. I am a sucker for an ensemble cast where every character has depth and is realistically written, but I'll stick around for interesting villains and other well-written characters.

I'll forgive some bad character writing if the world-building is interesting enough. And I'll endure a deeply flawed book if it has literary merit (Language doorway).

I am the most forgiving in plot. I am typically very willing to suspend my disbelief and buy into a story's premise, as long as the characters are believable.

Character and preferably first person POV.

Character is also my preferred doorway. I’ll read just about anything for a well developed and interesting character.

But I’ll also say it depends somewhat on the genre.

Character would be the overall pick. But I read a lot of thrillers, and I’d say for that genre character matters less, plot matters much more. Worldbuilding matters not at all and language matters only a little.

For the more literary books I read it’s more character and language, some worldbuilding (I guess depending on the subgenre, whether it’s speculative or not), less plot. Like Station Eleven. I could kinda tell you what happens in that book? But mostly what stands out to me are the characters and the language. I love her writing.

And then you have your SFF where thought provoking worldbuilding might be higher on the list.

So what I love about a book changes from book to book/genre to genre.

This is surprisingly hard for me to answer. I consider all of those aspects to be important, but I wouldn't say that any of them are critical for my enjoyment. For me, the way that they are used together matters more than any single one of them.

For example - I wouldn't consider the language in either of the current BOTMs to be all that beautiful. Outlaw Planet is a kind of rootin' tootin' informal slang, and kind of talks around the thing it's saying, while Birth of a Dynasty is very direct and straightforward in the way its written. But each of them fit the story that they are telling, in their own ways.

If I had to choose a single "doorway", lately for me, it would be "meaningfulness". What do I GET out of it? Does it have a purpose for existing? Is it saying something to the world?

That's not to say that every book I read must have meaning - sometimes a fun story is just a fun story - but that's what I tend to gravitate towards in my own reading selections. Books that have something to say, something meaningful (even if that's just to me) about them.

For me, character is probably most important, and a main character that I really dislike or can't connect to can cause me to stop reading (or angrily force myself to finish). Similar to Sarah, the others can be genre-dependent. I'm perfectly happy to read a more reflective story that has great characters and language and not a lot of plot. If I'm reading a mystery, though, plot is very important.

Language is often what pushes a book into five-star territory for me (if it also strong in the other doorways). I appreciate world-building when it's done skillfully, woven into the story.

Another big doorway for me is hard to describe - it's kind of like if the book has a puzzle. Not in the mystery sense, like you're solving something, but if the author trusts the reader to put things together as they read. So, you don't get all of the information up front, but you figure it out as you go. This is something I'm really enjoying about the current BOTM, Outlaw Planet. I really loved this aspect of books like Ninefox Gambit and The Spear Cuts Through Water, which were also strong in some of these other aspects. Spear, in particular, hit all the marks for me - puzzle, character, world-building, language, plot (although I remember this least of all).

Character is first with world-building a close second. A well-developed plot and interesting language can raise the rating if I write a review. Obvious grammatical mistakes in the narrative/description always lower a rating (not an issue for dialogue, that's how people talk).

Kaia wrote: "Another big doorway for me is hard to describe - it's kind of like if the book has a puzzle. Not in the mystery sense, like you're solving something, but if the author trusts the reader to put things together as they read. So, you don't get all of the information up front, but you figure it out as you go. This is something I'm really enjoying about the current BOTM, Outlaw Planet."

Agreed! I mentioned liking this aspect in the Outlaw Planet discussion. I would agree that this is a doorway for me too. I like the process of experiencing and figuring out a story.

Character. Definitely character. Give me a low caste underdog who wants to save their people/world and will do whatever it takes to accomplish it. Smart-assery gets extra points.

Also story. I like a lot of action, fast pace, twisty plot. Humor draws bonus points.

Setting, meh.

Language? I like plain because I'm more interested in the plot. Some fancy prose and eloquent phrases, okay, but that's not why I come to a story. And it for hell's sure isn't why I stick around.

Mai wrote: "Language? I like plain because I'm more interested in the plot. Some fancy prose and eloquent phrases, okay, but that's not why I come to a story. And it for hell's sure isn't why I stick around."

Charles de Lint snags me with his language and writing skills

I need to engage with a character. I really struggle with books where all of the characters are unlikeable. For me, reading is about escape, immersion, and enjoyment. (Doesn't always have to be happy, but I do have to enjoy the story, if that makes sense.)

I guess, to answer this question I have to look at the books that are objectively flawed but that I still like (to love a book it needs to fire on at least three of the four cylinders preferably all four). So doorway parameters... it has to be some blend of story and worldbuilding that is delivering on cool ideas.

Setting, without question. The doorway that pulled me in was always a world that felt bigger than what was shown on the page. If I sense the author knows more than they're telling, I'm in. Character gets me to stay. Language is what I notice once I've already decided I love the book.

I think the introduction of the plot draws me in at first. If the author guides me into the story in an intriguing way, I'll stay for the next chapter. Thereafter, it's the characters that hold my interest.

It also depends on which genre of fiction I am reading. With Western fiction, the plot tends to be stronger and more interesting. With Eastern fiction, I find that the characters tend to be the strong point and retain my interest.

CBRetriever wrote: "Mai wrote: "Language? I like plain because I'm more interested in the plot. Some fancy prose and eloquent phrases, okay, but that's not why I come to a story. And it for hell's sure isn't why I sti..."

Ya got me. I'll look up Charles de Lint and see what I find.

Interesting thread! For me, Setting is the most attractive doorway to access a novel. Character and then Story follow close behind. When these elements are thoughtfully constructed, I don’t mind wading through some typos, grammatical screw-ups, and formatting hiccups. However, a well edited book is highly appreciated, of course. Perfect language use shows that the book was made with love and care by a team, and that sort of genuine sentiment rubs off on the reader, makes us feel really respected. So even if it’s my last preferred doorway, Language is the arbiter of all final impressions.

It is the plot that always sucks me in. I am especially intrigued when there is a question or a mystery involved. I like it when a book asks questions and makes me think differently.

Character is my doorway, and I prefer deep third-person narration. I like being close enough to a character’s thoughts and feelings that I experience the story through their perspective.

What really pulls me in is understanding them. I don’t have to share their experiences or agree with their choices, but I want to understand why they feel and act the way they do. When that connection is there, they feel like somebody real.

Melanie wrote: "Inspired by this article: (https://teralynnchilds.com/nancy-pear...) and a few recent conversations here on GR, What is your reading doorway? What makes you fall in love with a b..."

Story is number one, followed by character. Story for me is the essence of a book, if the premise is interesting, the plot does not annoy me, if there are not much tropes done bad, if it is not too predictable, I usually stick till the finish line.

I don't think I mind any POV as long as it is done well.
I think a book that deserve four to five stars for me is the one with a good story and memorable character(s). Not all have those.

Language was almost always not an issue, but more the writing itself. Repetitive, flowery, purpleprosey books would always get lower rating from me. I just don't have a lot of time - so many books waiting!

Its character connection initially… but it’s relationships that make me love a book.

It's plot as a doorway. At the book store or looking online, it's plot that publishers use to draw you in. A well-established work can draw you in with characters but mostly, for me, it's plot.

What I'm reading here is what makes a book MEMORABLE. And for me, it's language. Pure and simple. A book with a good plot that is poorly written makes a book forgettable; the basis for a good character is the writing; world-building is best when the author builds it into his story without it sounding like a lower grade history book--the use of language.

I like the verbosity of Dickens and Dumas and the minimalist style of Hemingway, Carver and Steinbeck; Likewise, I know I can buy a book by Mieville or Moorcock and trust that the writing will carry me through story, character and setting lulls.

agreed about the language - The Name of the Wind had wonderful writing. Charles de Lint is the same

With some books, I find them a struggle to read, but I never DNF a book, once you start reading a book you have to finish it, but some books (like Bookshops and Bonedust) I can relate to right away and it'll take me days to read, cause it's easy to read and visulize the story.

I think if I can't "get to know" the characters well enough (at least the main ones) and the writing style is difficult for me, then the story/setting don't matter.

So...

1- Writing
2- Characters
3- Story
4- Setting