I have often wondered how it is that some books are published.  Even more so I wonder how some moves/TV shows get made.  You read the book and somehow never manage to make it out of the first chapter, or you get up during the show and watch the commercials (say where is that remote anyway).  Certainly they are not the edge of your seat story that sucks you in until you forget what time it is or that you have only three hours before you have to up for work.

So what is the difference?  What makes one so boring you can't  pick it up and the other one so exciting you are sorry when it is over?  It is the story telling.  Good story telling can overcome genre preferences, author biases, and even typos.  For example, while I was working on a story on my iPad, I printed up a copy to share with my friends.  Thanks to the app and auto correct, there were typos and missing words all over the place; however, because my friends were into the story, the only person to notice these errors was me.  My friends were into the story.  They wanted to know how it would end.  They wanted to know about certain characters.  They did not care that in was a "hot mess."

Books, movies, TV shows, and the lot, succeed or fail based not on the special effects (though some may argue that), the stars involved, or even the author himself, but rather how well the story is told.  Sometimes, if the story is bad enough, it actually captures our attention on another level, perhaps the freak show level (or recent times, Sharknado comes to mind).  Yet, for us as human beings, we need the story to entertain us and for us as writers, we need to perfect the art of story telling, to keep the interest of those we wish to entertain.  So here's to perfecting our craft!

Why do I write?  At one time in my life, I wrote because I was bored.  A late night job, alone with nothing else to do, or perhaps just not feeling motivated to do anything particular.  Whatever the reason all it took was any piece of paper and a writing utensil to entertain myself.  Oddly enough, it would also entertain anyone who found a carelessly discarded napkin.  Needless to say, though it entertained me (and maybe a friend or two) it was never all that great.  Later, when I wrote my first screenplay on a dare, I found that I really enjoyed creating stories for other people.  Now, after over fifteen years of studying the art of story telling, I write because I want to tell the story I like.