Quality Fiction

The first thing we look at when we receive a fiction manuscript is whether or not you know how to write. Do you understand point of view? Do you know how to involve the reader emotionally in your writing? Do you understand that the purpose of good fiction is not to tell a story, but to create an emotional experience for the reader? We can usually tell this within the first couple of pages. Most manuscripts are rejected because the writer apparently doesn't understand these principles, and thus the writing is what we call immature. If you do know how to write, then we will read further into the manuscript, and will judge it on the following criteria.

As we view it, the elements of quality fiction are, in order of importance:

1. Voice—Do you have something to say, and do you feel passionately about it? Does your passion show in your writing? Particularly, we are looking mostly for what you, the author, are saying with this novel? What is your point? What profound truths of life are you teaching us? We want what you are teaching us to be profound, thought-provoking, maybe something we hadn't thought much about before.
   At Mapletree, we are especially looking for works of fiction that have something to say. An engaging story written with beautiful style simply isn't good enough. For a book to be memorable, it needs to say something important about life, something that resonates deep within us.

2. Pace—Make us want to turn the next page, read the next chapter, find out what happens next, or discover the next revelation about the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Does your first page create enough tension for us to want to read the book? When people buy a book, they will typically look at the front cover, then the back cover, and then read the first page or two, and from there will decide whether or not to buy it. And if the buying public is interested in your book, then we are.

3. Character—Particularly, are your characters real and likable? Are they complicated (interesting) or simply one-dimensional (boring)? Do we care about them? Can we identify with them?

4. Plot—Many novels put plot first. It's fourth on our list. Often, the plot is developed from the development of the characters. And, while we want the plot to be believable and logical, we want surprises.

5. Style—While style is essential, it won't redeem a book that has nothing to say. The style needs to be there, though, for quality fiction. The author needs to do more than just tell a story. She or he needs to skillfully draw the reader into the story emotionally and carefully adhere to the principles of great writing. For more information about this, please see our page about fiction style.

6. Believability—It helps if the setting has been researched so that the details are correct. However, sometimes correct details aren't believable, so believability has a dimension beyond accuracy. If the book isn't accurate, is the author convincing enough to get us to believe it?