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The dictionary defines the X factor as “a quality that you cannot define that makes someone or something very special.” The judges on the X Factor reality shows claim to know which singers have this indefinable quality; the members of the public sometimes have different ideas.
The same applies to novels. I’m
not talking about professional critics versus the reading public, but about how
different people can have very different ideas about what gives a book the indefinable
X factor.
Has anyone ever recommended a
book to you –and then you’ve read it (or maybe just started to read it) and
wondered whatever they saw in it? That’s happened to me several times.
I’ve seen plenty of articles online
that tell us the ‘essentials’ for a successful novel but, in the end, it’s not
the writing tutor or even the writer who can pinpoint the X factor. It’s the
readers – and, of course, their perceptions of that X-factor are individual to
each of them. That's very apparent when you look at reviews, which can range from 1 star to 5 stars for the same book. Each review is valid, because it represents that person's reaction to the story.
As writers, we can’t hope to
please all the readers all the time. All we can hope is that some of them find
that 'indefinable quality' in our stories.
Very true, Paula. It's a bit like the 'wow' factor that someone has on entering a home while others can dislike what they see. It is all down to individual taste. Now if someone could bottle the X factor they'd soon be millionaires!
ReplyDeleteIt would be a different 'bottle' for everyone, though, wouldn't it? :-)
DeleteReading is so very subjective. What 'does it' for one person might not for another.
ReplyDeleteMy friends and I tend to have similar tastes, but every so often, someone will recommend a book or vice versa that just doesn't resonate.
I doubt that there's any book that every single person likes!
DeleteThe x-factor can be a kismet thing. Stars align, destiny comes to fruition. Someone becomes an 'instant' sensation.
ReplyDeleteIt's a big world. Reading preferences are diversified by culture and generation. People flock from viral to viral.
I don't have the x-factor, but I have a Y.
Sometimes the 'instant' sensation is due more to the publisher's or media hype, and doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of the book!
DeleteUnfortunately, that "X factor" is subjective to each reader. What appeals to one person won't to someone else. All we can do is write the best book we can and hope someone likes it.
ReplyDeleteExactly!
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