Good literature does not consist exclusively of good grammar and very sophisticated style. Of course, those elements contribute to the creative writting process. However, we can say without any doubt of being wrong, that good literature implies more than that. Much of the sucess of the story depends on how the reader react to it. Therefore, it should be the goal of every good writer to captivate the reader with each line of their work. Good fiction, -specially in the short story genre- is achieved only when the author move the reader to that special place where the reader's eyes are completely devoted to the lines on the page. Every expression, dialog, and pharse, sentence and word must be in its proper place . Every word count!
As master of the craft, we want the reader to be completely absorbed with the story. Most creative writing professors agree on this: Your first five pages are the most important ones. You want your readers to be hooked by your story while they interact with the characters and the instricacies of the story line. The reader's imagination will carry him to times and places dictated by the narrator, where everything is possible. Nothing can stop the reader now. The reader see himself in the story and now he want to solve the mystery, or find the answer to the puzzle or solve the conflicts of the victims or perhaps...fall in love. If it is a good story, the reader emotions will escalate to the point of wanting the conflict to be resolve. The thinking ability and perceptions of the reader will allow him to follow the plot like a hawk does to its pray, without letting go until the end. At last, at the "punto finale" of the story the reader will experience a sense of awe. The reader has found himself perplexed with the ending but it does not matter anymore. The reader had lived every second of the story and now feels a complete satisfaction as he reads the last words : "The End". The reader has reached that state of marvel and profound joy, sadness or perhaps still in a pensative mood. Surprised perhaps, that he had caught himself smiling or happy after a profound sight. The reader now is thinking: "Wow, this applies to me". The author's creative writing skills allow him to play with the reader's emotions. Good fiction techniques such as character development, addictive, realistic plots and good structure are necessary to reach this wonderful effect on the reader. As readers, we are kept hypnotized until the end where vital lessons and realizations are learned via the narrator's voice. Lessons which might help us to live better or to avoid the perils of bad decisions in this wonderful experience we call life. That's good literature, when the author touch us all, regardless of nationality, background, education or social status. We might pass in life like a leaf in the field, but good literature remains for generations.