And the single most important element of a novel is...

[douglas_clegg]

Thank you for the many "one word" responses here, and also for those who explained their choices.

Character, story, voice, passion, conflict, strong-ending, timing, emotion, connection, discovery.  So far, "character" has dominated the list.

And novelist Laura Anne Gilman's response: "readers," is also very true.

All the things a writer should keep in

Comments

I agree and.........

[dracschick]

that is why I write as well. It's the characters that can make or break a story.

[allaboutm_e]

:: waves :: Dude! You're on LiveJournal! Who knew? (Wiser minds than me, obviously...)

[douglas_clegg]

I'm everywhere, apparently. That's a great picture of the pup. Is that beast yours, M'e?

[allaboutm_e]

That's our beloved deceased Muffin. This is the also deceased loved only by me Grenedine. Our live pets don't get icons, but they do get blogged about on a regular basis. Speaking of which, make sure your cupboards don't have any of the wet food from the recent recall...
http://www.menufoods.com/recall/index.html

[douglas_clegg]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about Muffine and Grenedine. They're very, very cute.