Essay, Research Paper: Three Rules For A Good Book

The two books that I read this summer are: "California Blue" by David Klass, and
"Mr. Tucket" by Gary Paulsen.
"There are three rules for writing a good book. Unfortunately no one knows what
they are". That quote was said by W. Somerset Maugham. Every Author has their own
three rules. I came up with my own. The three rules that I think are the most important.
The first rule that I think every book should have is a good opening sentence, and
the whole structure of the beginning has to be good. In the first sentence the Author has
to grab the reader, so that the reader will want to keep on reading. In the first book that I
read "Mr. Tucket" by Gary Paulsen, the Author started out with this sentence "Francis
Alphonse Tucket came back to life slowly". This is a good starting sentence because it
makes the reader wonder what had happened before. What happened that made Francis
unconscious, or maybe he was dead, and was brought back to life using smoked of a Alien
device. At this point no one knows. You have to read on to find out, and before you notice
it you are half way into the book. However in the second book that I read by David Klass
"California Blue" the Author took a whole different approach. He started with this sentence
"I don't know why running through a redwood forest always made me think of death". In
this case the Author started in the middle of the book. This is the first time when I read a
book that started like that. It was kind of confusing because I didn't know what was going
on, until the Author started going back and telling what happened to the character that
made him run through the woods, and than he continued on with the book. It makes the
reader want to keep on reading to find out what is going on. To find out why is the
character running through the woods, is somebody chasing him? Both of these books
make the reader wonder what is going to happen next, they grab the reader and make
him read on. Books with good opening sentences are the ones that get read in one sitting.

The second rule that I think is very important is a good subject. The subject has to
be interesting, so that the reader would be interested in reading the book. The author has
to pick a subject that would interest the reader. Every reader likes something different.
Personally I like books that I can either relate to or books that have action in them. The
book "Mr. Tucket" by Gary Paulsen, is about cowboys and Indians. They shoot guns all the
time. Mr. Tucket is a 14 year old boy who is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians, he gets
rescued my Mr. Grimes. Mr. Grimes teaches him how to survive in the wild. While doing
that they get chased by Indians, almost killed by a bear, Mr. Grimes gets shot, and so on.
This book is like an action ride from beginning to end. However the second book that I
read is way different. It is more spiritual. "California Blue" by David Klass is about a young
boy who gets cough up in lives problems. As a teenager he is interested in running the
track, and butterflies. Neither of there pursuit are understood by his family. He likes
running the track, while his dad and brother always play football. They expect him to like
football too. This book is the kind of a book that I can relate too. My family never
understands what I like and what I want to do. My parents always expect me to be
someone that I'm not. That is why I picked this book to read, I could relate to it. Picking a
subject for a book isn't always easy. Whatever the Author chooses is never going to satisfy
everyone.

The last rule that is also important is the theme, or moral. Theme is what you get out
of the book, what you learn from it. Reading a book and not getting anything out of it
would be pointless. Every book has a lesson to learn from it. Reading "California Blue"
tough me allot. It thought me how to deal with lives problems, and to always go for what
you think is right, not for that what everyone else thinks. For example: John Rogers, main
character, had to choose between saving a butterfly which turns out to be an unknown
species, or between the lumber mill. Which would have to be closed in order to save the
butterfly. Every man in the town worked in that mill. Everyone in town expected him to
forget about the butterfly and keep things the way they were before, but he didn't listen
to them, he did what he thought was right, and he saved the butterfly. The second book
"Mr. Tucket" though me not judge people by the way they look. For example: Mr. Tucket
wanted to have a shooting contest with Mr. Grimes. He bet money that he could win, he
thought that he could win because Mr. Grimes had only one arm. Well he lost, it turns out
that Mr. Grimes is twice as fast as Mr. Tucket. Mr. Tucket judged his opponent by what he
looked like, not by his skill. Some books have hidden themes, that you have to look deep
for, while others have open themes, that may mean different things to different people.

Those are my three rules for good writing. When ever I write I try to follow them.