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Q&A How Can I Reliably Find Well Written Novels?

Your problem is not merely that you want "novels which are well-done." You want writing styles you feel safe reading because you would feel happy imitating them. You are asking someone else, someon...

posted 8y ago by Lauren Ipsum‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-13T12:00:40Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25551
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T05:48:02Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25551
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T05:48:02Z (almost 5 years ago)
Your problem is not merely that you want "novels which are well-done." You want _writing styles you feel safe reading because you would feel happy imitating them._ You are asking someone else, someone who isn't you, to curate a list of source material for your creative output.

There's no way an anonymous or aggregate online source is going to be able to accomplish that for you. You need to sit down with a human being and present a list of novels and writers you appreciated, and why you liked them. Then that person might have a chance of assembling a list for you. We here can give you all manner of criteria (sales volume, age, notoriety, usage in schools) and they will all be useless if those particular works don't fit your personal vision.

Your best bet is to try a librarian, or several librarians. You want to find a human being who is really well-read over many genres and talk to that person or people to ask them "I like X and Y and Z because of 1 and 2 and 3. What other writers and novels _of that caliber_ or _with those qualities_ can you suggest?"

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-12-16T10:55:18Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 4