A novel has a plethora of different story elements that work together to make an amazing book. However, many of the more famous and mainstream novels focus way too much on the plot and the action and just poorly develop rather badly written characters. Character development is the most important factor of a story. Plot is not nearly as important as the characters you experience the events of the story through.
The characters of a story must be relatable and likable, as well as grow as people. No amount of action can make up for that. After all, who cares about a monster attacking the protagonist if the characters have shallow personalities and superficial conflicts? These characters must be able to change throughout the course of the novel. In fact, there is really no need for an interesting plot if the characters are developed well in the novel. For example, my favorite book, The Book Thief, is focused primarily on the character development and the protagonists relationship with others. Almost every one of my friends I recommended this book to thought it was bland and tasteless. However, they themselves liked bland and tasteless novels, filled with forced love triangles, overly sappy romance, terribly written protagonists who seem to have multiple personality disorder, underdeveloped side characters, and mostly random deaths that contributed nothing to the overall story(See “My View on The Hunger Games” and “Why Divergent Sucks”). All of the books they liked, the super popular mainstream novels, always emphasized the action and either left out most of the important character development, or developed the characters with disgustingly horrific and clunky writing.
With all of these action-based-terribly-written-stories becoming the most popular dish, many of the genuinely exceptional stories get pushed to the bottom of the trash heap. A friend of mine literally said “If it has no plot, it’s automatically a terrible book” to my face. I thought that people who took the time and effort to read books would at least have some form of taste, but it seems like I was wrong. The development of a character’s personality and traits is more important than anything else a book has to offer.
Iced Tea With Vinegar 