Books should be fun!

That's right, fun.

If you're reading a novel, it should be a hugely enjoyable experience. If it isn't, something's wrong and you ought to put it down and try a different one. Life's too short to read fiction without deriving a lot of pleasure from it.

Books should be as much fun as this!

Authors need to remember that they're in the entertainment business.

Readers should (and often do!) judge books harshly if they don't entertain.

This doesn't apply only to genre writing. If you write literary fiction, that doesn't let you off the hook when it comes to the need to entertain your audience.

Non-fiction books can depart from this rule to some extent. Sometimes the need to know a fact is so great that it outweighs any reservations you have about the style in which it's delivered.

But take note: some non-fiction writers are capable of pyrotechnics which put the majority of novelists to shame. Tom Holland, for instance. have you read any of his history books? If not, you might want to take a look. As a reader, you'll discover some wonderful new reading pleasures. As a writer, you'll learn a lot about injecting dramatic tension into a narrative. Tom Holland really is that good.

If a non-fiction author can produce a gripping text, there's no excuse for fiction writers failing to do the same.