Ah, Unique Beauty has stolen my thunder! But seriously, we each have a perspective on the world that is unlike any other person's perspective. I taught an English Composition class once and was amazed how 20-odd students could take the same assignment question and develop radically different essays. Some responses were funny, some poignant, some thought-provoking and, I'm sorry to say, some quite dull.
The elements of good storytelling never change - solid characters, a central question or quest, a bit of tension or challenge to overcome, and then the resolution. I'd say this is true of fiction and nonfiction. What always changes is the experiences, the unique voice, that each author brings to his or her work.
This is one reason why I often grow tired of serial books or genre books that strictly follow a formula. I'll enjoy them for a while, but then they can grow tiresome and formulaic if the author is lazy or fears altering a winning formula. That's probably the genius of J.K. Rowling. "Harry Potter" was uniquely her own character - a character she imagined and owned. And because she was a writer who had no qualms about taking risks with a hugely successful formula, she wrote a series of books unlike any other in the "wizard" genre. She did this by introducing plot twists that upset readers (e.g., killing off well-liked characters). Did it upset her fan base? Absoutely. But it also kept her readers on their toes, waiting for the next "Harry Potter" book to appear. Now I'm not saying "Harry Potter" is necessarily representative of great literature, but I do appreciate the way it engaged young readers like few other books have and yet will also appeal to adult readers. It helped a lot of parents bond in a shared reading experience with their kids. How many authors can do that?
In addition to the special qualities of the author, changes in audience over their lifetimes or throughout time itself (decades and decades) also matter. Think of how many great novels were considered failures when they first appeared, only to be appreciated years and years later. Or think about books you've read in high school and hated, but then appreciated immensely reading them as adults.
Some authors have the gift of writing timeless novels. For example, my favorite American author is Mark Twain. I think his writing appeals to readers of any generation and during any period in history. I've read "Huckleberry Finn" countless times. Each time I read it, I delight in the author's word choices, the humor, and the profound underlying message the book delivers. I always find something new to ponder, catch a small surprise I hadn't noticed before. It's a book that grows along with you - read it as an adolescent and you enjoy it on the surface - a character similar in age to yourself handling tricky challenges, scary experiences, and sometimes funny situations. As an adult reader, you admire the way the author presents a searing indictment of racism and slavery by use of sly humor. My favorite phrase in that book? "Human beings can be awful cruel to one another." This is the book's bottom-line message,and probably because it's spoken by a child, we're caught off guard, so it really strikes a chord and perhaps puts us to shame. If the book had been written any other way, when it first appeared, I'm sure it would have been banned. So here is a great example of how the author's voice, style, regional experiences and especially use of humor to approach subject matter really made a difference.
YOU can make the same difference, because when you write YOUR book, you will bring a bit of yourself into it - whether or not you deliberately indend to do so.
Good luck (and sorry for rambling on)!
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