Readers rant about things like cliches, petty details, or research failures that throw them out of a story; what are some things that buckle you, personally, into a story?
Things that pull me into a story can vary from writer to writer, but I think one constant of mine is my fondness for moments of absurdity in the middle of a dire or difficult situation. For example, a character is chased through a maze by a giant snake, traps herself on a chandelier and when the maze’s owner reassures her that “Monster doesn’t bite”, her response is “As far as I can tell, Monster has no teeth.”
It’s a tiny bit of business. Blink and you’ve missed it. Yet it captures the characters’ personalities so well that you know what sort of person Jamethial Knorth of the Kencyrath is. You already know she’s honor bound and perfectly honest. But now you know, beyond a doubt, that she’s also brave and snarky, when faced with something absolutely terrifying.
(BTW: P.C. Hodgell’s Kencyrath is an incredible series and I highly recommend it.)
I also like to see writers who have a genuine affection for their worlds and characters, while still knowing that they have flaws and dark undersides. Discworld was that sort of place, full of people who felt like people. (#GNU PTerry Pratchett, btw)
There’s probably plenty of other things that will draw me in, of course, but these two are the first that come to mind.