Yes. In the first book I wrote (unpublished) I had the main character go to the farm where she kept her horse, only to find the driveway full of cars, when normally, only the elderly property owner was there. She knows something is wrong but doesn't know what. Soon after she is approached by two unknown people who inform her that the property owner--her friend--had passed away. This is exactly what happened to me. This experience filled me and my book's character with sorrow, and her into the frightening position of not knowing where she could keep her well-loved horse.
I knew I wanted to be a writer from an early age, but didn't think of it as a career or a full-time profession for a long time. I was more of a dreamer and not terribly practical. :)
Clear communication, hands down. If your reader doesn't understand what you're trying to say, it doesn't matter the genre, the beauty of the language, or any other artistic talent you may have. Good word choices, punctuation, grammar--absolutely essential--but that's just the beginning. In fiction writing, you must go on to developing a strong, intriguing plot, as well as creating characters readers will like and/or relate to. I learned early that if I didn't like the character in a story, I didn't care what happened to him/her. In which case, there was no reason to read the book!
