Different Channels
Deke asked me, indirectly, if I read fiction while I am writing it. I have to say that my reading habits have been very slovenly since I had my son. I used to read a lot and then he learned to grasp thing like books I’m reading, and I discovered that Law & Order came on nearly round the clock. I developed a mad crush on Chris Noth, and well… reading has taken a back seat.
However, yes, I do read, and I do read when I’m in the process of writing. They go hand in hand, but I have found that I switch channels when I’m writing. Instead of reading for pleasure, as a consumer, I read as a miner, as a prospector… looking for the little nuggets that I can take and shape into mine. Looking at ways that the storyteller is working, comparing their technique with some of the tried and true literary moves, or gawking at the bestseller’s blatant “let’s have him jump off a tower AND LIVE” method of moving the plot along. (Points if you can name that author!).
So I read as a student, not as a consumer. And if the writing is good enough, I do indeed enjoy it. Sometimes there is a cold appreciation for the craft, other times there is a wholehearted suspension of disbelief, and I’m there. The latter occurs when I’m reading something like To Kill A Mockingbird or a book by Mary Stewart (Nine Coaches Waiting, The Ivy Tree, Touch Not the Cat — mystery writer of the 60s and 70s, also known for her Merlin series). Even though I’ve read those books in two, I still enjoy the experience, and I also study them and get something out of their craft.
But it’s a matter, again, of Having A Plan. I also have found that I’ve been watching too many movies lately, and it’s rubbing off on my novel. Yes, it would be great to have a film made of my book someday, but I’m not writing a 300 page treatment. I’m writing a NOVEL, and there are certain freedoms that I can take. A movie doesn’t get into the main character’s head in quite the same way… and I refuse to do a movie with a voiceover. If I can ever get away with it.
In sum, read a lot, take notes, have a writing plan of your own, and just do it.
Too funny. Your Law and Order has become my CSI (original, and New York flavors only, sorry, but Caruso’s voice grates).
I have tried to read from a ‘clinical’ standpoint. I believe it was a Dean R. Koontz novel. Couldn’t tell you what it was, but I was amazed at how easily, how hypnotically, I was forced to turn page after page.
Even when reading clinically, I still tend to get too wrapped up with the author’s milieu to feel comfortable trusting my own inner voice. That’s just me, though.
And I must say I’ve failed your quiz. While it sounds terribly familiar, I can’t place it.
I write much better if I’m reading something.
I workshop with a few writers who never read. They don’t write as well as the ones who do.
Deke, being able to rise above the hypnosis is important. Otherwise, you’re just a consumer. Pick something else to analyze if Dean Koontz is too soporific. Choose classics as a way to snap yourself out of the rut.
Kitty, I keep trying to find a workshop but I’m not trying very hard. So far, I’ve found screenwriters who meet up close by but haven’t gone. Workshops are another excellent way to get out of the consumer channel. Nothing like a little critique from fellow writers to “refresh” your writing (and by that I mean, have a cold bucket of water tossed onto your steaming hot purple prose).