Writers as Readers A Catty piece by Christine Duncan

Before I get to my rant for today, I wanted to shout from the mountain tops! Safe House is out in print. You can find it on the Trebleheart book site, or it should be on Amazon and the other usual places soon.

We’ve discussed this before but a recent discussion on a writing forum brought another dimension to this discussion that I hadn’t previously considered. As many of you who saw my original post on the subject know, I am more than a little appalled by writers who don’t read. Or who can’t be bothered to read much. And yes, there were those in this  discussion who proudly proclaimed that they weren’t readers.
But the rest of the discussion was the part I hadn’t thought much about.  Some of these writers wanted to read but since they had learned so much about the craft itself, were unable to find books that interested them. Many times they were forced to put books down because of the craft problems.
Frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever done that. It’s not that I don’t read some terrible stuff. I do. But then something in me kicks in to wonder why the book sold despite its obvious problems. And the writing part of me is busily re-writing to avoid the problems. The what if syndrome.
I don’t know that it helps my writing any. But it makes me feel superior. :->
And I can sympathize with the reasoning behind those writers who can’t find much worth reading.  Sometimes you don’t want to pick a piece apart. You just want to lose yourself in a good book.
As to the writers who don’t read. I think their excuse is universal. They all seem to think they have something to give. What I want to know is, if they don’t read, how do they know it hasn’t already been done to death?
Are you a reader? Do you think it helps your writing?

What Keeps You Reading–Or Makes You Put a Book Down by Christine Duncan

Michelle’s post about reading the other week got me thinking. I tend to put books down for all sorts of reasons–sometimes there is nothing wrong with the darn thing at all–I’m just in the mood for something else.
Have you ever felt that way? This week with all of the news about the Iranian election and the test nukes from North Korea, I can’t read what I think of as simple or sweet books. There has to be a complexity of character or plot to capture me right now. Otherwise, I’m drifting into other thoughts.
But other times, when life is overwhelming, it is the simple, the sweet, and the cozy that draws me.
I guess even though I always say that I’ll read anything, I’m a picky reader.
As a rule, I don’t read hobby mysteries, even when I like the hobby. I don’t usually read horror because the images stay in my mind. I’m not the type to read bestsellers just because they’re bestsellers either–a book has to be about something I’m interested in. But I will sometimes read best sellers to see why others are enthralled. I tore apart a couple of Dan Brown’s books just to see what the deal was. I concluded that his style read so quickly because he tended to keep it short. Short chapters, short paragraphs. There was always something going on–always more excitement but it was terseness that kept the tension. Or so I decided.
Lately I’ve put books down for too much terseness. There seems to be a trend where authors skip on description so that I can’t really see what is going on. It made me drop one book. She described a car as a “big ass pimp mobile.” And I couldn’t see the darn car at all–thus making some of the action obscure.
Conversely, another author who went on and on about every leaf in a field (or so it seemed) lost my interest. There can be too much.
As a writer, though this might seem discouraging, I think the opposite is true. Someone not being interested in your book is not a personal rejection. It’s not really a rejection at all. Sometimes, we crave ice cream, sometimes we want roast beef. What do you think?

What do you use blogs for?

Recently I read that American newspapers are hitting the dust because many of us are getting our news online now–specifically, this source said, from blogs.
Now I am an avid reader of blogs, especially since I’ve been trying to do this one and put my own blog tour together. I use a blog aggregator called Netvibes that comes up as my home page with all of my favorite blogs already loaded on it. I can see at a glance if they have updated and if I want to comment on them. But I never see news there. I get occasional news updates from Twitter–but it’s the stuff like, did you hear So and So died.
I still tend to get my news from CNN or MSNBC. That’s not why I read a blog. And my favorite blogs might comment on news–but they don’t really revolve around news. I read writers’ blogs, because I don’t get enough professional interaction with other writers. Or sometimes I read hoping to pick up the occasional promo tip, or writing insight. I read to be amused and to get relaxed.
So now I’m wondering as I try to get this blog tour thing going, maybe I should be aiming to do something. Maybe I should figure out why folks read blogs so I can try to meet the need. So I’m asking you–Why do you read blogs?

Reading is FUNdamental

A recent article in O magazine listed the advantages of reading-not the joys.  Oh no!  The author was anxious to promote what reading could do for you and how it helped your brain.  And there is a t-shirt for an avatar on Yahoo that simply states Read.

What is wrong with these people?.  Reading is not a cause.  Reading is one of life’s pleasures.  Reading is communication.  Can you imagine having to promote any other form of communication? We’d all have T-shirts that say Watch TV Now.  Or Have You Loaded up your MP3 today?

It would never happen.  And that is exactly what is wrong with making reading a cause.  The job of my generation is to teach reading sure-but it’s more than that. The generations before us were smarter.  Banned books are not a problem.  Banned books are a reason bunches of kids learned to read.  They wanted to know what the adults thought was too much for them. Ditto with comic books.  Junk reading, sure, in its purest most fun form.  And reading under the covers was one of the joys of childhood.  Mom would never know how long I stayed up reading.  Then again, maybe she did.

We should eliminate all the talking on those computer games and just stick with the little lines of text running underneath.  Reading scores across the world would skyrocket-and so would spelling.  Oh, and keep complaining about the kid’s cell phone bill.  Text messaging may be the only thing to keep this generation from being totally illiterate.

My generation has forgotten what the ones before us knew.  Kids want to do all the stuff we don’t want them to do.  Harry Potter was a hit in part because of all the controversy from those who didn’t like kids reading about witches and wizards.  Don’t make reading a cause-make it a privilege like computer time and playstations. Tell them if they’re good, you’ll let them keep the lights on fifteen extra minutes for reading tonight. Read in front of them, but tell them it’s only for adults.  Watch the kids read then.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I usually ask for a book as one of my Christmas presents because that’s how i like to spend at least part of my Christmas holiday.

Christmas 2004 was no different, however my book choice surprised me (and as it turned out, all other attendees at our Christmas lunch). 

I’d tuned into the tail end of an interview with Aron Ralston some weeks before while I was stacking the dishwasher.  With the TV in the background and dirty dishes in the foreground, I vaguely heard the part of his story that talked about rock climbing, alone, in a remote area of Utah.  Then the part about being pinned in a crevasse by an 800lb boulder.  And although I’d tuned in a little more by the time he said he was trapped for six days, that wasn’t what really got my attention.  I actually stopped what I was doing and listened when the interview turned this corner:

Interviewer: “Aron, I have to ask, what was it like amputating your own arm?  I can’t imagine…”

Aron: ”It was exhilarating, euphoric even.”

“Hang on,” I thought as I stopped in my tracks and bounded onto the lounge room, “I must’ve heard that wrong” .  Amputate + own arm = euphoria?  No, no, no amputate + own anything = total nightmare.

The interview ended soon after that and the cover of Aron’s book flashed up on the screen.  I sat wondering what could’ve transpired to make amputating your own arm seem an appealing (never mind euphoric) proposition.   I’m intrigued by people who have a different take on the world and let’s face it, I love a good survival story.  I did wonder how interesting the book would be given that he was stuck alone in a crevasse for six days which meant that there would be no scene changes, very little dialogue and few (if any) other characters. 

So knowing little else about Aron Ralston or his story I put his book on my Christmas list. 

It was an absolute gem.  Couldn’t put it down and still think about it today.  May I suggest that if you decide to buy the book, buy a Do Not Disturb sign.  You’ll need it.