tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post4293594483370506683..comments2024-03-14T18:09:09.667-05:00Comments on Do Some Damage: When NOT to read a good bookUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-28087687366309481512010-06-16T21:35:57.423-05:002010-06-16T21:35:57.423-05:00Aptly said as I have exactly the same problem. Rea...Aptly said as I have exactly the same problem. Read a great book and the self doubts come creeping up.Barbara Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00610140328527165017noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-38531059243832194372010-06-15T07:37:21.733-05:002010-06-15T07:37:21.733-05:00Joelle -- All about the timing of where you are in...Joelle -- All about the timing of where you are in your own writing? That is pretty interesting.Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-41193706130226013542010-06-14T15:37:05.517-05:002010-06-14T15:37:05.517-05:00Great post. I find I have to read no matter what....Great post. I find I have to read no matter what. I was a reader for most of my life and only came to writing over the last few years. So I HAVE to read....I just can't help myself.<br /><br />But - that being said, I agree that I can't really read in my genre at certain times in the writing process. The middle third of the book is always the hardest for me to knock out. So, I avoid reading in the genre otherwise I always find what I am reading to be far more intersting than what I am writing and I lose writing momentum - and for me that momentum is important. Once I get to about page 200 or so I hit my stride again and I can read anything. In fact, I like reading in the genre then because I renew my feel for the quickening pace that I need for my book. I guess I agree with both BQ and you...go fig!Joelle Charbonneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13608552691748018256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-45864943552454270132010-06-14T15:32:55.462-05:002010-06-14T15:32:55.462-05:00Rob, Thanks for being nice. And, yeah, your own ba...Rob, Thanks for being nice. And, yeah, your own background and, um, presentground informs the reading. For example, I taught college lit and rhetoric for years. Lotta breaking down the writing going on there. That's my background. In my presentground, I want to know why something works as well as it does. And how. But I can't do that while I'm writing, otherwise, as we've hinted at here and as you say, that can creep right into the text you're working on.<br /><br />With my background, I suppose I should be happy I'm not delivering a Marxist reading of a James Lee Burke novel at a conference. Reading for just the fun of it can't be beat. Er, beaten. Dang. Where'd I put them degrees?Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-16811642579801252412010-06-14T13:45:07.225-05:002010-06-14T13:45:07.225-05:00Steve, seriously, I've read a few of your shor...Steve, seriously, I've read a few of your short stories and you're in the coaching game, not being coached. Like Irene, I would like to think I'm inspired by brilliance. Sure, I ain't gonna match it, but I have no pretensions that I will either, so I don't find it paralysing. If I can pick up a few nice tips then grand, but I'm really reading for entertainment not coaching (which probably shapes how I read). I think if you have a background in English Lit or literary criticism, or you see reading as coaching, then that might affect how you read, and what you look for subconsciously or otherwise in a text. Perhaps I should start thinking of reading as a way of receiving coaching - it might improve radically my own writing - but perhaps I'm better off just being inspired and entertained!Rob Kitchinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05567424969308636082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-26053152084384640782010-06-14T12:55:47.400-05:002010-06-14T12:55:47.400-05:00Dana -- Uh, yeah. Kinda how I feel.
Patti -- I ha...Dana -- Uh, yeah. Kinda how I feel.<br /><br />Patti -- I have QUEENPIN on the shelf to read this summer. Maybe I'll wait a bit until I finish this draft?Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-32103927735976449572010-06-14T12:50:53.575-05:002010-06-14T12:50:53.575-05:00When people say, this is the best book you'll ...When people say, this is the best book you'll ever read, I feel like saying, "Not now, please." After reading someone like Woodrell or Willeford, I am catatonic with fear and dread. Actually my daughter's books.pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-10955401933971501782010-06-14T12:39:06.103-05:002010-06-14T12:39:06.103-05:00"The worst thing you can do when you're w..."The worst thing you can do when you're writing your book is to read someone else's, especially if it is better than yours."<br /><br />Hell, man, that's like saying I should stop reading altogether.Dana Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01350344882342624735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-40533976121112611792010-06-14T11:37:53.317-05:002010-06-14T11:37:53.317-05:00Scott and Jay -- Audio books and comic books. That...Scott and Jay -- Audio books and comic books. That's good thinking.<br /><br />Seems the trick is to read/listen to something much different than what you're doing -- at least while you're doing it.<br /><br />And, yeah, over-thinking can clog up the writing quicker than anything.Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-80969997076756376682010-06-14T11:22:43.356-05:002010-06-14T11:22:43.356-05:00I think Russel and I have a simmilar tactic, which...I think Russel and I have a simmilar tactic, which is to read comics while we're knee deep in writing. They hit a different enough part of the brain that the brilliance can still inspire you without the craft level depressing you.<br /><br />Best half time choaching I got at highschool was "stop overthinking it and just play the damn game." scored in the second half.Jay Stringerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08764183157841848163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-36768980422386953072010-06-14T10:32:43.906-05:002010-06-14T10:32:43.906-05:00Reading the superb "Perdido Street Station&qu...Reading the superb "Perdido Street Station" this past spring unmoored my writing. I'm only now getting back on track. And I'm reading a non-fiction history book. Hopefully that put things back on track. I used to stop actual reading and, instead, get stories only via audio. That way, I still get stories but my time "to read" I spent writing.Scott D. Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15293540073601809197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-62010481351942152572010-06-14T09:08:36.547-05:002010-06-14T09:08:36.547-05:00Joanne, That makes perfect sense. Sometimes a line...Joanne, That makes perfect sense. Sometimes a line in a poem -- even an image -- is enough to push on to something of your own. Same thing with stories/novels, I guess, in that the author might go one way with the story and I get up and grab the notebook and go another way.Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-75353010745639398562010-06-14T09:02:05.595-05:002010-06-14T09:02:05.595-05:00I'm too easily influenced so that is a good id...I'm too easily influenced so that is a good idea not to read something intimidating before you write. At the same time, at least with poetry, reading something amazing spurs me on...makes me want to write a poem. So it depends on what I'm writing. Reading an excellent novel before may not be a good idea for me, but an amazing poem will get me inspired and writing good stuff almost every time.Joanne Young Elliotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14431836725661024756noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-76031695784490462732010-06-14T08:31:13.824-05:002010-06-14T08:31:13.824-05:00Chuck -- Yeah, non-fiction and out-of-genre. Good ...Chuck -- Yeah, non-fiction and out-of-genre. Good points. Maybe to get stoned with two birds a non-fiction book that ties into the novel you're working on. Kinda like research, so you take it off your taxes, but also a good book you can enjoy.Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-79083815115160851742010-06-14T08:09:01.447-05:002010-06-14T08:09:01.447-05:00I have the same problem.
I solve this by reading ...I have the same problem.<br /><br />I solve this by reading non-fiction -- if possible, non-fiction that has some bearing on the project.<br /><br />Or, if I really want to read fiction, I read something way outside the genre in which I'm working -- sci-fi or something.<br /><br />Very cool post.<br /><br />-- c.Chuckhttp://www.terribleminds.com/ramblenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-33189187910197733102010-06-14T07:57:37.949-05:002010-06-14T07:57:37.949-05:00Irene, I figure if it takes me a couple of years t...Irene, I figure if it takes me a couple of years to finish a book and I've read 100 books in that time, it'll all mix together just how I need it. And I agree with you on the part about noticing where a certain part of your own book came from. I suppose you have to take the various ingredients you get and mix them together when you cook your book. If I can taste one particular ingredient -- the flour in pizza, the vanilla in french toast -- then the meal is not good. <br /><br />REP - RE: UNDER THE DOME. I've heard good things about that one. I've never read King, but that one looks fun.Steve Weddlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03876211586767139613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-90649621861906072092010-06-14T07:44:37.379-05:002010-06-14T07:44:37.379-05:00Baseball metaphors aside, I've never noticed a...Baseball metaphors aside, I've never noticed a negative influence of reading on my writing. Perhaps because what I'm currently writing is short and trite.<br /><br />Of course out of habit I read after my day is done, unless I'm wanting to just knock it out the park and finish the book.<br /><br />I'm reading UNDER THE DOME this week (or so). Will also be plotting DIMES FOR DYING, so I'll see how that affects me.Ron Earl Phillipshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170233782050167504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7119990365479009764.post-9927847929698821732010-06-14T07:31:14.888-05:002010-06-14T07:31:14.888-05:00I dunno. Brilliance doesn't depress me; it ins...I dunno. Brilliance doesn't depress me; it inspires. Still, reading while writing leaves one open to subliminal emulation. During the revision process, if you can tell what you were reading when you wrote THAT part, that's probably not good.Irene Zieglerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13757567044422162107noreply@blogger.com