I read an interesting post the other day and shared it on Twitter.
The article was by Candy Gourlay on the Notes from the Slushpile blog. The post was titled “Does writing affect one’s love of reading?”
Candy states that, yes, writing will change your reading. She adds, though:
But you’ve got to make the time to restore your wonder. How can you hope to inspire your readers if you yourself have lost the joy?
Besides, writing books is not just about writing books, it’s about living a creative, writing life. And if the best thing about living a writing life is the writing, the next best thing is the reading.
The writers on Twitter who responded (and quite a few did) said that writing hadn’t slowed down their reading, but it had affected it. As one writer put it: “We spend our days looking for problems and holes in our own work. It’s hard to turn it off.”
When I was a kid, I could get completely engulfed by a book—to the point it wouldn’t hear my teacher or mother calling me.
Now, it’s harder not to analyze a book. Particularly a mystery. If I’m reading a mystery now, it’s almost unconscious…there’s a tape running in the back of my head saying, “When will he reveal the body? How many suspects does he have? What’s the means of the murder?…”
If I like a book or dislike it, I’ll figure out why. If anyone I know likes or dislikes a book, I want to know why.
I’ve found that I’m not quite as bad analyzing books when I use my Kindle or a library book (maybe because I’m not using florescent highlighters on them…even though I’ve used Kindle’s highlighting feature before. It’s just not the same.)
I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m going to keep trying to figure out what makes a good book tick and a bad book lousy. I’m not going to stop.
I’m still enjoying books…I’m just enjoying them differently. Same with films and plays and any type of entertainment. I’m more critical…but I’m still enjoying my experience (usually.)
Has reading changes for you since you started writing?
I really like her comment about “making time” to restore the wonder.
Really if you persist with that as a part of the goal, you will find that you get past the search for errors, and your reading pleasure actually goes to a higher level: you experience the _full story_ with a heightened awareness.
I think a part of the trick is to respect the writer. You know what you intended or what you didn’t, so you naturally see flaws, even in places where the reader would be happy. But when you’re reading someone else’s work — always assume they meant it.
Learn to respect that they wanted to go head hopping or use more adverbs than you would. They’re not you, so just accept the gift, and learn from it where you can. (You might be surprised to find you LIKE some of the things they do which you fight so hard to keep out of your fiction.)
Elizabeth – No doubt about it, I’m a different reader from the reader I was before I started to write. And yet, I still can get caught up if a book is a really well-written one. I can still get swept away by events and almost feel I’m friends with characters. So it’s not that I can’t delve into a book. But at the end, I ask myself, “How’d the author do that? And how can I learn to do that?”
Being a writer has changed how I read but certainly not how much I read. The fact that you write makes it easier to notice writing styles that differ from one author to anothe. Reading now is learning with enjoyment :-)
Reading like a writer has enriched my reading experience. Instead of just getting the quick story (which is plenty enjoyable too), I now look for HOW the writer pulled it off. How is the theme interwoven throughout, what descriptive sections add to my knowledge of character or place. In the case of memoir, which I’m writing, how does the author make his/her story meaningful to others. Whatever one has studied (dance, music, etc.) the experience brings a greater appreciation to watching the masters perform their craft.
I agree that writing has made me a more critical reader. Especially with the books by self-published writers. But even in the main stream, I’m constantly wondering how what I’m reading made it to the top 6 publishers. I’m trying to restore my wonder and sometimes I can just read for enjoyment but it’s much harder now.
I am definitely a bit more critical of books I read – and more likely just to stop reading if I get too annoyed with the writer! However I can still become lost in a book for hours if something about it captures my imagination.
Oddly enough, I am much, much more critical of plots in plays at the theatre than I used to be, and I’m often to be heard complaining that the plot fell apart in Act 2 – it’s only partly because I help with props for amateur theatre in my spare time so I see what goes on behind the scenes. I think it’s mostly because I’m getting better, or at least more ruthless, at analysing plots.
Oh yeah, definitely. I can still get lost in a book, but when I surface I go back to find out why I was lost. What the writer did. The weird thing is that excellent writing doesn’t deter me but when I read some schlocky book – I can get very discouraged. I must look into this. ha.
The two things that have changed in my reading: I don’t finish everything I read any more (in fact, I probably only finish 1/3 of the books I start) and I always look at why I did or didn’t like a book. I still fall into books and have that sense of wonder, but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to.
I guess it has. Pacing is probably what I notice most now.
Now that hits home! Yes, writing fiction sucked some of the joy of reading fiction for me. Not just because I was critical, but because of the shift in trends with my chosen genre. That’s probably why I don’t want to write YA anymore.
I find myself doing the same thing – if I’m reading a book in my genre. It’s hard to turn off the critic or the critique. When I work, I read other genres, not romance or paranormal romance. I read nonfiction, mystery, literary fiction, biographies…anything except romance.
I find it almost impossible to turn off the internal editor. I’m either wondering how something got past the book’s editor, finding a turn of phrase I want to steal (or at least modify), or looking at why it works. Sadly, it’s a rare book these days that I can read solely as a reader. It’s taking longer and longer to hit that “I’m lost in the book” place.
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
A friend recommended “The Gargoyle” last month. I read it, and I spent a lot of time trying to shut down my writer-who-is-querying reactions. The book, to me, seemed to break a lot of the rules we’ve been told we have to follow (and, yes, he’s a first time author). I still found ways to connect to the story and the characters, but at the end I was so dissatisfied- I wanted more closure, and I probably feel somewhat entitled to closure having done as much research as I have into publishing in the last two years.
So, yes, writing has changed how I read, but possibly for the better.
Maybe having written mystery novels has restored my wonder. I have a sense of how hard good mystery novels are to write. Also, I am more aware of how the personality of the writer shines through a well-written novel.
Do I sometimes see this or that event being set up or this or that person being introduced for a special reason. Yes. But it doesn’t change the wonder.
the same thing happens after you’ve worked as a FT editor, trust me. But somehow I’ve learned to turn that internal editor off when I read… I can even do it when I write. Most days. :D Good stuff, E. I esp. like your definition of living the writing life~ <3
The Daring Novelist–I think you’re right. It’s the wonder of the finished product and the fact we’re all telling stories…different stories. And telling them differently than the next writer would.
Respecting the writer–yes, a good point.
Clarissa–Sometimes I’ll wonder the same thing. Sometimes the editing isn’t so hot with those books and I wonder why it wasn’t…what was going on at the publisher at the time, or if they were outsourcing the editing, etc.
Margot–Ha! I’m always looking for craft tips when I read, too!
Sheila–Good point! Maybe when we’re improving and showing growth, it’s reflected by the way we pick apart a play or a book.
Jan–I think I’m the opposite! If I read a bad book, it encourages me. If I read a great book, I feel inadequate. :)
Alex–I like to pay attention to pace, too.
Diane–YA has gone through a ton of changes lately, for sure.
Deb–I’ve found I’m a lot less-tolerant of bad books now, too!
Becky–A good way to put it. :)
LTM–For editors it really must be tough! Glad you’ve gotten to the point where you can turn it off. Candy was the one with the great comment on the writing life, but I do completely agree!
Linda–Interesting! That’s the first I’ve heard that from a writer…but I completely see what you’re saying. So, to you, the analytical part of the watching isn’t interrupting the enjoyment, only enriching it. I need to look at it that way. I think I miss just turning my brain off with a book (can’t turn off my mind anymore.)
Kit–Yes, I’m a picky reader, too. Sigh. I give it a few chapters. But then, my list of things to read is pretty big, so I move on to the next book.
I have a BA, MA, and most of a Ph.D. in literary analysis and writing, I’m a multi-published author, and I teach writing. If anyone ever had the internal critic from Hell, I do.
I realized long ago that I can’t shut off this critic, but I can put her in a little observation room where she remains quiet and thoughtful taking notes unless the book I’m reading starts going bad in a major way, then I let her free to provide me fodder for my articles on writing.
My trick of putting the critic in the room I figured out when I was doing so much reading during my college years. I’d stretch out with one of the many novels I was assigned and enjoy the book as a reader, first of all, before I listened to my inner critic.
A major reason this succeeded was I was reading masters of writing who made very few missteps. Later, when most of what I read wasn’t so masterful, I had learned the trick of it.
Julia–I totally understand that. I can’t read cozies and write them at the same time. I can read police procedurals or thrillers or private eye stories, though.
Terry–I’m with you. I don’t think I can get lost in one, but I can still love it. And wonder over it, too.
Joe–I do love to get a sense of the writer when I’m reading. Not intrusion, but just a feel for the person behind the scenes, giving us the story.
so you can see the author manipulation in a plot, but not have it really affect your overall enjoyment. That’s a gift!
Marilynn–Internal critic from hell! Ha! I think it’s fantastic that you can put her off in the background where she’s not interrupting you.
I wish I’d been one of those students. I was always writing in the margins and highlighting in different colors. I have a Type A problem. :) Sometimes I reread the classics I read for school, but after I’d already been graded on them. Your trick would have been nice for me to develop earlier.
When I first started writing, I found when I would read for pleasure that I couldn’t turn my editor off (those pesky typos, grammar errors, really little things that I saw others picking up in my writing), but now I’ve learned to read through most of those nitpicky things and enjoy the reading more like I used to, unless of course it’s page upon page of jump off the page errors. If I see them while reading in abundance, I will just stop reading the book. Of course, since I’ve been reading a good bit on my Kindle now, I try to ignore them as much as possible because I don’t want to interrupt my reading – lol.
I think another thing that affects me is if I know the author or not. But I keep reading for the most part and push aside the writer side of me – or at least I hope that is what I do when reading. – See you all in the postings – E :)
Elysabeth Eldering
Author of Finally Home, a YA paranormal mystery (coming soon)
http://elysabethsstories.blogspot.com
http://eeldering.weebly.com
Ma America, The Travelin’ Maven
Author of the JGDS, 50-state, mystery, trivia series
Where will the adventure take you next?
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Absolutely. I still get deeply involved in books, but I’m always looking at sentence structure, at voice, at conflict. I’m always conscious of WHY I’m enjoying the book. Those are the good things.
Writing has taken up much of my reading time, and it’s always a battle to make time for it.
Like Clarissa, I also wonder how some of what I’m reading gets published, let alone sells well, including some big name self-pub’d authors. Sometimes it’s hard not to be frustrated at that, but I try to remind myself that all I can to is learn and write the best book I can.