#reading writing

Now, I come to you as a friend and as a foe with the wisdom of a piano from the 80s. In all my time *authoring*, I have learned to read as a writer. And it can be annoying as heck because sometimes I want to read a bad story just to relax and destress, but in my head I’m correcting it. But it helped me! So let me help you.

Strange, what’s the difference?

Great question. The key difference is questioning. Reading as a writer means you are more analytical with what you read. You should be questioning everything: why did I get immersed here, why did I reread this paragraph, how come this scene feels rushed but the next one slow? 

The goal is to implement the best of what you see other authors do into your own writing, and this can be very biased based on your own style. Remember: Not everyone likes the same stuff, so here are some general question to help you analyze what you read better to reach your audience

How did the author create/fail to create a visual setting?

Was there a lot of sensory detail? Were the details easy to visualize, or did they jumble my thoughts and confuse me?

Why am I bored/super excited reading this right now?

Does the author use various sentence structure? Is the pacing too slow, too fast? 

What is making this scene so confusing?

Are the characters’s voices not distinguished enough? Is the sequence of events out of order? Did the author not elaborate on key events in the plot?

Chapter 7 of Blood Magik: A Cold Day In Hell, titled, The Beginning of the Dead, by Corwyn Matthew

One of my favs because this is when everything heads for Hell; “all roads lead to”, and all that -- the fulcrum of the whole damn demon-caboodle. In other words: from here on out, there’s no turning back, dear zombros. If you make it this far in the novel then you’re in for a ride. The first six chaps sorta set the stage; introduce the “dudes” and other whozits relevant to the tale. Chapter Seven and beyond takes that stage and litters it with hellish adventure to bring about an army of ravenous cadavers that pillage the city of L.A. and set you on an unrelenting path for Book Two, Blood Magik: The Reigning Dead. =D

This chap has something like six or seven sub-chapters bad-touching on all present happenings throughout the BM universe. It also houses my homage to Hunter S Thompson’s, Fear & Loathing, with a character named Al (named after my friend Allan who bought me the book) having the honor of being in the wrong place at the really wrong time. Basically, this is where all the zombie-fun starts. Just a little something for you kooky kids to look forward to. \m/ -cm

Oh, it’s been a long time since I’ve read as a reader and in this I’ll go over some of the stuff I do when reading to improve my writing! Perhaps after this, my assignment will load and I can do my homework, but until then, let’s do this. 

Im gonna try and make this as simple as possible, so let’s go over how you read as a reader cuz everyone has experiences with that. As a reader, you get lost in the book. All there is it’s just you and whatever scene is playing in your mind. Truly a fantastic experience. 

NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRY I CANT GO BACK TO READING AS A READER I FEEL LIKE I’M DOING SOMETHING WRONG SIMPLY ENJOYING A BOOK. As a writer, you still get lost in the book, but you’re also looking at WHY you got lost. Was it the foreshadowing from chapter one? Or the placement of a series of commas that made your heart race? It’s why most writers read--they pick and choose the best parts of their author’s style and mash it with your own add a plot and BOOM a book. 

Recently, I read and took notes--NOTES DURING SUMMER WRITING IS THE WORST jk it’s great i love it--on Pet Cemetery by Stephen King. I would be reading and wondering how I fell in love with Jud soon after we met him, or always got a weird vibe from the main character. it’s because he makes every character developed and flawed (I have an earlier post on it). He adds details to the world so it feels more real, repeats words and phrases that make you lose yourself. Dreams are never fully described, and stuff from the past is referenced constantly to remind the reader and shift the focus. 

How does this help your writing? Reading normally does, too--expands vocabulary, helps develop a voice...but let’s look at the examples from above. I write fantasy and want a prophet to dream, maybe I never want to give the reader the entire dream. Maybe I want the prophet to wake up too early, or wake up and gasp before heading out the door. Maybe a small detail, like a birthday, will be important later on so it’s brought up inconspicuously multiple times like a bug.