R.Moon
from The City of Champions is reading The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion; Story Structure Architect by Victoria Lynn Schimdt PH.D; Creating Characters by the editors of Writer's DigestApril 12, 2013 - 5:55pm
It's all really simple: write the story/book you'd want to read.
Courtney
from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooksApril 12, 2013 - 6:37pm
I think I diverge from that a little bit. I went to a Donald Ray Pollock reading last night and I was really excited because he said that he can't really read novels when he's trying to write one, because he winds up feeling inadequate and unmotivated. That's how I get, too, so I'm going through a pretty dry spell when it comes to reading and it's helped me figure out what I want to write, rather than what I want to read. I can read a great book and be like "Oooh! I want to write that!" and then realize halfway through that it's just a cheap copy of something I admire.
Is that weird? I'd rather read trash when I'm writing because it's a way to decompress. When I'm not writing, I like reading, but not nearly as much as I used to and not nearly as much as a lot of other writers.
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeApril 12, 2013 - 9:05pm
Disagree. --- Drea
Actually, that isn't true. I count 4 toothpicks for each one. ...right? --- averydoll
I'm perfectly willing to discuss these points with you both, but I doubt your resolve.
[Not really.]
I guess XX could lead to XXX (or "third base," as some people call it).
And I suppose one could break the toothpicks and therefore use as many as you felt like. Nevertheless, using one pick per "prong" of each letter, considering the intersection to be the point from which the "prongs" derive, would require eight for XX and seven for XY. Using whole toothpicks, allowing overlap, but disallowing breakage would require two for each X and three for Y, meaning XY would in this case be less economical and enviromentally sound; which demonstrates that art and sexism alike are matters of perspective.
Renfield
from Hell is reading 20th Century GhostsApril 12, 2013 - 9:46pm
I think I diverge from that a little bit. I went to a Donald Ray Pollock reading last night and I was really excited because he said that he can't really read novels when he's trying to write one, because he winds up feeling inadequate and unmotivated. That's how I get, too, so I'm going through a pretty dry spell when it comes to reading and it's helped me figure out what I want to write, rather than what I want to read. I can read a great book and be like "Oooh! I want to write that!" and then realize halfway through that it's just a cheap copy of something I admire.
Yeah I've heard that not-reading-while-writing a lot. Joe Lansdale said something about it awhile ago that he'd never get either done if he stopped reading to write or the other way around, reads 3 books a week and always has like a billion of his own coming out.
I have the problem of getting burnt out inspiration/motivation-wise. I wrote a bunch of stuff at the start of the year and then got burnt out and shifted my creative focus to non-writing stuff, the past two or so months I've read like 30 books and written maybe 3 stories, all garbage. I think for me at least it's the other way around, I start out feeling inadequate and unmotivated and that drives me to read and "study" voraciously. That Ray Bradbury line on the subject always sticks with me, you got to fill the mind-cup up with inspiration-juice until it spills all over your face, then fill it again. I might be misquoting him there. But, yeah, 'read until you have to write' is sort of my natural biorhythm, however annoying it actually is in practice.
Oh, but back to the original thought you guys are on, yeah I'd like to write what I want to read, but also I'd kinda aspire to write the kind of stuff I wouldn't normally want to read for pleasure, but then pack it full of awesome shit so someone like me would read it. Does that make some kind of sense?
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersApril 12, 2013 - 9:55pm
@ JY - I guess I was doing a lower case y.
Michael.Eric.Snyder
April 12, 2013 - 10:16pm
Courtney, I hope you enjoyed DRP. You've inspired me to check him out in the near future.
For me personally, so far reading hasn't gotten in the way of writing, but maybe it depends on what I'm reading, too. I feel less motivated to write lately because I'm not reading roughs in the workshop.
I do think also that it's possible to read too much. I recently caught myself up on a magazine subscription, going back to August and up to the present reading a weekly publication.
It's kind of like of getting wasted on rum and cokes and not even being able to smell rum for at least a few weeks after.
I'm not sure it was worth it.
Courtney
from the Midwest is reading Monkey: A Journey to the West and a thousand college textbooksApril 13, 2013 - 1:54pm
I feel you, Ren, on that last line. I don't necessarily write about what I'd want to read, but I try to add elements that make it a goddamn good story anyway. A lot of writers write to say something, and that's great, but if it's not an enjoyable story -- no one's gonna hear the message. That's where I think Palahniuk goes wrong a lot. He has good messages, but sometimes he doesn't deliver them well.
Michael, I loved DRP. I've read passages and samples, but never got a full book, and goddamnit I'm going to now! He was amazing. His reading departed from the traditional ones usually offered at my school, which are lectures interspersed with passages from their writing; he read for forty minutes straight and it was fantastic. He read a little bit of what he's working on and I honestly can't believe how goddamn great he is.
Also, those last two lines are exactly how I feel about reading while writing. I just can't combine the two... and it probably isn't worth it to try. Also, they made me LOL.
Dwayne
from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updatedApril 13, 2013 - 10:34pm
I write about average people who have something very unexpected happen, which isn't me recently. I tend towards writing a first person view of white men, because I don't want to do something stupid and thinking writhing about women or other (real) races.
I don't think the common debates/preaching we see in writing need another voice; feminism, gay rights, left/right politics, and environmentalism*. I'd rather write about something closer to timeless; love/hate, fighting for something/nihilism, abuse of power, fear, bravery, hard work, taking the time to enjoy life, and maybe rage occasionally. I also try to avoid irony and satire; nothing wrong with them
*I have been thinking about doing something with this using environmentalism as a symbol for getting obsessed with one thing while ignoring real problems. Have global warming not be a real thing, but billions starve because of over fishing and poisoned water tables. That sounds like it should pretty much upset everyone, so I wonder if anyone would get the point at a micro level.
@Sconley
Do you have a lot of experience with guns and seeing people die, or is it more stuff that happens off page?
It always bugs me to read a story where a victim is obviously the writer's ex girlfriend or a girl who rejected him and he's just taking it out on the character.
I've found when you crap sack worlds that isn't a problem.
@Averydoll - Have you been pregnant a bunch? I hope it isn't a sore spot like a lot of miscarriages, but I thought you just had the one son.
@J.Y. - I was actually thinking of trying to write a short story that was 100% fiction by almost all the choices being randomly generated. But that seems like a lot of work.
jyh
from VA is reading whatever he feels likeApril 13, 2013 - 10:04pm
It'd be a lot of work to program a random-story-element-generator, but not a lot of work to press the button.
Dwayne
from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updatedApril 13, 2013 - 10:40pm
Yeah, but even then you'd still have to write it out and edit.
sean of the dead
from Madisonville, KY is reading Peckerwood, by Jed AyresApril 13, 2013 - 10:42pm
I hope it isn't a sore spot like a lot of miscarriages...
Dwayne's recurring theme is tact.
Michael.Eric.Snyder
April 13, 2013 - 11:34pm
Surely some disinhibiting ingredient was at work.
Surely.
@Courtney, he's in my area in July, so I'm super psyched as well. I've read his novel and his collection and I can't wait to hear about what's coming next. I first heard about him before he released his novel. Terry Gross interviewed him on Fresh Air (NPR). It doesn't surprise me that he only read. In the interview, he came across as friendly, engaging, and soft-spoken, maybe? Plain-spoken? I don't remember exactly, except to say that he sounded and talked like I expected him to sound and talk.
Although, I couldn't really have thought that, right? I hadn't read anything by him yet. Well, maybe it's that I'm familiar enough with the area he hails from. Glad you enjoyed it!
Dwayne
from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updatedApril 14, 2013 - 12:44am
@Sean - If there was a shrug emoticon, I'd use it. She brought up pregnancy, I asked a reasonable question, and I wasn't insulting.
sean of the dead
from Madisonville, KY is reading Peckerwood, by Jed AyresApril 14, 2013 - 2:33am
@Dwayne - and that is completely okay to ask about pregnancy/pregnancies...but please understand that without being close to someone and knowing them well, bringing up miscarriages and saying "hope it's not a sore spot" isn't very tactful.
It's funny that I actually have to say that to someone. Funny in the way that Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) would maim and/or kill you over, NOT funny like a clown.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersApril 14, 2013 - 6:24am
I have not been pregnant "a bunch"! :D
...why?
Dwayne
from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updatedApril 14, 2013 - 9:42am
@Sean - I have no idea why you think this site and tact have much to do with each other. We're doing good to avoid meeting up for knife fights.
@Averydoll - You said:
I think I write too much about pregnancy in one way or another. My last story, I had to struggle not to make it about a pregnancy. And that's probably my own laziness as a writer and leaning on "what I know".
That would seem to imply a more then average/common amount of pregnancy.
Covewriter
from Nashville, Tennessee is reading & SonsApril 14, 2013 - 8:51pm
My theme seems to always become self exploratory. I end up writing about something that is in my subconscious, so the stories often become about me. those are the darker stories. When I escape me, th stories actually become humerous and light hearted. Im not sure which is best. I just want my inner self to stop taking over sometimes.
avery of the dead
from Kentucky is reading Cipher SistersApril 15, 2013 - 6:18am
Did it really imply that? Hm. Well then that's my fault. Sorry.
Strange Photon
from Fort Wayne, IN is reading Laurie Anderson lyricsApril 15, 2013 - 6:21am
I saw no such implication, but everyone is responsible for their own inferences, I suppose.
Devon Robbins
from Utah is reading The Least Of My Scars by Stephen Graham JonesApril 15, 2013 - 6:33am
I write about the human conition. Wants, hopes, triumphs, failures, and acceptance.
Dean Blake
from Australia is reading generationend.comApril 15, 2013 - 7:52pm
I like to write about relationships and the stupid things we do when we're in them, from first person.
drea
from Rural Alberta, Canada is reading between the linesApril 15, 2013 - 8:11pm
It's all really simple: write the story/book you'd want to read.
I think I diverge from that a little bit. I went to a Donald Ray Pollock reading last night and I was really excited because he said that he can't really read novels when he's trying to write one, because he winds up feeling inadequate and unmotivated. That's how I get, too, so I'm going through a pretty dry spell when it comes to reading and it's helped me figure out what I want to write, rather than what I want to read. I can read a great book and be like "Oooh! I want to write that!" and then realize halfway through that it's just a cheap copy of something I admire.
Is that weird? I'd rather read trash when I'm writing because it's a way to decompress. When I'm not writing, I like reading, but not nearly as much as I used to and not nearly as much as a lot of other writers.
I'm perfectly willing to discuss these points with you both, but I doubt your resolve.
[Not really.]
I guess XX could lead to XXX (or "third base," as some people call it).
And I suppose one could break the toothpicks and therefore use as many as you felt like. Nevertheless, using one pick per "prong" of each letter, considering the intersection to be the point from which the "prongs" derive, would require eight for XX and seven for XY. Using whole toothpicks, allowing overlap, but disallowing breakage would require two for each X and three for Y, meaning XY would in this case be less economical and enviromentally sound; which demonstrates that art and sexism alike are matters of perspective.
Yeah I've heard that not-reading-while-writing a lot. Joe Lansdale said something about it awhile ago that he'd never get either done if he stopped reading to write or the other way around, reads 3 books a week and always has like a billion of his own coming out.
I have the problem of getting burnt out inspiration/motivation-wise. I wrote a bunch of stuff at the start of the year and then got burnt out and shifted my creative focus to non-writing stuff, the past two or so months I've read like 30 books and written maybe 3 stories, all garbage. I think for me at least it's the other way around, I start out feeling inadequate and unmotivated and that drives me to read and "study" voraciously. That Ray Bradbury line on the subject always sticks with me, you got to fill the mind-cup up with inspiration-juice until it spills all over your face, then fill it again. I might be misquoting him there. But, yeah, 'read until you have to write' is sort of my natural biorhythm, however annoying it actually is in practice.
Oh, but back to the original thought you guys are on, yeah I'd like to write what I want to read, but also I'd kinda aspire to write the kind of stuff I wouldn't normally want to read for pleasure, but then pack it full of awesome shit so someone like me would read it. Does that make some kind of sense?
@ JY - I guess I was doing a lower case y.
Courtney, I hope you enjoyed DRP. You've inspired me to check him out in the near future.
For me personally, so far reading hasn't gotten in the way of writing, but maybe it depends on what I'm reading, too. I feel less motivated to write lately because I'm not reading roughs in the workshop.
I do think also that it's possible to read too much. I recently caught myself up on a magazine subscription, going back to August and up to the present reading a weekly publication.
It's kind of like of getting wasted on rum and cokes and not even being able to smell rum for at least a few weeks after.
I'm not sure it was worth it.
I feel you, Ren, on that last line. I don't necessarily write about what I'd want to read, but I try to add elements that make it a goddamn good story anyway. A lot of writers write to say something, and that's great, but if it's not an enjoyable story -- no one's gonna hear the message. That's where I think Palahniuk goes wrong a lot. He has good messages, but sometimes he doesn't deliver them well.
Michael, I loved DRP. I've read passages and samples, but never got a full book, and goddamnit I'm going to now! He was amazing. His reading departed from the traditional ones usually offered at my school, which are lectures interspersed with passages from their writing; he read for forty minutes straight and it was fantastic. He read a little bit of what he's working on and I honestly can't believe how goddamn great he is.
Also, those last two lines are exactly how I feel about reading while writing. I just can't combine the two... and it probably isn't worth it to try. Also, they made me LOL.
I write about average people who have something very unexpected happen, which isn't me recently. I tend towards writing a first person view of white men, because I don't want to do something stupid and thinking writhing about women or other (real) races.
I don't think the common debates/preaching we see in writing need another voice; feminism, gay rights, left/right politics, and environmentalism*. I'd rather write about something closer to timeless; love/hate, fighting for something/nihilism, abuse of power, fear, bravery, hard work, taking the time to enjoy life, and maybe rage occasionally. I also try to avoid irony and satire; nothing wrong with them
*I have been thinking about doing something with this using environmentalism as a symbol for getting obsessed with one thing while ignoring real problems. Have global warming not be a real thing, but billions starve because of over fishing and poisoned water tables. That sounds like it should pretty much upset everyone, so I wonder if anyone would get the point at a micro level.
@Sconley
Do you have a lot of experience with guns and seeing people die, or is it more stuff that happens off page?
I've found when you crap sack worlds that isn't a problem.
@Averydoll - Have you been pregnant a bunch? I hope it isn't a sore spot like a lot of miscarriages, but I thought you just had the one son.
@J.Y. - I was actually thinking of trying to write a short story that was 100% fiction by almost all the choices being randomly generated. But that seems like a lot of work.
It'd be a lot of work to program a random-story-element-generator, but not a lot of work to press the button.
Yeah, but even then you'd still have to write it out and edit.
Dwayne's recurring theme is tact.
Surely some disinhibiting ingredient was at work.
Surely.
@Courtney, he's in my area in July, so I'm super psyched as well. I've read his novel and his collection and I can't wait to hear about what's coming next. I first heard about him before he released his novel. Terry Gross interviewed him on Fresh Air (NPR). It doesn't surprise me that he only read. In the interview, he came across as friendly, engaging, and soft-spoken, maybe? Plain-spoken? I don't remember exactly, except to say that he sounded and talked like I expected him to sound and talk.
Although, I couldn't really have thought that, right? I hadn't read anything by him yet. Well, maybe it's that I'm familiar enough with the area he hails from. Glad you enjoyed it!
@Sean - If there was a shrug emoticon, I'd use it. She brought up pregnancy, I asked a reasonable question, and I wasn't insulting.
@Dwayne - and that is completely okay to ask about pregnancy/pregnancies...but please understand that without being close to someone and knowing them well, bringing up miscarriages and saying "hope it's not a sore spot" isn't very tactful.
It's funny that I actually have to say that to someone. Funny in the way that Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) would maim and/or kill you over, NOT funny like a clown.
I have not been pregnant "a bunch"! :D
...why?
@Sean - I have no idea why you think this site and tact have much to do with each other. We're doing good to avoid meeting up for knife fights.
@Averydoll - You said:
That would seem to imply a more then average/common amount of pregnancy.
My theme seems to always become self exploratory. I end up writing about something that is in my subconscious, so the stories often become about me. those are the darker stories. When I escape me, th stories actually become humerous and light hearted. Im not sure which is best. I just want my inner self to stop taking over sometimes.
Did it really imply that? Hm. Well then that's my fault. Sorry.
I saw no such implication, but everyone is responsible for their own inferences, I suppose.
I write about the human conition. Wants, hopes, triumphs, failures, and acceptance.
I like to write about relationships and the stupid things we do when we're in them, from first person.
^ LOL.