Reading and Writing
I have stolen ideas from every book I have ever read. My principle in researching a novel is "Read like a butterfly, write like a bee," and if this story contains any honey it is entirely because of the quality of the nectar I found in the work of better writers -Philip Pullman
I keep a reading journal, a very cool and overpriced bound book from Borders, with these sections: books to read, favorite passages, and books lent/borrowed (which I changed to Books I've Read). I am a notorious forgetter, and its reassuring to have a written list of books I've read, so I know I've read them.
Yesterday, my summer "Books I've Read" list caught up with my spring semester total of 18 books. This, of course, got me thinking about why the hell I love to read so much. I'll read whole novels, three or four hundred pages, in a sitting or a day if its possible, neglecting work and family and cleaning for the words written on those pages. I was that nerdy girl on the bus, with the dirty hair and glasses, who kept her nose in the book for the entire ride, down the steps, and down the sidewalk home. I even tried to read at the dinner table but that didn't last long. Apparently its rude.
Its addicting, reading. For me, a person who makes associations instead of mental pictures, reading is better than watching a movie. I'm not forced to look at anything. But I can look at the words and fall into a trance, my eyes scanning and my heart pumping, as I enter the world of the characters. Because I think about the world presented on the page the same way I think about my own, with words and associations, not pictures, what is happening in black and white is more like flesh and blood to me.
This has an interesting correlation to my writing: I have a hard time making up fiction. Everything I read becomes very real to me, and its difficult to come up with something unreal. My creative writing class story was largely true, as are my blog posts. I'm in the middle of a short story that's basically about my family, even though it wasn't supposed to be.
But if I can write with some grace and keep reading others' work, maybe I'll be able to make real life somewhat interesting. Here's hopin'.
I keep a reading journal, a very cool and overpriced bound book from Borders, with these sections: books to read, favorite passages, and books lent/borrowed (which I changed to Books I've Read). I am a notorious forgetter, and its reassuring to have a written list of books I've read, so I know I've read them.
Yesterday, my summer "Books I've Read" list caught up with my spring semester total of 18 books. This, of course, got me thinking about why the hell I love to read so much. I'll read whole novels, three or four hundred pages, in a sitting or a day if its possible, neglecting work and family and cleaning for the words written on those pages. I was that nerdy girl on the bus, with the dirty hair and glasses, who kept her nose in the book for the entire ride, down the steps, and down the sidewalk home. I even tried to read at the dinner table but that didn't last long. Apparently its rude.
Its addicting, reading. For me, a person who makes associations instead of mental pictures, reading is better than watching a movie. I'm not forced to look at anything. But I can look at the words and fall into a trance, my eyes scanning and my heart pumping, as I enter the world of the characters. Because I think about the world presented on the page the same way I think about my own, with words and associations, not pictures, what is happening in black and white is more like flesh and blood to me.
This has an interesting correlation to my writing: I have a hard time making up fiction. Everything I read becomes very real to me, and its difficult to come up with something unreal. My creative writing class story was largely true, as are my blog posts. I'm in the middle of a short story that's basically about my family, even though it wasn't supposed to be.
But if I can write with some grace and keep reading others' work, maybe I'll be able to make real life somewhat interesting. Here's hopin'.
Comments
And fiction doesn't always have to be made up.