McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Too Much Reading About Writing
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: mightyutuvan on July 05, 2010, 12:53:57 AM --- So after taking a break from writing, I am back. I call it taking a break but really life's interferences combined with my own temper tantrum and viola, I quit writing anything not work related for five months. Writer's get to be temperamental, right? ::)
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Generally not successful ones....
--- Quote ---So my question to you is... do you find reading too much about writing counterproductive?
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No. It may tell me something useful, it may tell me something to avoid, it may just tell me "this bit of this person's process does not work like mine", but it's all research.
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: daranthered on July 05, 2010, 08:51:58 AM ---It's pretty easy to overload yourself. My primary motivation as a writer is to convey the stories in my head to people who want to read them. And to do that with a measure of craftsmanship. To that end, I try to pick a set of tools that help me bring out my natural talents.
That doesn't mean I don't still read about how other people write. I am, after all in this area of the forums. I'm just not very quick to adopt a whole new outlook based on something new I've read.
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That sounds eminently sensible.
I think part of the point of reading lots of different contradictory writing advice, though, is to figure what will work with your own personal process, so therefore it is a Good Thing.
meg_evonne:
Good point Mighty. Communication requires one to communicate and one or more to listen and understand. Writing is communication, but writing does not require another to read and understand. A=b & b=c does not mean a=c. The tree lays toppled on the forest floor--heard or not. If someone stumbles across it.
It might come to pass that as you write more that you will find the only people that begin to matter to you are the characters you created. They, like an addiction, become more important than someone reading it. Their story will grip you, grab you by the throat, and steal your life, your sleep.
The interesting part? Like Kali has said though--publishing doesn't come until the characters are that real, that 3D, that intriguing.
That said when asked why JB wrote in school he responded, "I want to see my books in STACKS at Barnes and noble!" To each their own.
So welcome to your new addiction! It doesn't matter when you begin to write. Enjoy the ride your mind will create!
the neurovore of Zur-En-Aargh:
--- Quote from: meg_evonne on July 05, 2010, 11:20:11 PM ---Good point Mighty. Communication requires one to communicate and one or more to listen and understand. Writing is communication, but writing does not require another to read and understand. A=b & b=c does not mean a=c. The tree lays toppled on the forest floor--heard or not.
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perhaps it's overly Platonist of me, but I do not construe something as written until it is read.
meg_evonne:
Certainly not communicated until read, but even graffite in Pompey wasn't read until years and years after being unearthed. So writing is still writing-- read or not, and always has the potential to be communicated unless destroyed.
Geez I sound like the communication major I was... not so much philosophy expert. and just my opinion.
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