 For Authors: October 16, 2019 Issue [#9811] |
This week: Reading to Write Edited by: Fyn  
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True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, as those move easiest who have learn'd to dance. ~~Alexander Pope
Despite the enormous quantity of books, how few people read! And if one reads profitably, one would realize how much stupid stuff the vulgar herd is content to swallow every day. ~~Voltaire
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one. ~~George R.R. Martin
One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time. ~~Carl Sagan
If you want to be a writer, don't worry so much about writing. Read as much as you can. Read as many different writers as you can. Soak up the styles. ~~R. L. Stine
You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~~C.S. Lewis.
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When I was in college the 2nd time around, a professor of a writing class asked the students, "How many of you read just to read?" My hand went up. No brainer. Then I realized that out of a class of thirty-some-odd students, there were three of us with hands in the air. Then the teacher asked, "How many of you have read a book outside of classwork in the last month?" The three of us again raised our hands. Then she asked the three of us if we'd read more than two books in that month. Three hands again. "Five, perhaps?" Three hands. "Have you always been readers?" she asked? We nodded.
The teacher smiled and then handed back our notebooks containing the first half-semester's worth of writing assignments. The three of us were the only ones who received an 'A' for our efforts. There were no "B"s. There was a lot of moaning and groaning when she then assigned us to read a book a week outside of classwork. She didn't care what type of book it was, nor did she care about the length or genre. She wanted her erstwhile writers to read! We also had to make up a list of books we thought others should read and why. A minimum of ten. More grumbles. Though the majority didn't understand then, the reasoning behind the assignment was that to be a good writer, one needs to be well-read in not only a wide variety of genres, but of styles, language, authors and timeframes.
Then again, there is also the concept of the 'reading.' This something we truly need to both embrace AND encourage. Too many folks today 'don't have time' or 'haven't read a book in years.' As writers, this can be discouraging, but more should scare the heck out of us! Personally, I simply don't get it. To my way of thinking; there is always time to read! I have always MADE time, even with three kids, a full-time college student and a job as well as being a single mom and all that entails! I'd be waaaay crazier than I am if I didn't! 
Remember the list of books I mentioned earlier? I don't remember the books I listed then -- I do know it was at least three times the length she requested. (Simply too difficult to narrow it down further!) Twenty-five years later, here's my list and why. The important part is that it is my list. A Fyn list. Because I actually like them, not because I am 'supposed' to like them. In my case, that probably means I won't. It won't be a classics list either. Just the books I think everyone should read!
1. The Giver (and the rest of that quartet) by Lois Lowry. I think I've given away over 100 copies of this book. Another world, another time. Or is it?
2. 1984 by George Orwell. (or Brave New World by Aldous Huxley or Anthem by Ayn Rand.) Each offers a glimpse into what could be/might be/ almost is yet written way before the 'now times.'
3. The Last of the Really Great Wangdoodles (or Mandy) by Julie Andrews Edwards. (Yes. that Julie Andrews!) Because they are magic and make me smile!
4. The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo. The V. Hugo book no one has heard of. But it is really, really good! Hugo had a talent for description that made everything real, visable and concrete!
5. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. As Lewis once said, “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” Because of those books, I have a wardrobe. 'Nuff said.
6. A Wrinkle in Time or anything by Madeline L'Engle. She has this special way of seriously putting you right in the middle of what is going on and then makes you accept the improbable.
7. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. What we do or don't do has an impact on those around us.
8. All four books that make up Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. Yahoos and houyhnhnms <--for the record, 'we' are the yahoos!
9. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel. The first in a series. It is a very long and detailed book, thoroughly researched and a completely immersing journey back, back, back in time.
10. As If They Were Gods by Kate Cameron. Back when Stonehenge was far in the future. Differing groups of the Cheosynd (pronounced 'chosen') who traveled and began the early settling of Britain.
11. The Cornerstone by Karen Elizabeth Bush. An intriguing pile of rubble where an old school once stood, a group of kids wanting to solve a historical mystery and a very persnickety cat!
12. The entire 'Outlander' series by Diana Gabaldon. Whoosh! The TV series is amazing but the books are so, so much better!
13. Anything and everything by Bertrice Small -- especially Sky O'Malley and The Kadin. Strong female characters, historical and yes, romances because everyone needs a bit of that in their lives!
14. The Class and The Doctors by Eric Segal. Each takes a class of students through their college years and beyond. The characters are like old friends now....
15. Hawaii by James A. Michener. All of his books go back to the beginning and take you through time as the places become what we know today. Rich, rich characters that leap off the page.
16. Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. Pern. Dragons. Oh and The Harper of Pern.
17.A Single Light by Maia Wojciechowska. A deaf and mute girl who spoke volumes with her smile and her eyes and who heard hearts best of all. And. And. And!
I've read and reread every one of these books many, many times. They are my favorites. Each and every one makes me think or smile or feel 'something' very special.
I've learned so much about how to write from reading. I've learned new ways to write in layers and add nuance. Foreshadowing, and metaphors. Reading these and other books has taught me how to layer symbolism and have a subtle theme run through a whole novel.
Ever since I first read A Kingdom in a Horse by Maia Wojciechowska in 1965 I wanted to grow up and be a writer. Not just a poet, but a writer as well. My mother encouraged me to write to the author because the vet in the book was exactly like ours, and I learned she lived a few miles away. She showed up at our house riding 'that' horse and that was the beginning of a friendship that lasted until she died in June of 2002.
She told me waaay back then (when I was eleven years old) that if I wanted to become a writer that first and foremost I had to read anything and everything I could get my hands on. For years I'd receive reading lists from her every summer. I'd have to write her reports. What did I like or not like and why? A memorable line or paragraph or what might I have done differently. She wanted details. During the year, she'd send me a postcard with three or four words on it and tell me to 'make her a story.' She'd surprise me with books at odd times during the year. Heinlein, London, Cleary, Dahl and so many more. She told me to always have a book with me and I'd never be bored. She also said I'd need to crawl before I could walk, and trot before I could canter. We'd ride our horses all over our mountain and talk about books, about themes, about symbolism and about writing in layers.
In high school and college, I'd proof galleys because she said attention to detail was paramount. And always, always when she'd see me she'd ask, "What was the last book you read? Did you like it? Why? Or why not." Saying a book was good meant nothing to her without the 'why' behind it. A detailed explanation of the whys and wherefores. "You will never become a good writer if you aren't first a good reader." When my first book was published in 1986, I think she was prouder than I was.
To this day, I rarely end my day, regardless of the hour, without reading at least a chapter or five. Not work reading, but pleasure reading. Reading to learn or reading to make me smile. I've learned what makes a book that I enjoy reading, how to pace it out, how to layer in symbolism and multiple meanings. Reading has taught me to appreciate nuance and detail and a well-written sentence or paragraph: you know, the one that you remember long after the last page is turned.
So. What books are on YOUR list. Books you love, have touched you or maybe, even changed your life or a perspective? Let me know! Email me your list of books and why and I'll be using them in my next For Authors Newsletter! Don't let me down, folks! It would be awful to have to say I didn't get any lists, now, wouldn't it?
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Some of my favorites from here at WDC!
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Mara ♣ McBain  comments:OMG can I relate to so many of the symptoms! lol For something that people refer to as a solitary pursuit, it is so good to have someone who understands. Or someone to call/text/email when the muses go silent or you're maybe finished but you're not sure and OMG does this suck????? LOL Awesome newsletter. Right on the nose!
Thanking you!
hbk16 says: These are the different feelings that an author can perceive during one moment or another of his career.I think each writing is addressed to a large public.Some people like the work and others not. An author should understand this very well. Writing is an art and as any art it constitutes a relative work which possesses two variables:the public and the time. This is a featured issue which needs further debate.
the Wordy Jay  adds: The image of a blubbering writer PETTING their finished book was hilarious!  Yup, no one's safe around these folks!Thanks for the warning, Fyn. 
Happens all the time!
Quick-Quill  writes: OH I's so printing this out and taping it to my wall in my writing room I'm making. Now if we just could get a cartoonist to create images that define these stages I would make it a poster!
lol - hmmm - mind is a working!
Beholden  says: A book is the writer's opportunity to say what he means without interruption.
Great line!
Osirantinous  enthouses: Ha, I was at The Deep End today, when the first printed version of my novel arrived. I might have stroked the cover (and then cleaned it because I had slightly greasy hands from sorting dinner). Mostly I was doing a mad grin, even though the eBook and Kindle had been published a month already, because print is ultimate for me. Totally relieved that the layout I did myself worked out perfect in terms of recto/verso - which meant I could log straight onto IngramSpark and enable it for worldwide ordering. The PoD are definitely not the moneymakers but they're my writer happy place!
YUP!!!!!!!!!!!
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