Love Writing, Hate Reading

Brightdreamer said:

Ambrosia - Apologies if I came across as violating the RYFW rule.

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I never said you did. I was pointing out the sequence of events. Not saying you did anything wrong.

I never read the book, but enjoyed the movie. I did read all the Twilight books and enjoyed those, as well as saw all the Twilight movies. A lot of people take issue with the Twilight series. I thought it a creative take on the vampire myth.

Brightdreamer said:

The origins of of the 50 Shades trilogy were tied closely with the Twilight fan community, and there's a rather similar dynamic. To understand one, it would likely be useful to understand the other. And both were likely lightning-in-a-bottle, right place/right time hits to a degree.

Oh, and the Anne Rice tie-in - many considered the "sparkling" vampires of Twilight to be descendants (in a literary sense, not an actual or literal sense) of Anne Rice's vampires. So stories build upon stories, back down to the roots.

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Hmm, I've never heard that one until now. I always just assumed she rolled with the legends of vampires where they did not burn in the sun. Either way, more power to her for making it work.

I do content editing, and I read a lot of WIPs by aspiring novelists, many in the early stages. I do not have a single doubt that if you don't read, you won't write well. I can see it in the language, in the structure, in the narrative when someone doesn't read; this person sees their story in front of them like a film, then describes that film. It doesn't work. (And yes, I've confirmed this with the writers in question, again and again).

If you intend to write for anyone other than yourself, I have no doubt that it is going to cripple your efforts. How can you create something you've barely experienced? To me, it's like saying you're going to paint an elephant when you've never seen one, even in a picture.

There is so much more to this craft than plotting a story. And make no mistake: writing is a craft, and it takes a lot of time and effort to become proficient at (like anything worth pursuing). There's a romantic notion that if you just have a good idea, all you have to do is sit down a write, et voilà: a great novel. That is a naïve dream. It simply does not happen.

And I apologise if I sound harsh. But experience has taught me that this is a band-aid that needs to come off quickly (and possibly painfully).

Shoot Owl said:

Does anyone else not like to read?

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I didn't read much when I was young, which carried over into my young adult years. Don't get me wrong--if I picked up the right book, I would binge-read. But, it had to be the right book.

Reading to my children is what brought me closer to books. I was fortunate that my youngest son enjoyed reading with me until he was twelve. If you're a parent, you can appreciate how awesome that is.

When I first learned that I would need to read extensively (especially read in my chosen genre) if I wanted to write seriously, it worried me. I still don't devour books. That being said... give me that "right" book and I won't want to put it down.

Perhaps, you should vary your reading selection and see if it's more a matter of not liking a specific genre than being a matter of not enjoying the act of reading.

I actually started out as a writer who disliked reading. I was an anime fan and storyteller with no knack for drawing, so I started writing in order to tell the stories within my head.

Eventually, I decided to start studying the fiction of popular authors in order to improve my own writing. So I'd be sitting there at my computer working on a story, while I'd have one of Jim Butcher's or Brandon Sanderson's books sitting in front of me. If I felt like something was "off" in my writing, then I'd compare my prose to theirs.

It might not be surprising to hear I've developed a love for reading. I'm currently reading the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss and I really love these books.

Magnus said:

I can see it in the language, in the structure, in the narrative when someone doesn't read; this person sees their story in front of them like a film, then describes that film. It doesn't work. (And yes, I've confirmed this with the writers in question, again and again).

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I read. I have always read since I first learned to read as a kid. I read a lot. When I have a story come to me, I see it. Like a movie, or more, like an event I am experiencing that still allows me an eagle eye view so I can see all the action and know the world as well. I visualize. That's how stories come to me. There is nothing wrong with visualizing a story and writing it down.

What allows me to write, however, is all the other things I have learned over the years in translating what I see in my mind into words on a page. If I were not a book lover, I don't believe I would be able to do so. It takes knowledge of how stories on the page work to be able to write one. However, those things can be learned. Without that initial story that I see and experience in my mind, I would never have anything to write.

What puzzles me is why a person who hates to read would want to write a book. A person who hates animals wouldn't want to be a veterinarian. A person who hates to cook wouldn't want to be a chef. So why do people who hate to read want to be a writer?

I used to be the same way as you when I first started writing, and still am, to some extent. I still rely on movies and television and other forms of storytelling for a lot of my inspiration, and I think that's alright. Stories come from other stories, and a story is a story, no matter how it is told. However, like others have said, you need to read to understand how to translate that story into book format.

I think the word "hate" is a bit strong for me and my personal relationship with reading. Others might have a different experience. I have trouble reading only because I struggle to keep my eyes open when reading. I wish I could read more.

I think maybe we are being a little hard on Shootowl. In my opinion there is a subtext to the original question. Reading is a challenge, one of many it seems, so if reading is difficult, is is still possible to grow as a writer? The first thing we need to do is give the Shootowl the recogintion they deserve for not giving up on the desire to acheive something just because life puts barriers in the way. Secondly, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are classes to teach the technicalities and mentors to share knowledge and help refine the product. Are there not those among us with experience to be potential mentors? Are we not here to hone a skill and acheive a desire?

I don't read books (shock horror) not because I don't want to, but because I don't have the time and energy. Yes yes I know, there is no excuse for not making time, but take my word for it there are only so many hours in day and only one of me. I could go into the gory details but it would be boring. And when I do find time I would rather be writing. In my head are things I want to put on paper before I lose them and a desire to be heard. Work, life balance is my nemesis. And nearing 60 I wonder how much life I have left to balance.

Like Shootowl, in my dim and distant past, I have read books, avidly and obsessively and have a large book collection to prove it. But I found that when I went back to wiriting after reading I was so uncertain of my own ability to write that I subconciously plagiarising style that I admired and had to question if it was a good thing. Where was my style, my individuality?

With regard to the technicalities, over the years I have been on more than a few writing courses and joined online writing groups. And yes, published books are good reference points when you have a moment of doubt about the technicalities and writing. Practice makes perfect.

As for 'badly written successful books'. Shades of Grey hooked into a market by putting a taboo into a popularist format - Sex sells and always will. I don't think literary excellence was number one on the list of desired acheivements.

I have long thought that publishers put product first, Brand outwieghs quality of content, the 'market' as they see it is largely driven by the uneducated or blinkered and sensation sells. 'New' if not sensational is too much of a threat to fiscal well being to contemplate.

The aspiration to write is something that deserves to be nurtured and doesn't deserve to be restrained by barriers. It just happens to be lots of peoples aspiration so success, whatever that might mean, so often feels like something of a Holy Grail. Still we try

So group hug peeps - we are all deserving folk with something worthy to say doing great things.

Reading is crucial to developing writing talent, and not just reading. You need to read in and outside your genre, and read different forms. Novel writers need to read short fiction, and short fiction writers need to read novels.

At the very least, you need to read so that you already know what has been done, and what has been done to death.

That being said, if it's the actual reading that challenges you (and this is totally valid, a friend of mine has dyslexia so reading is difficult for her) have you considered trying audio books?

First, I would like to say having a reading disorder and thinking you have a reading disorder are two different things. I would strongly suggest if you have the resources is to seek out a professional that deals with learning disorders. With the right treatment plan you may find it easier to read but you would need to seek this help first, don't just tell yourself "I may have a disorder", investigate it.

Second, I don't think anyone is being too critical here. Everyone understands that for your skills to continue to grow you need to constantly be studying your craft and searching for improvements. If you don't you'll only be reinforcing bad techniques which will be much more difficult to unlearn or correct in later works.

Reading is what made me want to be a writer, and the more books I read, the better my writing became over time. Though I will say this - I entered a reading slump a few years ago and didn't read a novel for a couple of years. All of my books had a bookmark in them at around one hundred pages. I abandoned them all. It wasn't that the books weren't engaging, I just didn't have the patience to read anymore. I'm not sure why this happens, but it was very frustrating. What I did to correct it was go back and re-read the first books that captured my heart years ago. It got me back on the right track.

Yeah, I should probably read more. In fact, I have a book on my kindle right now that I should be digging into. I tend to read most of holiday, when I have time to sit down and get into some books. I did read a lot when I was a kid, though, so hopefully that balances out somewhat

A good writer is always a voracious reader.

The aspiration to write is something that deserves to be nurtured and doesn't deserve to be restrained by barriers.

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We're being honest, not harsh. No one has proposed barriers of any kind, because no artificial barriers are needed. Not reading, however, is a self imposed barrier, and the reality is that if you don't have time to read, then you won't have time to write as a career. Telling the OP anything else would be disingenuous.

Yes, it's unfair, but writing is generally an unfair career: it favours the wealthy, the privileged, the educated, and the retired. There's a reason why the average age for a debut author is 37.

Again, if you don't care about the career side and just do it for fun, then there are no barriers at all, even self imposed.

Azkaellion said:

A good writer is always a voracious reader.

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That sounds very definite and all, but you might want to back it up with something.