I've been reading some interesting posts in various threads around the forum and those responses spurred a certain curiosity about reading habits.
*While I certainly wouldn't "lift" the following phrase, discovering it did prompt me to make a list of cliches to see if I could subvert or create a fresh take on them. That was an exercise which I'm likely to continue because it challenged my language skills as well as my creativity. The original phrase (and we're all familiar with it): "where angels fear to tread". In Zen in The Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury rendered it: "So, many of us plunge forward where angels leave no dustprint."
- Do you make time every day to read or do you read in spurts as time allows?
- Do you have a special place reserved for reading?
- Do you read primarily or solely in the genre you write?
- Do you read both fiction and nonfiction? How is your reading time divvied up between the two? Do you read nonfiction only as it relates to your profession?
- When reading either fiction or nonfiction do you mark or make note of fascinating or interesting turns-of-phrase? How about new takes on cliches?*
*While I certainly wouldn't "lift" the following phrase, discovering it did prompt me to make a list of cliches to see if I could subvert or create a fresh take on them. That was an exercise which I'm likely to continue because it challenged my language skills as well as my creativity. The original phrase (and we're all familiar with it): "where angels fear to tread". In Zen in The Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury rendered it: "So, many of us plunge forward where angels leave no dustprint."