I write because I don't read

JShaft33

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Hello everyone!

A little over ten years ago a business school graduate with no formal writing training/experience decided to start a fiction novel after a drunken conversation with a friend. Some on and off writing over the past decade has led to 76,000 (likely grammatically incorrect) words and one complete novel.

Since I have never seriously studied any of this, I am on a crash course to learn about queries/synopses/agents & the such. It's sites like this and anne mini's blog that I am depending on to absorb as much as possible as I work toward having my work published.

I look forward to virtually meeting everyone and participating.
 
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regdog

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:welcome:


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nelehjr

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You've come to the right place! A lot of these folks are mean and snooty as Hell but they give good advice.
 

mccardey

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You've come to the right place! A lot of these folks are mean and snooty as Hell but they give good advice.
That's rude and also inaccurate. Neither of those will fly here for very long.

Welcome to AW, JShaft. Congratulations on finishing the novel - that's a place some never people never reach :)
 

AW Admin

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You know you were already on thin ice with this post:

Haven't had this problem. I'm commenting irrelevantly so I can have more posts under my belt. XOXO

So this one?

You've come to the right place! A lot of these folks are mean and snooty as Hell but they give good advice.

This one means you can go sit in corner and contemplate what it means to be courteous, otherwise known as Respecting Your Fellow Writers, a think you've had pointed several times already and which is thoroughly explained in The Newbie Guide to Absolute Write.
 

lizmonster

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I write, and so I don't have time to read. :)

Welcome, JShaft33! We're a lively bunch, as you've probably already noticed... :D
 

Salsmal

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>I write because I don't read

I can't imagine anything worse :)

I was thrown off by the name of the thread too. By what the OP's written so far I kind of feel like we're in the same relationship with writing. They can correct me if I'm wrong, but it's like we both got a spark out of no where, and we see "reading" like a person who's trying to lose weight who does the exercises, but none of the dieting. From what I've seen on weight loss, I have to look at it as a lifestyle and not just an act. That's why I feel like I'm in more of a sprint than actually making writing a part of my life sub consciously.

Another thing the OP stated that I could relate with is the whole "crash course" idea. I went through the stickies, and "crash coursed" myself. When I did that I just felt a rain on my parade because of the fact that I don't read much and that I looked at learning about reading as a "crash course" to begin with when I should get used to the idea of being a citizen of the culture rather than looking at it as last minute studying for an exam. I concluded in myself that I have to force myself to read until I like it, and if I don't end up liking it then maybe I'm not a writer.

I just felt conviction on this subject, felt like typing it out, and since we're in the area of where new folks come around to maybe someone else could relate.
 

metahead

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Hello. I'm new here as well. I actually read more than I write. If you have problems writing you should read more and various topics. It makes the creative liquor flow.
 

D_Shalayek

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I have a little bit of unsolicited advice. Take it or leave it, and you do you.

I was just like you. I started a novel without having read any fiction since Goosebumps way back in my middle school days. I graduated with a business degree, and after a little bit of time, I came up with a fantastic story idea that I just had to tell. And I wanted to do it without reading one single novel, just to prove to the world I could.

I wrote two drafts and completed my entire continuity edit without reading a single novel. But by that stage, I was banging my head against a wall, because I received so much advice and learned so much--but I was missing something that kept me from going that next step.

So I asked my wife if she's read anything like my book. I bit the bullet, and read it. The moment I saw someone else's writing, I realized I had a lot of catching up to do. So, I read other books. Lots of books. Both in and out of my genre. And I saw my writing improve drastically.

So I implore you to read more books. It was the best thing I did to improve. But if you decide to not heed my advice, I wish you lots of luck, and I hope you prove everyone wrong and do well.
 

The Otter

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This is me being pedantic, but "fiction novel" is redundant; all novels are fictional.

Also, welcome, and congrats on the finished novel. :) Completing a book is a major and important step. I do recommend reading other books in your genre, but the process of writing is itself an educational experience. IMO, you don't need any kind of formal training to be a writer, you just need to be someone who writes.
 

zanzjan

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^as D_Shalayek said.

Most of us arrived at writing stories after falling in love with reading them, and while I do think reading is essential to good writing, I can also imagine -- while unusual -- that someone can also discover a love of both in the reverse order, and that journey is also perfectly valid.
 

Obi-Wan Nobody

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Welcome, JShaft33.
I admire your courage of recognising that you don't read. And still, you have a manuscript done, looking to send queries to agents.

Have you considered some beta readers and their advice? Just in case there is something that can be improved, before sending it to agents, which is a one-time opportunity.

I am still wondering how you know that your book is done, polished and ready for readers since you don't have the exercise of what a successful book means.

Good luck in your endeavour. :hi:
 

JShaft33

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The responses here are very appreciated. They also lead me back to the satirical question "Do you believe everything you read?"
 

Chase

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For nothing to read 'cause there aren't any, I'd skip fiction novels and go straight to non-fiction novels. :greenie
 

mccardey

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The responses here are very appreciated. They also lead me back to the satirical question "Do you believe everything you read?"

I always interpret I don't read and I don't know what I'm doing but I seem to have written a book intros as a rather sweet defensive preamble. Obviously the writer does read, because they're on a bulletin board, and obviously, if they've finished a book, they're fairly serious about writing because finishing is hard - so prolly they're just shy about jumping into a room full of people all whom already seem to know each other and know the jargon, and all of whom are wearing name-tags that say WRITER!.

So I wrote this in post #10 to you and then I deleted it because I'm an old lady and full of assumptions and sometimes they're wrong (!) and now, if I was right after all, I'm sorry I deleted it - and I will reinstate it here, along with a Welcome. We're not as scarey as we might look. And we're all only here to make friends and learn things. So you're in the right place. :Sun:

Your name-tag is just on that table there -
 

frimble3

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The responses here are very appreciated. They also lead me back to the satirical question "Do you believe everything you read?"
Nope. I stopped believing everything I read when I realized that everything I read was written by people.
Ah, for those days of innocence when books just sort of appeared, full blown, with no need to think about authors or publishers, and "Are there more?"
And, :welcome:! Wander around and see the sights!
 
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JShaft33

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Thanks for sharing your experience D_Shalayek. It's good to see someone else from a business background attempting to create a literary world.
 

JShaft33

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This is me being pedantic, but "fiction novel" is redundant; all novels are fictional.

Also, welcome, and congrats on the finished novel. :) Completing a book is a major and important step. I do recommend reading other books in your genre, but the process of writing is itself an educational experience. IMO, you don't need any kind of formal training to be a writer, you just need to be someone who writes.


Thank you for pointing that out. I crossed up work of fiction and novel and came up with "fiction novel"! Perhaps I'll build that into my next work as a running joke.
 

Chase

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The responses here are very appreciated. They also lead me back to the satirical question "Do you believe everything you read?"

Nope, and you don't have to believe what you read to learn from its truths, lies, spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
 

ktzeee

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I'm the opposite- came from a literary background to study business. Now trying to balance the two and publish books while holding down a job in public accounting. Best of luck to us both!