A Writer's "Eye"

'Tis the curse of the writer. I has it. Now you has it too.

If you can do the same thing while also figuring out everywhere the writer went right, you'll learn a lot more.

I seem to have two types of books i read. Some i can pick up and start, i am engrossed almost instantly and i don't stop to criticise them as i want to get to the next page. Then some i start reading and before i have finished the first page i am noting things that are wrong or i just don't like. i have noticed this over the past couple of months.

ClaudiaGray said:

If you can do the same thing while also figuring out everywhere the writer went right, you'll learn a lot more.

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Yeah, that's important. I does it. You should does it too.

I'm puzzled by the mention of inconsistent naming strategies. Its normal and good to vary the ways by which any character is referred to if you need to refer to them multiple times in a paragraph or page, whether in narration or dialogue. Typically I make sure each of my major characters has a formal name (Etsandere), a shorter form of that name (Sander), two or more descriptive phrases (the tall blond man, the shapeshifter; these can then be modified to suit the particular occasion, becoming things like the excessively tall man, the annoyed shapeshifter), and two insulting things that other characters can call them (beanpole, amoeba).

Oh yes. I do this too. I'm so much more critical of author's writings now. Grammatical errors, info dumps, telling when they should be showing...knowing all that we know, learning all that we learn as we write...makes it hard to just sit back and enjoy a good story anymore.

But, the good news is that it's just another way to learn. Reading is now a way to examine what works, what doesn't, and why.

I'm the same way. When I learned more about query letters, I found myself critiquing the Writers Market 2007 query letter, the "good" fiction query letter. There were a lot of things on the query letter that people told me should never be put in a query letter becuase it wastes the agent's time. The novel compared itself to other books and authors. It wasted a paragraph with senseless prattle about supernatural binding genres being on bookshelves, or some wasteful trash like that. I started laughing.

A couple of days ago, I was reading a book from 1996 published by Writer's Digest. I noticed a horrible error involving subject-verb agreement in numbers. The sentence went something like this: An author believes they have what it takes to. . .something like that.

I strongly criticize even published books now. I criticize that Paolini wastes his books with needless descriptions and scenes. I critcize that Flavia Bujor's novel is too cliched, unrealistic, and not at all original.

sunandshadow said:

I'm puzzled by the mention of inconsistent naming strategies. Its normal and good to vary the ways by which any character is referred to if you need to refer to them multiple times in a paragraph or page

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From the bottom of my heart, I utterly disagree. It's one of those writerisms that simply calls attention to itself and does nothing else.

Talkatoast said:

I critcize that Flavia Bujor's novel is too cliched, unrealistic, and not at all original.

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I criticise forum posts with special attention to tautologies

ClaudiaGray said:

If you can do the same thing while also figuring out everywhere the writer went right, you'll learn a lot more.

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Aye, there's the rub. I too have the Crit Disease, and can identify (often in great detail) exactly where a writer screwed the pooch. But when I read something good and engrossing and well-written, much of the time I find it impossible to point to exactly what thing(s) make it work. I just know that it does.

I practically can't read online amateur fiction anymore because of this very problem. (Not to blame it on AW, though, since I've had this problem long before coming here. I often feel like I was the only person who actually paid attention to the grammar lessons in English class so long ago.)

So I can no longer read amateur writing just for the fun of it because it's always so full of errors! And usually I've found that amateur writers seem more interested in a reader pointing out problems with plot and characterization rather than every little misspelling and comma splice, etc....I just can't ignore those things because to me they aren't little and they should be learned about before one goes showing off their writing. Learn the basics first, THEN I'll help you with the bigger picture.

I find it in published books, too, unfortunately. It's rampant with smaller-press books and self-published things or local papers. Our own local newspaper is just...UGH UGH UGH!!

I remember buying a small locally published book, a murder mystery set on Mackinac Island, a place I love...I got through all of the first page before giving up. "What's with this big historical infodump right in the middle of the first page?? Do we really need to know all this right at the beginning of the story--a history lesson? That's not how the police on the island dress--this guy didn't do research! OMG TYPO! This is horrid!"--*tosses book on shelf and never returns to it*

Kind of annoying sometimes, but honestly, these things should be fixed before publication.

Earlier this month I sat down to read some Hemmingway. After the first chapter of "The Sun Also Rises," I said, "God this is boring! Who published this Crap!"

Use Her Name said:

Earlier this month I sat down to read some Hemmingway. After the first chapter of "The Sun Also Rises," I said, "God this is boring! Who published this Crap!"

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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. I thought I was the only person on Earth who can't stand Hemingway!!

Normally, when I read, I'm a reader. My reader and writer rarely ever surface at the same time. So critiqueing as I read is a rarity for me. Usually I just enjoy the story.

Unless something happens in the story, either a plot quirk, or a grammatical problem, or a hitch in the writing, THEN my writer wakes up and starts to tear the book apart.

Usually though, instead of continuing reading, I just move on to another book and leave that one unfinished.

When I'm reading and writing, I don't think about writing rules. It has to be a major mistake for me to notice. It's only when I edit or critique that I let the editing monster go free. Until then, I keep it locked in the basement I don't have.

HH Johnson said:

You are no writer, Willowmound. You are a ten-year-old. Or you have the mind of one.

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No, he has the mind of a lolcat.

I was reading a few novels late in a certain fantasy series last year, a series that had hit the New York Times Bestseller List more than once. The farther I got, the more appalled I became.

Typos left and right. Grammar issues. There were even a few scenes where the names of characters were accidentally replaced with others, sort of like this -

(Joe is off fighting a war on the other side of the continent. The only people in the room are Jim and Jess.)
"What do we do?" Jim demanded.
"All we can do," Jess replied. "We wait."
Joe folded his arms. "You know how I feel about weighting."

And so forth. The other mistake is also intentional, in case you were wondering.

How do the writers let that slip? How do the editors let that slip? I have no idea how people can get so sloppy, especially when the books are so popular.

In any case, it seems that it happens everywhere. Books put out by small publishers, books put out by big publishers. It's rare to find a book free of them, but all the same, it never fails to tick me off.

It's a curse, but also a blessing. Sure, you notice the flaws, but you also notice when someone's written something mind blowing. And then you learn from it!

Newbie just picked a fight w/ Willowmound?

I also find myself critting novels more often than I did before joining AW. I take notes on how to revise my own writing so I don't make the same mistakes. I also jot down phrases or ideas that I think would benefit my WIP's.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Normally, when I read, I'm a reader. My reader and writer rarely ever surface at the same time. So critiqueing as I read is a rarity for me. Usually I just enjoy the story.

Unless something happens in the story, either a plot quirk, or a grammatical problem, or a hitch in the writing, THEN my writer wakes up and starts to tear the book apart.

Usually though, instead of continuing reading, I just move on to another book and leave that one unfinished.

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I read just like the ferret. Usually, I just read, but occasionally, there will be a phrase or a plot twist that is just so wrong that I get thrown out of the story. My normal reaction is to sort of blink in surprise and then jump right back in again. Occasionally, though - when it has happened for the fifth time on the same page - I huff and fire the book across the room. Then I sulk until I find another book to get lost in.

My ability to just read other work without critiquing came around the same time I learned how to bludgeon my internal editor into submission and lock him up in a closet with very little food and water for the duration of a rough draft.

Or forum post.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Normally, when I read, I'm a reader. My reader and writer rarely ever surface at the same time. So critiqueing as I read is a rarity for me. Usually I just enjoy the story.

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Part of me wishes I could keep the two separate, but then I realize the best reader in me is what makes the best writer in me.