Initially NO's Blog: IN - Posts Tagged "reading"
Books with divisions: short stories and poetry
With the exception of dictionaries, I generally like to read a book from front-cover to back. If the book is super interesting, I will have a relook at sections without reading the whole book again. But I don’t tend to dip into various sections of a book, unless I’m just checking it out at the bookstore.
I like to read a book in one or two sittings. Which, even when I have time, is something I can never do with books of short stories. My automatic mind expects the short story to continue onto the next one, characters blur and plots get confused, then I wake up and make that automatic part of me realise that the book isn’t a novel, or a non-fiction text, but separate stories. No matter how good the stories are, if they don’t link, I’m not enthused about having a book of them, I’d rather be holding a magazine that establishes that no article, poem, or story is to be in any way linked. So, I either tend to avoid books of short stories, or accidently buy the book thinking it was a novel and read them over a period of months. This isn’t satisfactory book reading for me though.
Poetry, I find, is different from short stories, it is divided up, often into shorter pieces than short stories, yet I LOVE reading a poet’s collection from cover to back. I enjoy the book best if the flow and placement of poems has been carefully thought about. Yet, I have had numerous chats with people who say they merely dip into poetry books that they don’t ever read them from front to back and that my reading of poetry books from front cover to back is ‘unusual.’
I think poetry books might just be my favourite genre. I find them easy going. I know, in an hour lunch break, say, I can go to the library and read a slim volume of poetry from front to back and gain a huge understanding of that author’s world. I particularly like the sensory that poetry gives more than any other form of writing. It takes me to times and places, that I can never visit, and gives me huge insight into that world. Poetry for me, transports the senses, when it’s good. But poetry I like best also talks about ecology, human nature, social-justice and language. The books are always divided, but, poetry books have flow on from one poem to the next, I feel, and, unlike short stories my mind doesn’t have to think about characters and plots.
I’m not too keen on literary journals with a theme and a whole lot of different poets. I feel, while the journal ties in ideas with a theme, the sense of the ‘book’ (which is isn’t but looks like) jumps about too much into too many different people to be of much importance to me, as a book.
Collaborative writing efforts rarely are up to scratch for me. I’d like to see writers working together dangerously, supporting each other like acrobats, but I’m yet to see it.
If you’re a dipper inner of poetry books, let me know why you don’t read from front cover to back. And if you love a book of short stories, how do you read it in one sitting?
I like to read a book in one or two sittings. Which, even when I have time, is something I can never do with books of short stories. My automatic mind expects the short story to continue onto the next one, characters blur and plots get confused, then I wake up and make that automatic part of me realise that the book isn’t a novel, or a non-fiction text, but separate stories. No matter how good the stories are, if they don’t link, I’m not enthused about having a book of them, I’d rather be holding a magazine that establishes that no article, poem, or story is to be in any way linked. So, I either tend to avoid books of short stories, or accidently buy the book thinking it was a novel and read them over a period of months. This isn’t satisfactory book reading for me though.
Poetry, I find, is different from short stories, it is divided up, often into shorter pieces than short stories, yet I LOVE reading a poet’s collection from cover to back. I enjoy the book best if the flow and placement of poems has been carefully thought about. Yet, I have had numerous chats with people who say they merely dip into poetry books that they don’t ever read them from front to back and that my reading of poetry books from front cover to back is ‘unusual.’
I think poetry books might just be my favourite genre. I find them easy going. I know, in an hour lunch break, say, I can go to the library and read a slim volume of poetry from front to back and gain a huge understanding of that author’s world. I particularly like the sensory that poetry gives more than any other form of writing. It takes me to times and places, that I can never visit, and gives me huge insight into that world. Poetry for me, transports the senses, when it’s good. But poetry I like best also talks about ecology, human nature, social-justice and language. The books are always divided, but, poetry books have flow on from one poem to the next, I feel, and, unlike short stories my mind doesn’t have to think about characters and plots.
I’m not too keen on literary journals with a theme and a whole lot of different poets. I feel, while the journal ties in ideas with a theme, the sense of the ‘book’ (which is isn’t but looks like) jumps about too much into too many different people to be of much importance to me, as a book.
Collaborative writing efforts rarely are up to scratch for me. I’d like to see writers working together dangerously, supporting each other like acrobats, but I’m yet to see it.
If you’re a dipper inner of poetry books, let me know why you don’t read from front cover to back. And if you love a book of short stories, how do you read it in one sitting?
Reading another writer of influence
Read and write, otherwise nup, you’re not a writer. You’re a suggestible indigestible.
When a writer says, ‘I don’t want to read your books in case they influence my writing.’ I baulk at that – what a ridiculous thing to say. Almost like saying someone else’s writing might be a bad influence, or might shift the author’s authenticity.
Not reading, and saying you’re a writer is like claiming to have a conversation, while you have ear buds firmly wedged in and your eyes closed, as you talk and talk for days. Maybe you’re some extraordinary person that works on vibe so that you don’t even have to look at the cover of an author’s book, let alone read any of the pages that might taint your thinking, and can get away with it, but most authors will just snub you after a remark like that. Authors want to be read, that’s the best thing about being a writer, being able to package ideas into books, so that they're easy for people to read.
Actually, I think, really, what a person says when they say they don’t want to be under the influence of my written words, is either that they don’t like me at all, they fear the power of my work, or they think I’m going to be too confronting for them, or make them feel jealous and therefore have self-esteem issues with their own work. This makes me doubt that their work will be of any merit.
People who write, if they like you, they’ll definitely read your writing. It is as simple as that. If they haven’t got around to it, they fully intend to, because they are interested in what you have to say and get a lot out of who you are and your writing is therefore very meaningful to them.
Writers I read, strengthen what I write, as well as everything else I do. Yes they do influence me if I love their words, and in a good way, to the point where if they are so in tune with what I wish to say, I will quote what they’ve said, because they’ve put together what I needed. The writers I love go in the direction I’m wanting to head, they sometimes also remove the obstacles in my way that have long been troubling me. Local writers, who are not known globally for their genius, can do this more than authors that are distanced from me, because they’re addressing my place, my time, and thrashing out the circumstance.
If an author doesn’t read much, I’m not interested in doing a manuscript assessment of their work unless they’re paying me, and, I’m uncertain about doing a swap. I will do jobs that are merely technical, not a problem, but I need to be given something for my time, as well as some respect.
Nup dem. Really that’s where it’s at when someone says, ‘I don’t want to read your books in case they influence my writing.’ Which, strangely, is a phrase that I’ve heard uttered a number of times over the years.
It’s not as though I write horror or pornography, that would infringe or upset. Getting a grip on what is and isn’t in order to stop being hypnotised by other people, is a must. Don’t expect a book to carry your identity, it shouldn’t, but it may enable an understanding or strengthen your view. The age of wanting to identify with flawed protagonists, I think should long be over. The age of pantomime plots, I think should be long dusted, as not cutting it intellectually. These are my views on progressive writing, that enables me to think and gain understanding.
So, to the authors that don’t wish their books to be contaminated by mine, realise, that if I read your book, that’s so very uncontaminated by another’s influence, I’ll give it an authentic review, because I read without fear and write fearlessly. Plus, I will not be led by monsters, nor manifest their ill-purpose. Whoopee cushion what-ifs blown away when poor attitudes don’t wash well with me, which would mean I don’t read past the first 20 pages though. Got to get my attention at the start, by not being what I’ve read before. If you don’t read, that might be hard. People who read the hidden genres, gain insight into what is going on, they know things the rest of the population doesn’t. I admire that. I also know, that it doesn’t have to be books that people are reading when there’s a whole internet of new material out there. Get influenced, realise what’s missing and effect a change much needed, otherwise you're going to be left behind, in the slush of what's really only annoying.
Initially NO
When a writer says, ‘I don’t want to read your books in case they influence my writing.’ I baulk at that – what a ridiculous thing to say. Almost like saying someone else’s writing might be a bad influence, or might shift the author’s authenticity.
Not reading, and saying you’re a writer is like claiming to have a conversation, while you have ear buds firmly wedged in and your eyes closed, as you talk and talk for days. Maybe you’re some extraordinary person that works on vibe so that you don’t even have to look at the cover of an author’s book, let alone read any of the pages that might taint your thinking, and can get away with it, but most authors will just snub you after a remark like that. Authors want to be read, that’s the best thing about being a writer, being able to package ideas into books, so that they're easy for people to read.
Actually, I think, really, what a person says when they say they don’t want to be under the influence of my written words, is either that they don’t like me at all, they fear the power of my work, or they think I’m going to be too confronting for them, or make them feel jealous and therefore have self-esteem issues with their own work. This makes me doubt that their work will be of any merit.
People who write, if they like you, they’ll definitely read your writing. It is as simple as that. If they haven’t got around to it, they fully intend to, because they are interested in what you have to say and get a lot out of who you are and your writing is therefore very meaningful to them.
Writers I read, strengthen what I write, as well as everything else I do. Yes they do influence me if I love their words, and in a good way, to the point where if they are so in tune with what I wish to say, I will quote what they’ve said, because they’ve put together what I needed. The writers I love go in the direction I’m wanting to head, they sometimes also remove the obstacles in my way that have long been troubling me. Local writers, who are not known globally for their genius, can do this more than authors that are distanced from me, because they’re addressing my place, my time, and thrashing out the circumstance.
If an author doesn’t read much, I’m not interested in doing a manuscript assessment of their work unless they’re paying me, and, I’m uncertain about doing a swap. I will do jobs that are merely technical, not a problem, but I need to be given something for my time, as well as some respect.
Nup dem. Really that’s where it’s at when someone says, ‘I don’t want to read your books in case they influence my writing.’ Which, strangely, is a phrase that I’ve heard uttered a number of times over the years.
It’s not as though I write horror or pornography, that would infringe or upset. Getting a grip on what is and isn’t in order to stop being hypnotised by other people, is a must. Don’t expect a book to carry your identity, it shouldn’t, but it may enable an understanding or strengthen your view. The age of wanting to identify with flawed protagonists, I think should long be over. The age of pantomime plots, I think should be long dusted, as not cutting it intellectually. These are my views on progressive writing, that enables me to think and gain understanding.
So, to the authors that don’t wish their books to be contaminated by mine, realise, that if I read your book, that’s so very uncontaminated by another’s influence, I’ll give it an authentic review, because I read without fear and write fearlessly. Plus, I will not be led by monsters, nor manifest their ill-purpose. Whoopee cushion what-ifs blown away when poor attitudes don’t wash well with me, which would mean I don’t read past the first 20 pages though. Got to get my attention at the start, by not being what I’ve read before. If you don’t read, that might be hard. People who read the hidden genres, gain insight into what is going on, they know things the rest of the population doesn’t. I admire that. I also know, that it doesn’t have to be books that people are reading when there’s a whole internet of new material out there. Get influenced, realise what’s missing and effect a change much needed, otherwise you're going to be left behind, in the slush of what's really only annoying.
Initially NO
