I'm defacing a book
It took a lot for me to overcome years of bookmark addiction and carefully laid shelving all in avoidance of damaging books. I never wanted to deface the pages or covers. When the spines cracked from use, I died a little inside.
Yes. I'm that type of book hoarder. But I'm working through my issues thanks to a book I'm only a couple chapters into but already insanely excited about. This is a book on writing, so sorry, for all the fiction scribblers, I still will never deface a book, unless an author is signing it for me.
It started when I borrowed
Save the Cat! Strikes Back
from my local library.
I had heard the book mentioned in some of the forums on RWA's website. So I picked it up.
It was amazing. The author wrote a book that made me think about storytelling in a new way, and I was incredibly inspired. So much so that I even took pictures of the book to save in Evernote and reference later.
I read mostly in ebook and audiobook format, simply because it's less expensive, and I can borrow books from the library without worrying about what that weird stain on page 56 is.
But this book...this I was going to have to look into buying. I wanted to reference all of it.
Turns out, I wasn't the only novelist that was struck with the brilliance. When I went off looking for where to grab this gem, I found out there was a Save the Cat! book in the context of novel-writing. And it was a recent release, so I stood a chance in hell of it actually being on the shelves at my local Barnes & Noble.
Quick side rant...my local book store sucks. The employees look down their noses at anything that isn't literary fiction, and although there are two aisles of bibles, you have to go by the kids section to find the half shelf of writing craft books. But I'm not bitter...
Anyway. I looked up online, and my bookstore did have a single copy of this book. On release day. So I hurried my happy ass over to the store, and after I was shown where the writing books were (behind three displays of Harry Potter toys), I located this beauty.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel starts out with great information, and I did something I haven't done since college. I grabbed a highlighter and started marking this baby up.
I was excited, because I had researched the author, (yes, I do that.) and she writes teen fiction. While her genre isn't the same as mine, I'd argue there are a lot of similarities between writing teen fic and writing romance. A couple of the themes are intensified, but many of the tropes have similar veins. Love, heartbreak, self-discovery...you see what I mean.
Jessica Brody, writes with a great conversational style for the introduction, which made me actually read the whole thing without realizing it. I tend to skip introductions to get to the good stuff, but this one, I was smiling through.
Within the first couple pages of chapter one I found myself wanting to take notes. "I should write that down. I love that!" was uttered many many times.
I eyed my highlighters sitting in my pen cup, in pristine condition from lack of use. I picked the yellow because it was the lightest color, and defaced the book a little less in my mind. I know, I'm nuts, but I'm fun at parties.
And I went for it. I highlighted. I stopped and thought about exactly how this author was taking the beats from Blake Snyder's books and adapting it. I was going along the same path myself with his books, but she put it succinctly, and in perfect short bits just screaming for highlight.
I'm working my way through the book with the help of some Miracle Morning S.A.V.E.R.S. (minus the e, because that stands for exercise. Blech.), and my Forest app. I have been keeping the highlighter right next to it. Because I can't wait to dive into the next chapter!
Do you mark up your non-fiction? Do you take notes? Highlight? Any tips on how to effectively mark up a book for this newbie? I'd love to hear about it.
~Roxy
Yes. I'm that type of book hoarder. But I'm working through my issues thanks to a book I'm only a couple chapters into but already insanely excited about. This is a book on writing, so sorry, for all the fiction scribblers, I still will never deface a book, unless an author is signing it for me.
It started when I borrowed
Save the Cat! Strikes Back
from my local library.I had heard the book mentioned in some of the forums on RWA's website. So I picked it up.
It was amazing. The author wrote a book that made me think about storytelling in a new way, and I was incredibly inspired. So much so that I even took pictures of the book to save in Evernote and reference later.
I read mostly in ebook and audiobook format, simply because it's less expensive, and I can borrow books from the library without worrying about what that weird stain on page 56 is.
But this book...this I was going to have to look into buying. I wanted to reference all of it.
Turns out, I wasn't the only novelist that was struck with the brilliance. When I went off looking for where to grab this gem, I found out there was a Save the Cat! book in the context of novel-writing. And it was a recent release, so I stood a chance in hell of it actually being on the shelves at my local Barnes & Noble.
Quick side rant...my local book store sucks. The employees look down their noses at anything that isn't literary fiction, and although there are two aisles of bibles, you have to go by the kids section to find the half shelf of writing craft books. But I'm not bitter...
Anyway. I looked up online, and my bookstore did have a single copy of this book. On release day. So I hurried my happy ass over to the store, and after I was shown where the writing books were (behind three displays of Harry Potter toys), I located this beauty.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel starts out with great information, and I did something I haven't done since college. I grabbed a highlighter and started marking this baby up.
I was excited, because I had researched the author, (yes, I do that.) and she writes teen fiction. While her genre isn't the same as mine, I'd argue there are a lot of similarities between writing teen fic and writing romance. A couple of the themes are intensified, but many of the tropes have similar veins. Love, heartbreak, self-discovery...you see what I mean.Jessica Brody, writes with a great conversational style for the introduction, which made me actually read the whole thing without realizing it. I tend to skip introductions to get to the good stuff, but this one, I was smiling through.
Within the first couple pages of chapter one I found myself wanting to take notes. "I should write that down. I love that!" was uttered many many times.
I eyed my highlighters sitting in my pen cup, in pristine condition from lack of use. I picked the yellow because it was the lightest color, and defaced the book a little less in my mind. I know, I'm nuts, but I'm fun at parties.
And I went for it. I highlighted. I stopped and thought about exactly how this author was taking the beats from Blake Snyder's books and adapting it. I was going along the same path myself with his books, but she put it succinctly, and in perfect short bits just screaming for highlight.
I'm working my way through the book with the help of some Miracle Morning S.A.V.E.R.S. (minus the e, because that stands for exercise. Blech.), and my Forest app. I have been keeping the highlighter right next to it. Because I can't wait to dive into the next chapter!
Do you mark up your non-fiction? Do you take notes? Highlight? Any tips on how to effectively mark up a book for this newbie? I'd love to hear about it.
~Roxy
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