Being a Writer Makes It More Difficult To Be a Reader

What is Seen Cannot Be Unseen

Much like the fact that ducks are actually wearing dog masks, it’s awfully hard to UN-learn something you’ve learned.

Particularly if the thing you’ve learned is something that matters to you and is hard-won.

The ability to tighten a sentence, replace weak verbs with dynamic ones, and to see the difference between a strong phrase and a weak one? That takes time and effort and study.

Armed with this new knowledge, you can re-read a book that delighted your ignorant self and find that you cringe at every corner. Weak “to be” verbs catcall from easy street, the makeup that once seemed so simple and inviting now looking like the garish facepaint of a cheap streetwalker.

Delightful characters of old now look like two-dimensional paper dolls, every action a stereotypical shard of glass thrust into your writer’s soul.

Worst of all? A plot that once thrilled and enticed you shows ragged holes and tired tropes.

Reading old loves can seem like a betrayal, and newly encountered books are often scoffed at or dismissed entirely.

Resistance is NOT Futile

As a writer, you must resist this temptation to sneer and snark and dismiss books as unworthy.

Reading is an essential aspect of writing. Perhaps some writers write merely because thundering herds of authors bungle through the English language. These authors do their best to prove everyone else inferior.

Perhaps some do. Most writers, though? I’d wager most writers write because they love stories.

Neither writer nor story can ever truly be perfect … and they don’t need to be.

I love my dog-eared copy of Beauty by Robin McKinley. I loved it for what it meant to me when I was younger. Although I can now see some of the problems even the author felt the need to rewrite (see Rose Daughter for the reboot), I can also still see the things that made me fall in love with it.

Yes, as a writer it is good to notice flaws in writing. You need that critical eye so that you may bloom and grow.

However, it is at least as important to notice the WONDERFUL things.

What did the book do right? Surely, it was something.

Of Sparkly Vampires And Fainting Heroines

Take a favorite whipping-boy of the writing and reading community — Twilight.

If you are a YA writer trying to get published, I recommend you at least read the first book. Feel free to do so with a curled lip and a bad attitude, if you like … but can you see what about it made it appealing to so many people?

No? How about the fact that it’s a story for girls who want to feel special? The girls who think they’re not pretty and wish that the cute boy they’re crushing on would notice them? I consider myself to be a strong woman, but even I’ve had daydreams of a prince on a white horse rescuing me from real life.

Take those GOOD things — the things that worked for you, even in a book you hated, and combine them with things that you love. Hate how passive Bella was in Twilight? Write strong characters. Hate the random “sparkly” vampires? Make sure that in YOUR books, the things that set a tired writing trope on its ear have a purpose and a reason.

At the same time, books and movies become blockbusters for a reason. That’s not to say you should sell your soul for a bag of silver … but what harm is there in trying to figure out what worked?

TL;DR

You can (and should) enjoy reading books after the point where you know some of the finer points of writing.

Try not to judge new books too harshly, and learn from the good and the bad you find within them.

Forgive authors for being human and making mistakes. Ask your internal editor to take a break and let your creative side ride the joys of a new story without constantly pointing out every little problem.

Most authors start out voracious readers. It would be such an incredible shame if authors stopped loving books.

Related posts:

Writer’s Sketchbook
eReaders From A Writer’s Perspective
The Green Writer’s Block