Fantasy Book Club discussion
General fantasy discussions
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Are you a reader or writer?
Both? :)For me, that's an irrelevant question. I can read. I can't write. So I just enjoy the reading. It's not worth spending my time metaphorically banging my head against the wall about the writing.
But thank you for caring. Because yes, it does suck. Enjoy your own writing.
Hahaha. I couldn't write a story in exchange for my life! I just edit my friend's as best i can, and let her get on with it! I'm more of a reader, anyway! ;)
Avid reader of fantasy, poor writer of other genres.
I'm both. I've been writing fantasy stories and novels since I was a teenager. I'm also a speed reader and a bit of a juggler in my writing in that I will write multiple novels at once. It drives my friends crazy. ><
I'm more reader than writing. I'm currently trying to write a story, but the beginning is sorta failin'! ^.^ (I'm not gonna be too negative 'bout it!)
I am a reader and now a published author (three fantasy books from Dreamspinner and one fantasy book from Silver).I'll never stop writing or reading.
First I'm a writer, there are so many projects that need to be completed into 2012. I rarely have the time to savor a book, so I read in small doses and that's ok because eventually I finish the book.
I'm both, and I suppose I was always both. I can't imagine life without books in one form or another. Still, I've been able to read at times when I wasn't able to write, so I think that I must love reading at least a little bit better.
Greg wrote: "A writer, and when I'm writing I don't read much because I'm trying to keep my head filled with the world I'm building. In between writing books, I'm a slow reader. I like to savour the words and i..."I agree with your statement about world building, it's so very true.
I am a reader. Though I did try to write a story.
I enjoy both reading and writing. I also think that to be a good writer you must also be an avid reader.
Greg wrote: "A writer, and when I'm writing I don't read much because I'm trying to keep my head filled with the world I'm building. In between writing books, I'm a slow reader. I like to savour the words and i..."Greg
I'm the same. Right now I'm working on my second book in the "Drops from the Kingdom" series and trying to read a new book in-between. Trying. being the operative word cause I'm alway concerned about being influenced by what I'm reading.
I've started a new TOPIC IN FOCUS thread for new authors in the group to discuss why they write fantasy and how they go about it:http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...
I was a reader first and when I started wanting to change things in books that I didn't like, I began to write. I have notebooks full of story ideas, plots and half finished works from years back.I still read a lot from fantasy to romance to paranormal, even the occasional nonfiction work here and there. My first book is the start of a fantasy series, but I'm also working on a mystery as well.
Reading and writing both give me the chance to step outside my normal life and spend some time in a world someone else has created or create a world that I can control.
Mostly reader, although I am currently thinking about getting back to writing. Have been writing (although not very good, even I see that) a few short stories a few years ago, but at the moment, I am having a few ideas and - impossibly - a bit of spare time (spare time being relative if you have not finished A Song of Ice and Fire yet, and the books are all standing in your shelf, waiting for you...). But still, I am currently reading through the relevant threads here and seriously considering starting to write my idea down. If only to realize that my writing has not improved and I should stick to programming.
I've been reading fantasy for over twenty years. I've only been writing for one. :) So more reader than writer I'm afraid.
Does anyone else feel like the lone reader only in here? Lol.
Traci wrote: "Does anyone else feel like the lone reader only in here? Lol."I thought the question was designed to bring out the writers in the group.
I am both, though I was focusing more on writing in 2011. Now that I'm getting my feet underneath me as a writer, I'm going to be catching up on my To Be Read pile.
I never wrote fantasy until I got around to reading it. Fantasy is such a wonderful limitless genre to write in, but there are also so many millions of other writers who are tackling fantasy with new and unique imaginations.Indie writing and fantasy are a match made in heaven as finally we can access some of the gems publishing houses won't touch!
I both read and write fantasy. Writing takes longer.
I'm a reader and a writer. When I don't have a good book to read, I'm bored. But when I don't have a story to write, I become cranky. My mood plummets. It seems that the only way to keep myself happy is to think about a story I'm writing or going to write. I guess I'm a writer first, although of course it started from reading. The books I read are the seeds. The stories I write are... whatever grows from those seeds.
LE wrote: "Indie writing and fantasy are a match made in heaven as finally we can access some of the gems publishing houses won't touch!"I completely agree. I'm still catching up on getting to know my other indie fantasy writers. The one danger is that while fantasy in general can be seen as limitless, some writers seem to think that means their books can be too. I've run across a few indie fantasy writers who have tried to put too much in one book and take it too far, not having any consistency in the internal logic of their won tales. On the other hand, the are others who I've found who are equal to any of today's mega-bestsellers.
Olga wrote: " When I don't have a good book to read, I'm bored. But when I don't have a story to write, I become cranky."I couldn't agree more with you, Olga. I always have to have a story in my head, whether I've been reading one or have one in mind to write down. If I don't, I just don't know what to do with myself. I'm terrible to be around if that happens.
I have been a long time reader with boxes of books to prove it. Not buying as many books as I use to due to their high costs and that I have a library now two blocks from my house. ;-) I am also really enjoying my kindle and reading a lot of new authors.
Over the past year my wife and decided to join the digital revolution with writing a novel. We are in the final re-write of our novel entitled “Plague of Vampires”. We are working very hard to make this a fun novel with a very different take on Vampires.
http://www.plagueofvampires.com/
Chong wrote: "It is a project which occurs every november when writer sits down and trys to complete 50k words worth of novel in the month of november. You can find up more about it here:
http://www.nanowrimo...."
Wow, never espected an answer like that! :P
I was expecting somethin' dif, lol! :D
Joining the ranks of "both", but - usually not at the same time. I go on jags where all I do is read, and other jags where all I do is write. Also, I go through genre jags - for example, I'm just getting out of an antebellum western immigrant American history bender. For a while all I read were books about biodiversity and evolution. What's next?
I'm an avid fantasy reader. I did a little bit of writing when I was younger but I don't have much time for it these days (it's hard enough finding time to read!)
Both. I really hope to be published someday :) I've done (and won) NaNo since 2004 (and I'm one of the MLs) and look forward to it every year. I used to write every single day, but got too ill a few years ago and still struggling to get back into it. You would think always waiting at doctor's offices and having blood tests would provide amply time to write, but I'm usually too tired even to read. Eugh.To be far, I guess at the moment I'm more of a reader than a writer. I read at least 104 books a year, and wish I were more disciplined with my time to read even more than that. There's just so darn many books out there that I NEED to read, and the sooner the better <3
Both. :-) Although at the moment I'm more focused on my writing than churning out book reviews.
I'm both. I've been reading as long as I can remember and writing the past five years. The only trouble now is that whenever I read, all the author's little quirks jump out at me and interrupt the flow of the story. It's like before I would never really notice 'head hopping' and POV shifts but now they drive me crazy.
Anyway, I try to set my mornings aside for writing (up at 4am to write every day before work) and then read in the evening while the wife watches her tv.
I, too, am both and both are very important to me. I could not get through the day without reading, but writing is my biggest passion and it is my first priority because I can always read but I can not always write.
Writing and reading are in a constant fight because I have to do both of them away from home to avoid the distraction of electronic media. I keep shifting scheduling strategies. Now it is reading on the train for comfort and writing in free periods at and after work when I have a desk/table. It is a squeeze, but writing has to be priority.
I used to be a reader. For almost 30 years now, I've been a reader of fantasy, starting with children's books like "Where the Wild Things Are" and Dr.Seuss's books. Sadly, I find that the more I write, the less I read. I've tried reading fantasy novels while in the middle of a writing project, but I've found that elements of what I've read seem to end up in what I'm writing. So I try to avoid reading fantasy while I'm writing fantasy. I'm also an IT student, so a lot of my time is taken now reading textbooks. Even then, I find that this ends up in my writing. I recently named a chapter of my newest work after a computer hacking style (Denial of Service). Not sure how I feel about that. :/
Maurice wrote: "Writing and reading are in a constant fight because I have to do both of them away from home to avoid the distraction of electronic media. I keep shifting scheduling strategies. Now it is reading o..."I have to leave home to write too. I have a cat, internet, video games, etc. all that demand attention when I am home.
Nick wrote: "Maurice wrote: "Writing and reading are in a constant fight because I have to do both of them away from home to avoid the distraction of electronic media. I keep shifting scheduling strategies. Now..."
My Captain America: Supersoldier video game is eyeing me as I write. Glad to know I have company in the war against distraction. Write on.
My Captain America: Supersoldier video game is eyeing me as I write. Glad to know I have company in the war against distraction. Write on.
I do write poetry in english... as much as I thought about it as non-fantasy, when I re-read some of it, and compared it with what I read lately, it seems it is epic poetry after allgot it at www.freewebs.com/thorondor but also on my fb www.facebook.com/mirokizak there are links
you are all welcome to check and make some feedback... :)
I want to be a writer, but no matter how hard I try, I find that I am a reader. I've written one book, Dark Tidings, but I've read hundreds/thousands. Do the maths!
I read as much as I can, and now and then scribble a blog filled mostly with SF&F-themed formal poetry and microfiction. Despite the fact that I write things on a pretty regular basis, I have no illusions that I'm a writer. I have been asked to write a technical book in my field, though, which I am slowly working on. If it's ever finished, and published, and selling, I might consider myself a writer in addition to a reader.
if i have to, i refer to myself merely as someone who writes poetry, not as a poet... you can only be someone who writes poems, unless someone considers your poems good enough for them to call you a poetsomeone who writes poems can be a lot of people, but being a poet is something one has to earn by gaining readers and those who understand his/hers message(s), i guess
When I started writing,and I was pretty much a late bloomer, I didn't call myself a writer either. I thought writers are some elevated creatures everyone reads, like Stephen King. It took me several years, a couple of finished novels, a bunch of newspaper articles and a few published short stories before I started telling people" "I'm a writer." Now it defines me. I'm nothing else.
the only printed thing I got anything published in was a school magazine at my high school, and that was chiefly cos I contributed a lot of articles to it and was friends with some ppl who were doing it, so I count this only as "evidence" in case someone ever tried to steal my works somehowgot a couple places on internet where I post stuff and sometimes ppl stumble upon them :D
well, right now i'm trying to read as much as I can while i got the time for it :)
writing from time to time, but giving that a bit of relax, not making any haste in my third thingie
I am both too. Reading is a constant battle as I writing comes first as it's my priority. Reading fantasy is always tricky because I always worry about it influencing my fantasy world too. I read somewhere that Terry Pratchett advises staying away from fantasy if you're writing in the genre.
I love to read, but lately my writing has taken up all my spare time, and then some, so I really haven't been reading as much as I normally would. I'm a fantasy writer, and since publishing with kdp, my fantasy series has pretty much dominated my thoughts. When I do get a chance to read, it's usually a Created Destroyer by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir, or one of David Eddings novels
Barry wrote: "I love to read, but lately my writing has taken up all my spare time, and then some, so I really haven't been reading as much as I normally would. I'm a fantasy writer, and since publishing with kd..."I just have to ask...are you the same Barry Gibbons who used to live in Gainesville?
Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
This Mortal Mountain (other topics)Dark Tidings (other topics)
Creatures of Light and Darkness (other topics)
No offence, but that sounds depressing.If i couldn't write, i'd go INSANE! (Not that i'm not already insane, lol!)
Well....What's better; Reading or writing?