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Always a reader, never a writer, living with being the receptive half of the equation |
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 Apr 12 2008, 09:31 PM
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Knight Bus Driver in Training
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I've been coming to terms with the fact that while I'm a very good reader of fiction, I probably won't ever be a writer of stories.
JKR really inspired me, because it seemed like she gave herself this extraordinary amount of time to develop plotlines and details for the entire series before sitting down to write book one. At first I thought that giving myself the time to work out the story before writing it would get me past the lostness I feel when I sit down to write fiction.
Most of my favorite fiction use metaphors like "a wind that blows into you" or "I'm a fossil hunter, carefully digging up something that's already there and buried" to describe the writing process. I've had that sensation, certainly, while writing nonfiction, that something other than my top-of-mind-awareness is doing the heavy lifting.
But I can't find stories. I can try to make them up, in advance of writing them, but they come out leaden and plotted, in the worst sense of the word. I'll never be an Olympic gymnast, or a painter, or a scientist, but I'm completely comfortable with that. Yet somehow, as a reader, I feel a bit incomplete knowing I'm dependent on other people to write stories for me! Fortunately, there's no shortage of them.
So I ask you: what's the reader's job? Is there a yin that the writer's yang needs? (I think not. It's nice to be read, but not necessary. Ask Emily Dickinson.)
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Apr 12 2008, 10:10 PM
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Hiding in the Iron Maiden at Borgin and Burkes
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Location: Prince Edward Island, Canada
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QUOTE(nowgirl @ Apr 13 2008, 12:31 AM)  I've been coming to terms with the fact that while I'm a very good reader of fiction, I probably won't ever be a writer of stories.
But I can't find stories. I can try to make them up, in advance of writing them, but they come out leaden and plotted, in the worst sense of the word.
So I ask you: what's the reader's job? Is there a yin that the writer's yang needs? (I think not. It's nice to be read, but not necessary. Ask Emily Dickinson.)
Most authors will tell you that a story comes out of the blue. One minute not in your head, the next it's just there. Not the whole story; just enough for your mind to keep thinking about it until it grows and takes up so much space in your brain it has to come out.
A reader's job is to get lost in someone else's imagination. Personally I don't consider that a very hard job. It's one job I'll never complain about too much and I'll never quit. 
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Apr 13 2008, 12:40 AM
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Knight MacMod The Great Protecting The Memory Of Sense
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QUOTE(twillick @ Apr 12 2008, 08:10 PM) QUOTE(nowgirl @ Apr 13 2008, 12:31 AM) I've been coming to terms with the fact that while I'm a very good reader of fiction, I probably won't ever be a writer of stories.
But I can't find stories. I can try to make them up, in advance of writing them, but they come out leaden and plotted, in the worst sense of the word.
So I ask you: what's the reader's job? Is there a yin that the writer's yang needs? (I think not. It's nice to be read, but not necessary. Ask Emily Dickinson.) Most authors will tell you that a story comes out of the blue. One minute not in your head, the next it's just there. Not the whole story; just enough for your mind to keep thinking about it until it grows and takes up so much space in your brain it has to come out. A reader's job is to get lost in someone else's imagination. Personally I don't consider that a very hard job. It's one job I'll never complain about too much and I'll never quit.
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"And, if there is need to speak in brief summary of this power, we shall find that none of the things which are done with intelligence take place without the help of speech, but that in all our actions as well as in all our thoughts speech is our guide, . . ." Isocrates, Antidosis |
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Apr 13 2008, 08:01 AM
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Cauldron Bottom Measurer
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same here..i love reading fiction,but when it comes to writing fiction or reality,i cant do it..most of the times i think where do my favorite writers get there inspiration from..but as said above,most of them have said,they were inspired by a special moment in their life to write,some get the ideas in spur of the moment,and some had hidden talents which came out when they picked up their pen and some always wanted to become a writer..i am none of those..i can read,but i can definately not write..
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Apr 13 2008, 06:37 PM
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Knight Bus Driver in Training
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QUOTE(Aphrodites Lady @ Apr 13 2008, 09:33 AM) Unless you're a beta reader or an editor, I think it's extremely unfair to call it a job. It insinuates that you're contributing something to it. And I'm not talking about theories and things like we do on the forum. Because we're contributing directly to HP itself. We are contributing things that benefit fellow fans. But it's not nearly the same thing.
Well, I mostly agree. (And wouldn't it be nice to make money reading? Or if it became a job, would that wreck something precious that comes with the voluntary-ness?)
I do think, though, as a reader, I make some contributions to "it", if "it" is not the story itself but the transaction that happens when a reader reads a book. If I'm a good reader, a well-read reader, if you will, chances are I'm going to understand more of a writer's purpose at any given moment. I will recognize more allusions the writer is making to things outside the text (Grindelwald's philosophy relating to the Third Reich, for example.) I will be able to fit the work into a tradition, or recognize that the work expands a tradition. I will get the jokes. Or I may be disappointed that the work missed opportunities to be better than it is.
So though I don't think the writer needs me to contribute, it does matter how seriously I take myself as a reader, if only to me and to people who talk with me about books. The more I have on the storeroom shelves of my mind, the likelier I am to fully appreciate any new thing I'm reading.
But it's a bummer. I feel like this same understanding should enable me to write fiction of my own - like it's the other half of the coin. But it's not. It's a different currency altogether (though many great writers seem to be outstanding readers as well.) Now, I don't feel when I watch a movie that I should be able to be a filmmaker, or when I eat some great sourdough that I can extrapolate to being a great baker. And yet with writing, it does seem to me like it should be more connected than it is. But it isn't! And I'm wondering if anyone else shares that experience (and still picks up new books about writing fiction like they are candy.)
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Apr 15 2008, 01:45 PM
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Organizing the Halo Rebellion
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nowgirl, this is an interesting thread. I can completely relate to you. I consider myself a great reader but not a writer. People say I write well but my confidence comes from reading. If I could get paid for reading all day, then I would live in the perfect world.
One of my goals is to write a book. I still hold that goal close to my heart even though I am not sure I will accomplish it. To write a book takes much time - as we have seen from Jo. I do not think that I would have the patience to write like she does. Writing is such a long and difficult process, while reading is much quicker and easier.
I do hear that ideas for stories just pop in people's heads so hopefully this will happen for us one day. 
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The Quest Books We will NOT be swayed by a halo draggin', eye batting Phoenix!!! ~DMD |
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Apr 18 2008, 09:33 AM
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Knight Bus Driver in Training
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Joined: 12:53pm July 21, 2005
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Jane Smiley said, a few years back, that she'd had seven ideas, and had written seven novels.
I have ideas all the time - but I have no clue what happens next with any of them.
If anyone can tell me, for example, how the first generation of children raised in part by robot "parents" who are kind and consistent, I'd love to know. Are they less well equipped to deal with real people, or more? What happens in families when you can go to Wal-Mart and buy a truly excellent nanny? Is this good for parents, or bad? What if the robot is parenting the parent as well? What happens if you outsource the "adulthood" in your family to a machine, especially if the machine is really good at it, not obviously flawed in any way?
Lots of scenarios, but no characters and no plot. I dust and brush and blow, but there's only more dirt, no "artifact" to dig up.
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Apr 18 2008, 05:53 PM
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Expert Wand-Waver at Ollivander's
Posts: 2,104
Joined: 9:13pm February 18, 2005
Location: Snubbing the mortals
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QUOTE(nowgirl @ Apr 13 2008, 07:37 PM) I do think, though, as a reader, I make some contributions to "it", if "it" is not the story itself but the transaction that happens when a reader reads a book. If I'm a good reader, a well-read reader, if you will, chances are I'm going to understand more of a writer's purpose at any given moment. I will recognize more allusions the writer is making to things outside the text (Grindelwald's philosophy relating to the Third Reich, for example.) I will be able to fit the work into a tradition, or recognize that the work expands a tradition. I will get the jokes. Or I may be disappointed that the work missed opportunities to be better than it is.
So though I don't think the writer needs me to contribute, it does matter how seriously I take myself as a reader, if only to me and to people who talk with me about books. The more I have on the storeroom shelves of my mind, the likelier I am to fully appreciate any new thing I'm reading.
But it's a bummer. I feel like this same understanding should enable me to write fiction of my own - like it's the other half of the coin. But it's not. It's a different currency altogether (though many great writers seem to be outstanding readers as well.)
I get this side of things. I think that's why people take up writing fanfic. They want to add to the story. Not just sit on the sidelines and watch it unfold. They want to feel a deeper bond with the characters. So I can understand it on a level where you'd be working with some pre-made. It's easy and doesn't have to attempt to achieve anything.
However, I still fail to see how it equates to writing anything of your own? I think most people do take themselves seriously as reader. Especially those us of who aspire to become a successful one ourselves some day. But I don't think devotion alone should give a sense of entitlement. I don't believe for example, reading a book several times over makes a better than fan than someone who's only read a book once. It doesn't necessarily make you more insightful and appreciative of the author is trying to convey.
QUOTE Now, I don't feel when I watch a movie that I should be able to be a filmmaker
Interestingly, I was thinking of the exact same analogy. I just didn't feel a need to input it at the time. But since you brought it up, I'd like to discuss it. I agree with this statement entirely.
However, it doesn't make sense to me? Aren't you pretty much making the same claim? I don't see how it's different. Some fans would certainly feel that when they see a movie they can replicate it, add to it, achieve some special feat of their own doing. Any situation where you have a creator (such as filmmaker), and appreciator (such as fan), you're going to have people who believe they should be able to accomplish the same as whoever inspired. Who might be even be envious of their ability. But I fail to see how one is different than the other in this case.
QUOTE(fawkes28 @ Apr 15 2008, 02:45 PM) I do hear that ideas for stories just pop in people's heads so hopefully this will happen for us one day.
This is literally how it happened to me. I wasn't even trying to think about anything in particular. In fact, I wasn't even thinking about writing. When my idea popped in my head, I probably hadn't thought about even attempting to write for several years actually. But when it popped in, I thought about it for awhile.
Because I was seriously uncertain at first. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do anything with it, but it kept nagging at me. So next I checked the market to if my idea had been done. And it hasn't! So I knew I struck gold on that level. Now I'm in the researching and brainstorming phase. It's coming along, albeit slow as a turtle. But I don't care. If my idea had been done, I would've ditched it immediately. But it's because it hasn't been that I'm being so faithful to it now.
So don't lose hope. And never try to force anything. Creativity should flow openly. To me, spring time is a good analogy. Certain things might look dead in the garden. But sometimes you just got let them be, and you might be surprised at what comes up in its due time. I've had certain flowers I thought were dead, but gently tended, and was sure not to over tend, come back when I thought it wouldn't be possible.
So what I'm saying is, uprooting a plant is like throwing away an idea before you know if there's any life left. On the flip side, too much attention will be just as harmful. It might seem good, but you're not letting things take their natural course. And writing starts the same way, your seed could die, or flower into something beautiful. It just all depends on how you treat it.
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Jun 3 2008, 05:02 PM
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Dodgy Cauldrons Dealer
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I love to both read and write, but I "suffer" from the same thing you do, Nowgirl, in that I get an idea, but don't know what to make the "meat" of the story, to entice people to read it from beginning to end, and actually anticipate getting there. An epic novel has got to be one of the most difficult things to write, because an author wants to keep the reader interested, yet add too much, and the reader can "burn out" with the point of the story lost amidst the ashes.
Might I suggest writing some short stories to give a place for your ideas to grow and flourish? I've recently come in contact with the work of Diane Wolkstein through a review in the latest issue of Parabola Magazine. She is a master storyteller, and draws on her wide range of knowledge to give new lives to traditional stories which span many of the World's cultures, and adapting them for modern audiences of children and adults alike. Perhaps you can find your own inspiration through the lessons of the Past, as well.
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