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| Photo courtesy of Flickr |
Reading.
Hard to imagine, right? My dad likes to brag that I had
read every book in the school library by the time I was eight.
But it was as if I had traded my love of reading for a
new love – that of writing. And writers must read. If success
comes with sacrifice did it have to be the one thing that I needed to do to
be a writer? I suddenly feared that writing and reading were not compatible.
It struck me in way it was like having your first child.
When my son was born all my love and affection went to him. It was so intense,
this new love. It colored my entire world. It was a force that hit me and covered
me in need, driving all my energy to it. Parents know what I am talking
about. You love your spouse but a child – that is a crazy intense love that takes
you unaware. Eventually, I found my own identity again as a mother and
wife – and author. I had balance again.
But I had become so sucked into the world of creating that I needed to redefine my balance as
a new author. My brain
burst with words, ideas, dialogue, action, and characters. I couldn’t slow
my thoughts down. All of my concentration went toward writing.
But a writer reads! I forced myself to slow down my brain
and set aside time to read. From book to book I traveled. I would read a few
pages then move on like a wandering nomad. There was no joy. The words jumped
and crashed into each other. I couldn’t absorb them.
Then a writer friend told me something that changed everything.
She said I wouldn’t be happy with what I used to read before I was an author. I
would need books to challenge me, not just the same book escape. She was right. I had become bored with reading. I needed more.
I wanted to be affected by what I read. Changed, transformed,
and moved - exactly what I yearned to achieve in my own writing. I didn’t want to read for empty entertainment. As our tastes in food, clothes, and music change as we grow, so do
our reading tastes. This realization uplifted me. I had a new quest. Discover
what kind of reader I had become.
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| My son reading one of my fave books from childhood |
I kept looking for the book to change me. One day I happened
upon a sweet middle grade book, Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor. It was beautiful and sad and
hopeful. I cried and laughed as I read it straight through. I had fallen in love
again. This time with middle grade and young adult. And this prompted me to switch from writing thrillers for adults to thrillers for children. You can read my review of Sparrow Road here.
Stephen King said, “The more you read, the less apt you are
to make a fool of yourself with your pen.” I aim to be less of a fool
for sure.
So then I thought, why not re-read my favorite books from
childhood all over again and discover why I fell in love with reading? These
are my ragged books I’ve held onto for decades. The ones close to my heart. And
that’s just what I did. I re-read White Fang, Fahrenheit 451 (RIP Ray Bradbury),
The Secret Garden, Fantastic Mr. Fox, My Side of the Mountain, The Crystal Cave, The Children of
Green Knowe, and Island of the Blue Dolphins. And of course, ALL of the Little
House on the Prairie books.
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| Sample of my bookshelf now |
I fell in love with reading again and soon wished I had a whole
week to just READ. A reading vacation. To gobble up as many books as possible. Of fantasy, adventure, drama, middle
grade, adult, young adult, and memoir.
As writers we need to read. I’m glad I found my
lost-love again. The Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges, said “I have
always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
I’m glad my paradise is back. Have you ever lost and found
your paradise? If so, how did you find it again?
I have never stopped reading. And my reading is very eclectic, from MG and YA to philosophy and SciFi, just about anything can be found on my incredibly loooooong TBR list.
ReplyDeleteWhite Fang! Now that brings back some memories.
Bish, I love to read across genres too. Nice to hear you never lost your love of reading! I can vividly recall crying the first time I read White Fang at 12. A favorite :)
DeleteGreat post, Donna.
ReplyDeleteI lost my reading mojo a while back. Thankfully, I've since rediscovered it. The problem was that I began reading like a writer--not to get lost in a story, but to ascertain techniques writers were using to create specific effects. A sure way to improve as a writer, but a surer way to lose the special magic of reading.
How did I find my way back? The Game of Thrones. (Grisly, I know, but effective. There were so many different stories going on in those books that I switched off my "writer as technician" mind and surrendered to the flow.)
Michael, I have also had a hard time reading when reviewing a book from a writing standpoint. Getting back to the magic of reading with nothing in your way is so important for us as writers to keep our own magic too! Ahh...I have been wanting to read Game of Thrones as well. Will check out!
DeleteI love that Sparrow Road led you back!
ReplyDeleteMe too! I was very personally connected to that book. This is what makes reading so special too - that each book is unique to each person because of the personal experience we bring to reading it.
DeleteOn that note, I'm so glad in the years since it was first published (2007) there are more voices in the literature landscape, and I'm also glad there are books like Alex Gino's "George" for the tweens and preteens to have stories on their level, as most of the books featuring are starring nuanced LGBTQ characters in the YA+ space, or picture books for the preschool set, but with more kids knowing at earlier ages their on the LGBTQIA spectrum, even before they know the name for it yet, and partly that's because there's less stigma in many areas of society and in the media.
DeleteBut what I especially love is that we're at a point now where we can move beyond the traditional coming out narrative (though those stories deserve to be told, too), and characters can be more casual about how and who they love in the way straight couples do.
While I respect and understand the push for ethnic diversity sparked the "We Need Diverse Books" movement, we NEED diversity in gender roles, too, we need characters who are brave and honest enough to
Despite the "It's a Man's World" issue that is real for women the world over, even in the U.S. and Canada despite the progress we have made, there's a reverse gender scarcity happening with boys and men that we can't ignore or trivialize.
We also have to stop seeing boys and men today as the ones who existed in 1809 when we talk about deadly patriarchy and misogyny, especially given recent events with school shootings, mental illness stigma, and racial tension and men can be especially vulnerable, sometimes more than girls and women if only because there are fewer safe spaces for boys and men to talk about this. Not all boys are these stoic, one word sentence monolithic figures.
As shy and awkward as I am IRL, when I feel safe and respected, I'll talk your ear off! (My long editorial comments kind of tip that off, huh? LOL)
To be continued...
This is a great post, Donna. I'm an Australian writer of Middle Grade fiction and I feel this way right now, dipping in and out of books, unsatisfied with kidlit action/adventure and adult literary fic. I'm dipping back into classics I love and they're the closest thing to satisfaction but I really want to find something incredible that I haven't read.
ReplyDeleteYour pic of books like WAR HORSE, THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN, TRAPPED and THE IMPOSSIBLE KNIFE OF MEMORY. These are books I've wanted to read for a long time and sense I will love.
So, thanks!
Tristan.
I too have gone through what you're describing Donna. I call it "Reader's Block" which can be even worse than "Writers Block" only because as you simply put it, "Writers need to read."
ReplyDeleteBut your reading changes as you crossover to being an author yourself. Sometimes it makes reading feel like a punishment because reading for craft does get, and authors shouldn't have to hate reading to be better writers, and I don't think "Read like A Writer" mindset is always helpful for this reason. It's why I had to put book writing on hold until January 2016 at the earliest, I'm doing
I know some writers where this is a non-issue, and I'm glad they don't have to face this, but you and I know differently.
For me, reading "The Misfits" by James Howe saved me during what's the worst year of my life in some ways, and also the most insightful year in my life thus far.
Well, in full transparency, I listened to the unabridged audiobook, which I highly recommend for those who've already read it in print and want a quick way to re-experience.
It's a wonderful full cast production, with real kids acting the characters, and they nail the characters so well, it's too bad the companion books (set shortly after and around the time of the first book) didn't come out sooner, because I would've loved hearing these actors personify these characters again, but they're worth reading, and recently the complete "Misfits" collection was released with all three books included.
I haven't gotten to the last one "Also Known as Elvis" yet (which just released in paperback this year), but I will once I'm done with "Addie on the Inside."
Plus, with the first book celebrating it's 15th anniversary this year, I thought it was about time to read it, or my case listening to it.
I LOVED "Totally Joe." I haven't laughed so hard at a book in AGES. While I'm not gay myself, I LOVE Joe's commentary on the damage the male stereotypes can have when you don't fit in them, nor wish to, and I hope more straight boys and men can openly embrace whatever nontraditional interests or career options they want without being bullied, or worse, dehumanized.
It's not just girls and women effected by this. Boys and men face it, too many don't admit it, or get "punished" if they do.
To be continued...
I too have gone through what you're describing Donna. I call it "Reader's Block" which can be even worse than "Writers Block" only because as you simply put it, "Writers need to read."
ReplyDeleteBut your reading changes as you crossover to being an author yourself. Sometimes it makes reading feel like a punishment because reading for craft does get, and authors shouldn't have to hate reading to be better writers, and I don't think "Read like A Writer" mindset is always helpful for this reason. It's why I had to put book writing on hold until January 2016 at the earliest, I'm doing
I know some writers where this is a non-issue, and I'm glad they don't have to face this, but you and I know differently.
For me, reading "The Misfits" by James Howe saved me during what's the worst year of my life in some ways, and also the most insightful year in my life thus far.
Well, in full transparency, I listened to the unabridged audiobook, which I highly recommend for those who've already read it in print and want a quick way to re-experience.
It's a wonderful full cast production, with real kids acting the characters, and they nail the characters so well, it's too bad the companion books (set shortly after and around the time of the first book) didn't come out sooner, because I would've loved hearing these actors personify these characters again, but they're worth reading, and recently the complete "Misfits" collection was released with all three books included.
I haven't gotten to the last one "Also Known as Elvis" yet (which just released in paperback this year), but I will once I'm done with "Addie on the Inside."
Plus, with the first book celebrating it's 15th anniversary this year, I thought it was about time to read it, or my case listening to it.
To be continued...
I LOVED "Totally Joe." I haven't laughed so hard at a book in AGES. While I'm not gay myself, I LOVE Joe's commentary on the damage the male stereotypes can have when you don't fit in them, nor wish to, and I hope more straight boys and men can openly embrace whatever nontraditional interests or career options they want without being bullied, or worse, dehumanized.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just girls and women effected by this. Boys and men face it, too many don't admit it, or get "punished" if they do.
To be continued...
On that note, I'm so glad in the years since it was first published (2007) there are more voices in the literature landscape, and I'm also glad there are books like Alex Gino's "George" for the tweens and preteens to have stories on their level, as most of the books featuring are starring nuanced LGBTQ characters in the YA+ space, or picture books for the preschool set, but with more kids knowing at earlier ages their on the LGBTQIA spectrum, even before they know the name for it yet, and partly that's because there's less stigma in many areas of society and in the media.
ReplyDeleteBut what I especially love is that we're at a point now where we can move beyond the traditional coming out narrative (though those stories deserve to be told, too), and characters can be more casual about how and who they love in the way straight couples do.
While I respect and understand the push for ethnic diversity sparked the "We Need Diverse Books" movement, we NEED diversity in gender roles, too, we need characters who are brave and honest enough to
Despite the "It's a Man's World" issue that is real for women the world over, even in the U.S. and Canada despite the progress we have made, there's a reverse gender scarcity happening with boys and men that we can't ignore or trivialize.
We also have to stop seeing boys and men today as the ones who existed in 1809 when we talk about deadly patriarchy and misogyny, especially given recent events with school shootings, mental illness stigma, and racial tension and men can be especially vulnerable, sometimes more than girls and women if only because there are fewer safe spaces for boys and men to talk about this. Not all boys are these stoic, one word sentence monolithic figures.
As shy and awkward as I am IRL, when I feel safe and respected, I'll talk your ear off! (My long editorial comments kind of tip that off, huh? LOL)
There are times I feel ashamed to be a man in the world today where we're teaching our kids, especially our
On top of that, there's a double standard when it comes to talking about sex or issues of personal safety.
Girls and can have platonic guy friends, yet when boys have platonic female friends, there's always some suspicion it'll turn sexual, even violent never mind respectfully romantic, the latter happens more often than some parents and "parenting experts" think.
This double standard gets worse once we're adults, if various book and television programs have at least a gram of truth to them, minus any embellishments for dramatic effect.
I don't have lot of personal experience, but I've seen things play out in public and my family that get me concerned.
Despite the narrow-minded and insensitive souls that still exist, they are in the minority as far as the U.S. and Canada go, and considering how brutal it got in the 90s and early 2000s, we have come a long way, and we should celebrate that while also continuing the fight to bring dignity to the LGBTQIA community and the families of those on the spectrum.
I'm getting through "Addie on the Inside" the second "Misfits" companion book, it's more free verse poetry and disjointed narrative, versus the more traditional novel structure the first book and "Totally Joe" have, but it's still a great book, and given Addie's character, it does make sense she wouldn't think in a typical story structure, and Joe's story is told via a biography journal format, kind of like Doug Funnie's journal entries (but more fleshed out, of course) and yeah, I'm showing my age here, but whatever. It was a great show, though having it split between Nickelodeon and Disney is making my hopes for a complete series set a copyright nightmare!
To be continued...
I frankly dare my fellow mayhemers to read "The Bear Comes Home" by Rafi Zabor, it's a funny book
ReplyDeleteThere are some things we can't make kid friendly, and to me, there's no point beyond basic literacy to get kids and teens to love reading as entertainment, if there are no cool books for after their childhood and teens are behind them.
Also, it's important to remember that we can love reading books or certain genres we can't or don't want to write ourselves, and that's OKAY.
I recently wrote about what reading "THe Misfits" taught me in a "Letter From The Editor" over at my site, "Talking Animal Addicts."
Hope some Mayhemer "Misfits" fans will check it out and comment if they can.
I hope you love Dead End at Norvelt! It was so funny. Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. Jack Gantos had me laughing outloud at so many points throughout the book...something that seems strange to say about a book that mostly revolves around death.
ReplyDelete