For a little while now, I've been trying to up my game when it comes…
Thinking About Reading
I’ve been mulling this for a little while now and thought I’d toss it out there to see what you all have to say (so please, please chime in with your thoughts!) When you read a book, how much do you think about the actual writing craft demonstrated vs. the story?
See, I’m beginning to think I’m a little weird as a reader – I can’t say that I really scrutinize the writing of a story if it’s drawn me in. (And it doesn’t even have to have sucked me in so completely that I lose track of time – just as long as I care enough to get back to the story and see what happens next. Even those extremely put-downable books…if I still go back to them, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the writing.) I’ve read a lot of what could be considered junk – not because the stories were bad or lacking in edification, but because the writing was, well…bad. But the thing is, I still enjoyed them! One series that I downloaded for free on Kindle leaps to mind – it was rife with spelling and grammar issues, it was all tell, etc. And when I sat and looked back at it, sure, I can see that – but when I was reading them? I just wanted to know what came next, because the idea was intriguing…so nothing else really mattered while I was in the pages.
I suppose I should caveat slightly – because if the writing is so bad that it jars me out of the novel (and I’ve downloaded a few of those for free as well, and no matter how I tried, I ended up giving up on them) – then, well, yeah…I’ll put it aside with a checkmark in the “bad writing” box.
So…what about you? Do you spend time contemplating the writing of a novel in addition to the story, or do you just let yourself get caught up in the moment and enjoy?
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I’m probably the same as you – if the story is interesting enough but the writing is bad, then I’ll skim to through it to pick up the plot and wing my way through the story just to see what unfolded. I sometimes enjoy that, but it means I don’t spend any time trying to savor the word craft and experience the story telling. I’m typically a slower reader, word for word, which works great with great writers because every word counts on those occasions. Like nursing a great cup of coffee. Bad writing/reading is McDonalds coffee, okay in a pinch.
I like the coffee analogy – but I’m probably more of a “great cup of coffee is great when I can afford it and the time to savor it, but what I can make at home is just fine for most of the other times” gal. 🙂 Not sure I’ll ever be desperate enough to drink McDs.
The story is what keeps me going!
I love to read and get totally immersed in the story, afterwards I might think about how it was put together and how the characters came about or whom in history they might be similar to, I enjoy reading ones based on real history and then fictionalized to make it a good read. Eugenia Price did this and now I read many of Jody Hedlund who also does this.
Paula O
Paula – that’s an interesting rabbit trail – I think I’m more picky with historical fiction because I know it’s based on real people/times/etc.
If the story is compelling I will keep reading. Having said that, I cannot overlook uninteresting characters…no matter how intriguing the plot. 😉
Yeah, if the characters are bad, that’ll usually send the book into the gave up pile. But while I strive to improve my own use of Deep POV and that kind of thing, it’s just not a deal breaker for me if it’s not in other people’s novels. Which is why I’m glad I have an awesome editor, cause she makes my writing so much better than I can do on my own.