Saturday, December 8, 2012

Ruined For Life





There's something really cool about being stupid.
If you're stupid about things, you can enjoy them as they are, see them through the eyes of an innocent, take them at face value.
Let's look at an example: the Lord of the Rings movies. Aren't they just like WOW when you see them for the first time? Aren't you amazed at how real everything looks, and how in the world did they make actors we all know be as small as Hobbits? The Moria mines, Lothlorien – it looks so REAL!
Didn't you watch with child-like amazement? I know I did. Until I watched the "Making Of".
Now I know how they made Gandalf seem so much larger than Bilbo, and how they create these fairy worlds against a blue backdrop. Those characters didn't really wander through a magical forest or sculpted caves. They were safe and dry in a studio, and computers did the rest.
So when I watch Lord of the Rings now, the wonder is gone, and I hate that. I hate that I watched those stupid documentaries and destroyed the illusion for myself. Those tricks and manipulations, I didn't need to know about them. But now that I do, I can't unthink them.

It's the same with books.
After having written three myself, after having gone through the editing and publishing process with two of them, the innocence of reading – and writing – is gone forever.
What I'm trying to say is, I can't pick up a book anymore and just enjoy it. The editing and critique devil never sleeps now, and it's a very ferocious master.

You introduce NINE characters in the first chapter of you novel? NUH HUH!!!
You TELL the entire back story on the first three pages of your book? PLEASE DON'T!
Your metaphors and comparisons are well-used phrases? BORING!
You use big words just to show your readers you know them? PLEASE!

It's a strange world. Reading has been ruined for me.
Of course, not all of it. But it's so much easier to separate bad writing from good, strained writing from the seemingly effortless ease of elegantly flowing words.
There's this one thing that I've been wondering about for a while now. Are writers incapable of seeing if their writing is good or not? Shouldn't they be able to see it?
Generally, if you've become a writer, you've also always been a reader. Can't a writer tell good stuff from the bad? And if you can see it in the books you read, why can't you see it in your own writing?

I'd really like to hear what you think.






13 comments:

  1. Having written a fair amount, I can't help but spot the tricks of the trade in books I read. It must be the way cops watch cop shows on TV, or doctors watching doctor shows. I feel like saying, "I see what you did there."

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who can't help critiquing books I read!

    I am okay at noticing the flaws in my own work, but I think when you've worked on something for a while, it all starts to blur together. That's why I love my critique partners!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a curse, isn't it? And yes, beta-readers are really an enormous help!

      Delete
  3. I think we all know the books that we read which drove us crazy and the ones where we started to look for other work by that 'sensational author'. It's worth remembering that when Moby Dick was written or Tom Sawyer there were no tricks or rules ! I tend to write for me, the book I always wanted to read. Do I get a tingle reading it back ? Then I hope others might like it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Edward, I firmly believe the same thing. The only way to go is to write for my own pleasure, and hope for the best. :)

      Delete
  4. Yes, I agree, it's hard to enjoy books in the same way. Even if they are wonderful you either envy them or are scrutinizing to see how they achieved the excellence. It's not quite the same carefree experience as before! In answer to the last question I really don't know if it's possible to see your own work objectively unless you leave it for years!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, but shouldn't we be able to tell if we're writing crap while we're writing it? Is it really so different from any other kind of stuff we do? When we make a pot roast, we know when and if it's a good roast or not, right? ;)

      Delete
  5. I'm ths same way with reading. I wish I had beta readers though. Im searching. I have my first book out in a month, and only a couple editors have read it and worked on revisions with me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I came back to show a friend this article. We talk about this often. I reread my comment and laughed, maybe I should get an editor for my posts too. lol

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is one of the best blogs I've read in a long time. Every line held a punch of truth that nailed me in the solar plexus. I struggle so much with reading now that I've been edited. It's impossible to do otherwise.

    Thank you so much for such a great post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh - wow! Thank you! I don't even know what to say!

      Delete
  8. On the other hand, if a book is well-written, I enjoy it even more. ^^

    ReplyDelete