Can you just READ?

[elsol]

Erotica -- absolutely not unless the writer is stellar... and it's worse because I was always only interested in stories with my triggers to begin with.

Commercial products -- the writers I already know... yes. New writers have a hard time convince me to put down the money.

ps. Impressive (haven't read the whole thread) it's a lot easier if you turn the writing brain from recognizing 'stuff you know' to 'looking for new ways of saying things or styles'.


Sincerely,
ElSol

 

[ishtat]

Dreiser

Read Theodore Dreiser, or try to . He is so monumentally tedious that anything else seems brilliant by comparasion. After him you will re find the ability to read anything.

 

[Guest]

im a reading slut and have always been so. this past year i fell into my very first 'dry' spell...the very first time it took me nearly a year to read a 'chick lit' book i started last summer. however, i still dive into stories here on lit. it is very different to read a story here then it is to hold a paper back.
i don't:
have a specific genera
pick books apart
look for hidden meanings unless that is the purpose of the book...ie: Divinci Code
never the less, i have become stagnant and it is bothersome. i used to read about four books a week. im hoping this summer will turn things around.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I can't do it anymore. Writing has ruined the escapist joy I used to get from reading. Oh, I might get absorbed in a passage or a chapter, but then something -- some technique or turn of phrase or style -- will jar me from the story. I now read with a writer's eye, and I really wish I could turn it off at times. *sigh*

I've always been like that, but only with bad books. Escapist stuff and entertainments. That's why I don't read much pop fiction anymore. I'm just such a bitch about it. If I want to escape, I'll try someone good like LeCarre or Graham Greene or O'Brian.

It's like being on a highway. If it's a crummy road, you're going to notice every bump and pothole. If it's well-made, you don't even know you'e in a car. And if you're a kid, you're going to think both rides are exciting. It's only when you grow up and start driving yourself that you notice the difference.