Personally I don't see much change between this year and last. I think we have become stuck in 2020. At least it's still a kind of cool sounding year as far as numbers go...
If 2020 had been a book I would probably have stopped reading about chapter April. The book started off badly anyway but I was reading reluctantly. Besides, I guess that was the only book in that library.
And somewhat reluctantly I'm returning from my blogging hiatus just so I can talk about my insecurities. But I doubt whether anybody cares. So welcome to the ...
The Insecure Writer's Support Group
Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog.
The co-hosts for the January 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren , J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner Sandra Cox, and Louise - Fundy Blue.
January 6 question - Being a writer, when you're reading someone else's work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people's books?
Several times I've stopped reading non-fiction books or read selectively from them. Rarely have I started any fiction book and just stopped reading. In fact, the times that I did that was when I was in high school and college, when I couldn't keep up with a reading load and just faked it. And, of course, some of the books were so boring and long. I'd probably appreciate those better now.
These days--when I read fiction (and it's been at least a year or more since I last read any fiction)--I make an attempt to try to understand the writer's intent in order to better recreate in my mind what has been written.
I have a better appreciation now for the craft of writing but not from any extreme perspective of editorial bias. I am a very forgiving reader. If the editing is not good to the point of me noticing, I'm not overly shaken. Bad formatting might be less forgivable. The main thing for me is whether I understood what was before my eyes or, perhaps better, did I enjoy it.
Gee, I've almost talked myself in picking up a fiction book and reading it. I've got a lot here that I haven't read. I'll finish it if it's reasonably coherent. I feel I owe it to the mind of the author.
Happy New Year to you Lee albeit as you say not much change as yet from last year. I do much reading plus music listening these days.
ReplyDeleteI wish you well and keep safe.
Yvonne.
Yvonne, I hope changes for the better start coming, but I'm not gonna be placing any bets on it.
DeleteWellness to you too.
Lee
Happy New Year! I do wonder how history will remember 2020. For me there were some fun, exciting times but then..
DeleteI'm forcing myself to remain positive:)
Doreen, staying positive is my typical mode of thinking but 2020 has been a challenge at times. I try to maintain a good sense of humor--or maybe a warped sense of humor at times. But I do try to laugh as much as I can.
DeleteLee
Hi and Happy New Year,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to meet one forgiving reader because I am forgiving reader also. If I cringed badly over the mistakes in a book, I write the author and respectfully tell him or her what I saw. Then it is up to them.
Have a great 2021.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Pat, I once left what I felt was a fair and respectful Amazon review for a friend's book (that was not very good). He became very upset with me after that. In reviews I try to be careful with what I say while being as honest as I can be.
DeleteLee
You need to read one. Do it, do it, do it!
ReplyDeleteSome aspects of this year will be better and some will be worse.
Alex, mostly worse under a Democrat administration. For people like me at least. Freeloaders and government leeches might be happy.
DeleteLee
Hopefully, this year will get better, but I think it's a long process! Reading fiction has fallen by the wayside for me, as well. You are good to overlook literary errors. They distract me, but if the story is gripping enough, I'd continue reading.
ReplyDeleteDebbie D, I tend to be too engaged in what I'm reading that I often don't really notice errors. If I do then the writing hasn't won me over.
DeleteLee
I'll skip around in non-fiction books sometimes.
ReplyDeleteL.Diane, if there's not much in the way of a coherent narrative skipping around might make a lot of sense. So much in non-fiction books can be just filler material.
DeleteLee
I don't like non-fiction books that are too dry and dense, with overly academic language. I prefer them to read like creative non-fiction, telling a gripping story that just happens to be real, and making it feel almost like a novel.
ReplyDeleteCarrie-Anne, Definitely creative narrative non-fiction for me. I want to be engaged and entertained, not put to sleep.
DeleteLee
Bad formatting is kind of deal breaker for me, too. I'm just to old to work that hard for a story. And there's really no excuse. If you can't format it well, there are hundreds of people who can.
ReplyDeleteAs to 2021...I'm not holding out any great hopes for a miraculous turnaround. This is going to be a sloooow slog out of the swamp.
C.Lee, I've been mentally preparing myself for a long lockdown. I'd like to see the government of CA at least to go through a radical change for the better for the people, but I don't think it's gonna happen.
DeleteLee
Happy New Year to you and I have to say, I miss your BOTB because you always choose something interesting and ones I normally really like. I hope you had a nice Christmas and New Year's even if it was quiet and uneventful. My hubby went to bed at 11:40 pm on New year's...hahahaaa..he hates New year's. I hope you don't here "I've Got You Babe" every day at 6am. I have a feeling we will be in a better chapter by the fall.
ReplyDeleteBirgit, I'm going to go back to BOTB posts on the 15th of this month and keep up with it for an indeterminate period of time. Right now I'm in a blogging blah state, but I guess I've been that way for a while.
DeleteMy wife and I went to bed on New Year's Eve probably around 10:30 after watching the pitiful Times Square ball drop stuff. Maybe an advantage to being on West Coast time.
Lee
Non-fiction is a hard one for me unless it just happens to hit something I'm into at the moment. There were so many boring books during the school years, and even the couple I've picked up since then are still boring to me.
ReplyDeleteTD, my perception of non-fiction has often been that non-fiction will be boring and a lot of times it is. But I've also read some outstanding and utterly riveting non-fiction. That's the approach I prefer.
DeleteLee
That was me in college. There were so many books that I didn't finish reading because of the demanding heavy reading load so I had to just limit myself to finishing either my favourites or what was most important for the class.
ReplyDeleteSteven, especially if one was a literature major like I was, each class would cover several books so that cumulatively it was a lot of books. Thank goodness for CliffNotes back then. Now the internet would make it a breeze to get the gist of books without reading them. Favorites and importance was my main criteria as well.
DeleteLee
Happy New Year, Arlee! But you're right ~ It feels just like 2020. It's going to take many more months to get out of this mess. Well, we have a number of messes to get out of! Wishing you all the best, and may this year end up much better than the last!
ReplyDeleteBlue, Happy New Year to you as well. I'm waiting for things to change, but I feel like it's going to get worse. Still, I keep a spark of optimism within me.
DeleteLee
I read my brains out in college. I read a lot now, but I don't miss writing paper after paper for each book I read.
ReplyDeleteLiza, maybe it seems kind of weird, but writing those papers in college were one of my favorite things to do. And I usually got pretty good grades on those papers.
DeleteLee
Hi Lee!
ReplyDeleteGood to see you! I, for one, do care what you think and have to say. It's always interesting. For instance, talking yourself into reading ;-) I love the escape that a good fiction provides. I rarely read non-fiction unless there's something (or someone) I want to know. Here's to a year of pleasant surprises!
Diedre, so far I haven't done a very convincing job of talking myself into reading. Non-fiction written in a readable narrative style can provide a great escape I find. I love a good biography or history.
DeleteLee
I normally finish reading when it comes to fiction. With nom-dixtion types, I am less patient. It doesn't matter how long or short the book is. It's in how long it can keep me interested. I did intentionally stop reading diction a few times before. I mostly don't remember why but one, in particular, was due to disgust. I strongly disagreed with how the characters solved their problem. It was not good and the main characters weren't feeling amy remorse. So I got rid of that book.
ReplyDeleteSorry, typo. I meant non-fiction.
DeleteI love your analogy of 2020, and so far 2021 seems to be a sequel ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty forgiving with typos, just please don't have one on every page.
Happy New Year, Arlee!
Gwen, a typo on every page would make me wonder what kind of editor was working on that book--if there even was one.
DeleteLee
I agree, with your read of 2020:)and being forgiving of typing errors. Of course, a pristine copy is preferable:) but I know I'm guilty of it too. No matter how many eyes have been on my 'script, a typo or homophone is going to crop up somewhere in my publication. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteLet's get Jan in the rearview mirror and see if we can turn things around.
Sandra, I'm so obsessed with editing as I go that not too many errors pass me by--well other than maybe misplaced commas and such. I need to learn to just write without worrying about the edit, but I've been doing it that way for my whole life and probably not going to break that habit now.
DeleteLee
Certain types, like literary non-fiction/fiction, I simply read. Over the decades, I found that they got way too psychological (e.g. like having an appointment with a therapist) or were seriously condescending to the reader. Those just a no-read for me.
ReplyDeleteOthers include reading a series that seems to have no ending to it (Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series turned me off of Fantasy for a decade or so).
Beyond that, I'm open to most genres.
GB, I don't do any fantasy (other than a few books I was sent for review). I'm open to just about any genres as long as the writing holds my attention.
DeleteLee
I don't often read nonfiction books, but I've picked up some these past few years. Mostly about parenting or diet/exercise. One I keep pulling up again is The 4-Hour Body. But I read the book the way it says to read it: picking through as if it were a buffet. It takes a lot for me to read a nonfiction book all the way through.
ReplyDeleteLoni, maybe you aren't reading the right nonfiction? Try some good biography or history narratives. They are better than much fiction in my view.
DeleteLee