The Pushcart War 01
These last few weeks have been very busy for me, and I've found myself with less and less time. So instead of reading the incredibly good, but also incredibly dense books that I should be reading, I've instead fallen back into the habit of re-reading old stuff.
And I must yet again agree with a statement I made earlier this summer; one that was told to me a long time ago by a friend. Children's books are some times better written. And they certainly are often as much fun to read!
I had an discussion with a fellow cashier earlier today, involving the fact that he rarely reads a book that is less than eight hundred pages, unless it is part of a long running series. Similarly, he does not read fanfiction unless it is over 10,000 words. Apparently, he has the same gift as - which is the ability to read incredibly fast. Therefor, to him, reading a little book is basically a waist of time.
I couldn't disagree more.
Perhaps it is because I do not have the patience to sit through an incredibly long series unless it interests me within the first book. It is a fault I had in grade school, when I passed by The Golden Compass because I found the beginning fifty pages boring; it is a fault I had when I could not get beyond the third book in Terry Brook's Shannara Series; and it is a fault that has wounded me rather badly when it comes to convincing me to pick up Steven King's Dark Tower again. (Which I promise I will do as soon as I get back up to school!) I will happily admit that there are many series that come to their own only after the first book.
But do I want to spend the time on something like that? From an author like Steven King, Tad Williams or William Gibson, yes. But I have been burned far to many times to step outside my comfort zone and waist my time on a series that I will look back on ten books later and wonder 'did I actually learn anything from that'?
Because honestly? I do not read space opera. Nor do I read Fantasy Fluff. Either give me a novel with a spark of humor, or give me one that has new ideas. I will take a poorly written novel with spinning stars (or zombie servants) over an averagely written one with the premise of 'elves exist!"
And beyond that...well, my writing teacher drilled somethings in my head that stuck. One idea was 'brevity is good'. Don't tack on unnecessary adverbs, don't add unnecessary descriptions, and for the love of god, keep the character count down. (Trust me, I suffered from that last one). There are always exceptions to the rule but...how many truly stunning things have you read that have lasted over ten books? What if the series in question had no new ideas? What's the point in reading it at all if you've read it all before elsewhere?
There is no such thing as a second Tolkien. No second Azimov. But those amazing authors dreams are what made their works amazing. Dreams of the future, dreams of fantasy - works of fiction that drew us in and let us get lost in their worlds. To simply use their ideas is not 'art' - and it never will be. Give me something new, no matter the length. Give me science fiction zombies or crafty sphinxes. Give me whirling dervishes or flying mules. Give me fuzzy mole reporters or badgers with swords. Give me something new - and I will read and love your story.
Or at least give me something to think about. I would say 'there are only so many ways to tell an opera, war, or romance' - but that would be doing a discredit to all of the authors who have found new ways of telling those stories, and who have done it amazingly well. Think about something different. Don't postulate 'if people lived a long time, they'd get really good at fighting' - think 'if people lived a long time, maybe they would have some interesting insights on to human sexuality - or get stuck in their own outdated ideals'. Don't say 'if people had wings it would be cool to have them shoot missiles from the sky' - say 'with wings they would think of the world in three dimensions'.
Its not hard! Writing is inherently creative! Don't shackle oneself to overused ideas and claim that is 'art'. Either twist those ideas, say something with them, laugh at them or use new ones.
And I must yet again agree with a statement I made earlier this summer; one that was told to me a long time ago by a friend. Children's books are some times better written. And they certainly are often as much fun to read!
I had an discussion with a fellow cashier earlier today, involving the fact that he rarely reads a book that is less than eight hundred pages, unless it is part of a long running series. Similarly, he does not read fanfiction unless it is over 10,000 words. Apparently, he has the same gift as - which is the ability to read incredibly fast. Therefor, to him, reading a little book is basically a waist of time.
I couldn't disagree more.
Perhaps it is because I do not have the patience to sit through an incredibly long series unless it interests me within the first book. It is a fault I had in grade school, when I passed by The Golden Compass because I found the beginning fifty pages boring; it is a fault I had when I could not get beyond the third book in Terry Brook's Shannara Series; and it is a fault that has wounded me rather badly when it comes to convincing me to pick up Steven King's Dark Tower again. (Which I promise I will do as soon as I get back up to school!) I will happily admit that there are many series that come to their own only after the first book.
But do I want to spend the time on something like that? From an author like Steven King, Tad Williams or William Gibson, yes. But I have been burned far to many times to step outside my comfort zone and waist my time on a series that I will look back on ten books later and wonder 'did I actually learn anything from that'?
Because honestly? I do not read space opera. Nor do I read Fantasy Fluff. Either give me a novel with a spark of humor, or give me one that has new ideas. I will take a poorly written novel with spinning stars (or zombie servants) over an averagely written one with the premise of 'elves exist!"
And beyond that...well, my writing teacher drilled somethings in my head that stuck. One idea was 'brevity is good'. Don't tack on unnecessary adverbs, don't add unnecessary descriptions, and for the love of god, keep the character count down. (Trust me, I suffered from that last one). There are always exceptions to the rule but...how many truly stunning things have you read that have lasted over ten books? What if the series in question had no new ideas? What's the point in reading it at all if you've read it all before elsewhere?
There is no such thing as a second Tolkien. No second Azimov. But those amazing authors dreams are what made their works amazing. Dreams of the future, dreams of fantasy - works of fiction that drew us in and let us get lost in their worlds. To simply use their ideas is not 'art' - and it never will be. Give me something new, no matter the length. Give me science fiction zombies or crafty sphinxes. Give me whirling dervishes or flying mules. Give me fuzzy mole reporters or badgers with swords. Give me something new - and I will read and love your story.
Or at least give me something to think about. I would say 'there are only so many ways to tell an opera, war, or romance' - but that would be doing a discredit to all of the authors who have found new ways of telling those stories, and who have done it amazingly well. Think about something different. Don't postulate 'if people lived a long time, they'd get really good at fighting' - think 'if people lived a long time, maybe they would have some interesting insights on to human sexuality - or get stuck in their own outdated ideals'. Don't say 'if people had wings it would be cool to have them shoot missiles from the sky' - say 'with wings they would think of the world in three dimensions'.
Its not hard! Writing is inherently creative! Don't shackle oneself to overused ideas and claim that is 'art'. Either twist those ideas, say something with them, laugh at them or use new ones.