Vladimir Nabokov's Speak, Memory
Part of my job as an author is to read other books with a critical eye to see what I can learn from other authors. For some reason, Russian authors never seem to do much for me. I've read several of their works in translation and in the original language, and each time, they fail to move me. This evening, while forcing myself to read more of Vladimir Nabokov's Speak, Memory before a class discussion this evening, I think I discovered why I'm often bored by these works. Nabokov has some really incredible images, and he provokes thought through his choice of subjects, but his sentences are abominably convoluted. I don't mind long, meandering sentences as long as I'm along for the ride with interesting phrases and dynamic verbs. In the fifteenth chapter of Nabokov's memoir, he explores his feelings of love through the language of mathmatics (among other things). This approach is fresh (to me) and interesting, but he belabors the point so much that even in his creative approach, I start dozing off. Concision is an issue in my own writing, and so I've learned from him that I need to pay more attention to making my works concise, or I will risk boring people even as Nabokov bored me.
Today, I also read Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication on the Rights of Women" and an excerpt from Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" as part of my exploration of the British Romantic period. Both pieces were thought provoking and worthy of reading. I haven't taken as much time as I wish to analyse their writing style, however, I can see how their clarity of thoughts on the page would be worth study.
I've also realized why I don't tend to spend my time writing fanfiction. I do read a lot of fanfiction, but I don't write it because I have trouble sustaining insterest in another person's characters long enough to devote long works to the development of those characters. I'd rather write my own original works. Because of this preference, I doubt I'll ever write much fanfiction, and I'm satisfied with that.
Today, I also read Mary Wollstonecraft's "A Vindication on the Rights of Women" and an excerpt from Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" as part of my exploration of the British Romantic period. Both pieces were thought provoking and worthy of reading. I haven't taken as much time as I wish to analyse their writing style, however, I can see how their clarity of thoughts on the page would be worth study.
I've also realized why I don't tend to spend my time writing fanfiction. I do read a lot of fanfiction, but I don't write it because I have trouble sustaining insterest in another person's characters long enough to devote long works to the development of those characters. I'd rather write my own original works. Because of this preference, I doubt I'll ever write much fanfiction, and I'm satisfied with that.