Reading and Writing

I find I don't read like most everyone else. That can sometimes be a plus, or sometimes a minus. I plod along at the pace that the writing sets for me.  I read with a tempo that comes from the words and punctuation on the page.  And maybe it's my age, or maybe experience, or maybe it’s just the place I find myself in at this moment in my life.

After being on the Barnes & Noble book discussion boards for over a decade, I find I’ve grown extremely analytical, and sensitive to finding out just why I do (or don't) like either an author's writing, or a story.  This can proceed into the extreme.        

I’m finding I no longer can sort through (delicately pick and choose) my words on a book discussion, I go directly to the point, and it may mean tearing a throat out in the process.  It’s not personal, just a clinical dissection, which can harm a discussion as I cut to the chase.  I feel I can no longer participate on these discussions.  But, it's for a number of reasons, not just this one.  

A novel should be about life, at least in my estimation.  A novel should be about the truths of that life of those characters.  A novel should take you along a journey of self discovery....for better, or for worse, those characters should make a real impression on you.

And now, being part of a critique writers group, I’ve been given even more reasons to delve into what words should, or should not do for a reader - Finding out what a writer wants to accomplish in their writing, that's important to me - And through this process it helps me to learn more about myself as a person, not just as a writer.  Analysis doesn’t stop with just the words on a page, for me it goes deeper.  My own writing reveals who and what I am, a soul I can no longer hold onto.