Those broken-spined, ruffle-paged books I so love have recently floated to the top of my reading list again, not merely because they’re so easy for me to read and because I love them. Well, it’s a bit because I love them.
I have started rereading my very favorite books, studying how the writers structure sentences, the words they choose, and how they move the action along. I figured, I’m a writer, and I should take advantage of these resources to see if I can figure out what I like about the writing I like.
Books I’ve read critically trying to identify why I like them:
I felt like I should include some Serious Books in that list. When I used to take out a dozen fantasy books at a time from my hometown library as a child, I’d have to include one or two classics or nonfiction so it would feel legitimate when I showed my mother my haul. (You know, toss a Charles Dickens in with all that Anne McCaffrey) But let’s be real. There are plenty of serious nonfiction books I like, but the books I read for pleasure are generally fiction, so I should study those while trying to identify writing skills that I could apply to my own writing, both fiction and nonfiction.
I have started rereading my very favorite books, studying how the writers structure sentences, the words they choose, and how they move the action along. I figured, I’m a writer, and I should take advantage of these resources to see if I can figure out what I like about the writing I like.
Books I’ve read critically trying to identify why I like them:
- Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce
- The Hallow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle
- ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
- The Truth by Terry Pratchett
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| Learning from books I hate. Credit: Amazon |
I have always assumed that there is a contract between the writer and the reader. Something along the lines of “I went to all the trouble of writing and publishing this book because I believe it will be worth your while to read it.” So therefore, I feel that either I am going to learn something from a book, or I am going to be entertained.
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| Pete, this coulda been a great book if an editor or friend had given you some practical advice. Credit: UCSB Library |
I tried to give Matthiessen a chance. I considered whether it was the writing style that I didn’t enjoy, but Matthiessen shows flashes of being quite a good writer. [Ch. 2, Dec. 23: “One steps through the wall of the tropic forest as Alice stepped through the looking glass; a few steps, and the wall closes behind.”]
I considered whether it was the structure of the story that I didn’t enjoy: it is written chronologically, diary-style. But so was The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank, and that was interesting...and she was trapped in an attic, not travelling through the wilderness of South America!
The problem that I had with The Cloud Forest is simple: I wasn’t entertained.
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| This is not South America, but it's more interesting. Credit: A Photo Album of Anne Frank |
In a 269-page book, the first 150 pages were sleep-making to me. It’s almost like Matthiessen didn’t know what he was about trying to write a book. Or maybe this sort of day-by-day style was considered the way to chronicle a journey at this point in time. I would guess that my grandfather would have enjoyed it. (Honestly, I think he would have enjoyed it. I'm not making a negative statement about generations.) But I expect a storyline or a point or...something.
A rather interesting storyline starts around page 150. It was as though a different person was writing. I began getting a sense of who Matthiessen was, as a person/character, and he described others quite well too in their expeditions.
Had I been Matthiessen’s editor or even a good friend (who could give him a friendly word to the wise) I would have advised Matthiessen that his story starts at Chapter 6, and he should cut the junk at the beginning.
So I decided to using my seething hatred of this book as a tool. I identified what exactly I hated about it: I was bored, I expect to be entertained, I was frustrated that he didn’t describe various animals, I was angry that he didn’t explore people who sounded interesting, I was annoyed that I had to wade through 150 pages of crap to get to anything worth reading.
I Learned:
I expect writers to only release writing that they truly believe is worth my time to read it.
I should take the time for a good solid editing process, or at least a good friend.
Now You!
What patterns do you notice in writing you love vs. writing you hate?
