So I came across a random line that reminded me of something my Creative Writing teacher said last semester. Read what you write. And learn from it.
I do that on a regular basis, to the point of depletion of my meager bank account. Oh how it suffers. I just finished a series (five books) in four days and now I'm looking for a new one.
However this isn't a post on my apparent status of no-life-itis. This is a post regarding learning from what you've read. Have you?
I have. I have read many paranormal books and series that make me want to rewrite entire scenes from my book, or pat myself on the back. And others that have my holding my hands over my eyes so the massive eye roll that I just gave doesn't send them careening onto the floor. In the end I have learned, learned, and learned some more.
However, the most important thing that I am still learning, especially from the authors that I well and truly love, is that I am not them and they are not me.
Yes, I find myself frequently intimidated by the way they craft a scene, build emotion and characters. Yes, I worry that at times I fail to do any combination of those things even remotely right. And yes, I stress myself out over who I can't be. Them.
I am me and there is nothing for me to apologize for, but I still learn. And read, because well, for me that's the fun part. Getting lost in a story that somewhere, in the recesses of my mind, the writer is picking apart all the stuff I don't like about their book and being sure that I don't commit those crimes in my own.
So the question is, do you learn from what you read? Do you even read at all (gasp)? And if so, what are you looking for when you read?
