Does being a Writer spoil your Enjoyment of Reading?

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26 Writing Conferences in March 2017

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Paul Whybrow

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Jun 20, 2015
Cornwall, UK
I've learned a lot about the techniques of writing, since returning to creating stories four years ago. I've admired many authors, from boyhood, savouring how they transported my imagination. I like how they did it, as much as the story they told.

As I aged, I decided that life was too short to waste it reading badly written books. Persevering with novels that annoyed me, seeing them through to the end, made me disappointed in myself and contemptuous of the author. I tend to avoid writers who don't engage me in some way. That's not to say that they're second-rate, for there have been bestsellers and literary prize winners that simply leave me cold.

I'm suspicious of the hoopla that surrounds authors who are household names, and of challenging novels of literature that takes a committee of eminent writers to decide which is best. I'm glad that books are getting recognition, but not so gullible as to believe that reading these much-lauded authors will be a pleasant or character-improving experience.

It's possible to admire a work of art, but not like it very much. I admire the movie Citizen Kane but don't enjoy watching it. I admire the technique of Paul Auster but don't get any pleasure from his novels.

I recently started reading a highly-praised crime novel You Will Know Me by Megan Abbott, an author new to me. The opening chapter was bewildering, a confused hotchpotch of one sentenced conversation between party goers, as witnessed by a drunk mother. I didn't know who any of these characters were and had to read paragraphs a couple of times to get an idea of what was going on.

I immediately recognised what Megan Abbott was trying to do, by introducing an unreliable narrator, but it came across as a poor copying of Paula Hawkins' Girl On A Train and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl. I scanned pages further into the story and was similarly confused and unimpressed. Considering how much we're advised by writing gurus to grab the reader's attention with our opening five chapters, this was a dismal failure.

I gave up on it, turning to one of my favourite authors Dennis Lehane. Reading his World Gone By was like entering a beloved restaurant where I knew I was going to enjoy the meal. Then, I noticed signs of a run-on sentence, which Lehane had rewritten, to make three shorter sentences. It still read clumsily, but...hang on, I've forgotten the story line...what was it he said? So I reread the paragraph, annoyed with myself for dissecting writing technicalities rather than enjoying the whole.

So, does being a writer spoil your enjoyment of reading?

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I've always been extremely sensitive to typos in books, but it wasn't until I really started honing my own writing skills that I became a truly critical reader. Not that I can't enjoy a poorly written book--if it has interesting ideas in it, I'll still carry on, and may even like it--but I'm much more likely to throw a book down in disgust. I've become particularly intolerant of simple matters of research the author chose not to do--moon phases coming in the wrong order, flowers showing up completely out of season, or diurnal animals active at night. I'm also more sensitive to clumsy writing and poor sentence structure, and will stop reading out of frustration with this, too.

So, yes, writing has diminished my enjoyment of reading many books. But it has also made me much more appreciative of incredible writing when I see it. So when I get lost in Ray Bradbury, I'm not only transported by the story, but also by my recognition of the techniques he uses to tell it. So it's a mixed bag.
 
At first it did in the sense that I was focusing all on the way the author structured their sentences and I started seeing only how I would arrange it..but now I feel like I'm becoming a better reader as I appreciate and admire the writing from all kinds of authors.
 
I get the structure thing as Em reports, above, but when I began really learning about polishing the craft, it got to the point where structure bogged my pleasure reading down. Since I also review a bit, that got to be another burden until I just tossed it all out and re-approached it as I did when I was a twelve-year-old reading the back of the cereal box over breakfast. If it holds me, I stick with it. As Paul says, Life's too short. Of course, there are some times, when engaged in research, that I have to read academic writing, (or circular, introspective non-fiction) for the material and information. That remains a workout.
 
Some books are so good it makes me want to give up writing altogether, and then I realise that I couldn't stop even if I tried. Some books are so poorly written it makes me want to contact the publisher directly and offer my work in its place. I'm not sure either of these stances is new to me or unique to readers.
 
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26 Writing Conferences in March 2017

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