I should read more…

One of the most important parts of being a writer, in my opinion, is reading.  Not necessarily to “size up the competition” as much as to explore different styles and voices.  I tend to read a lot more non-fiction for research and the sort (I’m a geek, okay?).  I try to check out the popular books, a writer would be silly not to.  I’m not trying to write a boy wizard or teen vampires anytime soon, but trends are important.  Because I am publisher as well, I have to watch the trends.  As an artist, I want to write whatever comes; but, as a businesswoman, I have to consider trends.  By the way, I admit that I have not read any of the Harry Potter books – I started watching the first movie and it didn’t really appeal to me.  I did read Twilight and I’m not happy with what the author did to vampires…sparkly in the sun??  Seriously??  Come on!  These are the sexy monsters, folks…you can’t make them sparkly in the sun.  On the plus side, I did like that they were hard to kill – when I write a vampire novel, mine will be quite plucky and hard to kill (the characters exist and a few scenes are set, just need a good plot).  Aside from keeping up with the trends, I read a book to absorb the information.  While it’s true that some authors take poetic license and fudge a little on the facts (guilty as charged), there’s usually a hint of fact present.  Personally, I do a lot of research and try to be accurate when it’s necessary.  It’s fiction, kids, the fudge makes it fun!

Lately, I have been writing a lot more than reading (and watching television a lot more than writing – Nip/Tuck is on Netflix Streaming, how could I resist?).  About a year ago, I had this plan to read one book every week…it started out well, but I got side-tracked with writing and other stuff.  That lasted about three weeks.    I’ve been trying to read for research, so I picked up a book about the beginnings of the internet (which, by the way, did you know they were afraid of the Terminator scenario back in the 50′s? Yep!).  The book talks about the Whole Earth Catalog – which is, pretty much, what the internet is now…it’s kind of neat.  Check out “From Counterculture to Cyberculture” by Fred Turner…it’s a good read.  The last book I read was “Good Enough” by Paula Yoo (she’s my Twitter buddy).  It’s a young adult novel, which is not my usual fare.  I sat down and read it in one sitting – I loved it.  It was funny (okay, hysterical in parts) and I could identify with the main character a little (distractions, distractions).  This is the kind of book that I like to read because it feels very natural and flows very well – the girl’s got chops.  Some books are a little choppy.

Enter the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo…yes, I read it.  In fact, I picked up all three books because I had heard that they were awesome.  First, let me say that it was less girl with a dragon tattoo and more sleazy (at least I thought he was) journalist dude.  I think that it would have been better to read the original Swedish version because I feel that a lot of things might have been lost in translation – though I don’t speak or read Swedish, so I’ll never know.  The girl with the dragon tattoo was disappointing as a character.  As someone who is heavily tattooed, I find it annoying that this community is given such a bad stereotype.  The girl was a slob and her life was a mess…come on, really?  Overall, good story…didn’t like the characters.  There was a lot of irrelevant information – I have to say, I am guilty of throwing in irrelevant information for character development, but this is a bit much.  I started to read the second one, but got lost in a bunch of math crap – I hate math…HATE math.  Love accounting, hate math.

Sorry, didn’t mean to get bitchy there, guys.  I was talking about the importance of reading to a writer.  On top of what I’ve already mentioned, I think it makes us better writers.  I pick up something new every time I read something.  Because when you write the same way, you tend to write the same thing!  Must cut it short now, the cat has a hairball – it’s going to be gross.

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