On bookblogging and writing
Aug. 4th, 2006 12:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tarigwaemirDeWolfe Apts., on the Feast of St. John Vianney
The problem with keeping up a book log is that it is easier to read books than to write about them. In high school, I tried to at least write down a list of the titles I read, but I never managed to maintain for more than a few weeks because reading rate outpaced my ability to remind myself to update the list. It became easier during college because I didn't read as many books, so I managed to start a reading blog that more or less covered every book I read on my own outside of class. I get stalled every few months though (usually because of schoolwork) and then have a huge backlog to wade through, which is why the blog has odd spurts of activity in between long silences.
I got stuck last October and didn't get around to updating again until April, when I resolved to catch up on the backlog...only to fall back into another slump. Why? Because for some reason still unknown to me, I could not figure out how to write exactly what I had thought of Le Guin's Four Ways to Forgiveness. A part of it was due to the time that had elapsed since i had read it, I suppose, but it was still very odd. I kept writing out my reaction then deleting it (rather like writing fanfiction, now that I think about it). Anyway, because I was stuck on that one book, I continued to stall and avoid updating the blog for another four months.
I still don't know why I found it difficult but today I finally managed to write what I had wanted to remember about the book, so the obstacle has been overcome! Twelve books down, eleven books left to go before I'm all caught up. Eleven! But all read in the past three months, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Hopefully I'll take this experience as a lesson to write my reactions down right after I finish the book instead of months later. On the other hand, there's some merit in allowing yourself time to digest; delayed reactions are sometimes more thoughtful than immediate ones.
It would also help if I stopped being so long-winded, but I have this constant fear of forgetting books and feel compelled to cram it all down in words as much as possible. The book log is almost like a code; it's supposed to trigger in me the memory of not only what I thought about the book but the experience of reading it.
During my journal-hopping today, I came across the "ten ways you know you're reading my fic" meme from way back when again. I couldn't think of how to answer it when the meme was still going around, but now I think I can:
1. One-word titles. Alternatively, a verbose phrase for a title. Either way, they're kind of bland.
2. Most of the action verbs are people looking, staring, gazing, glancing (and occasionally, for variation, not looking) at each other.
3. It ends in some sort of silence. They didn't need to speak, or they stopped speaking, or they had nothing left to say, etc.
4. There is nearly no description of what the characters look like.
5. There is very little description of what the characters are thinkingbecause the writer isn't sure herself.
6. Nothing happens.
7. If something does happen, it's usually only dialogue.
8. Dialogue is often circular and takes a long time to get to the point.
9. The first one or two paragraphs may often be full of description that seem incidental to the rest of the fic.
10. Overuse of the semicolon, especially in dialogue. (Also overuse of the dash, but I like to think that I'm getting better at that. -_-)
I should get to sleep.
Yours &c.
The problem with keeping up a book log is that it is easier to read books than to write about them. In high school, I tried to at least write down a list of the titles I read, but I never managed to maintain for more than a few weeks because reading rate outpaced my ability to remind myself to update the list. It became easier during college because I didn't read as many books, so I managed to start a reading blog that more or less covered every book I read on my own outside of class. I get stalled every few months though (usually because of schoolwork) and then have a huge backlog to wade through, which is why the blog has odd spurts of activity in between long silences.
I got stuck last October and didn't get around to updating again until April, when I resolved to catch up on the backlog...only to fall back into another slump. Why? Because for some reason still unknown to me, I could not figure out how to write exactly what I had thought of Le Guin's Four Ways to Forgiveness. A part of it was due to the time that had elapsed since i had read it, I suppose, but it was still very odd. I kept writing out my reaction then deleting it (rather like writing fanfiction, now that I think about it). Anyway, because I was stuck on that one book, I continued to stall and avoid updating the blog for another four months.
I still don't know why I found it difficult but today I finally managed to write what I had wanted to remember about the book, so the obstacle has been overcome! Twelve books down, eleven books left to go before I'm all caught up. Eleven! But all read in the past three months, so it shouldn't be too difficult. Hopefully I'll take this experience as a lesson to write my reactions down right after I finish the book instead of months later. On the other hand, there's some merit in allowing yourself time to digest; delayed reactions are sometimes more thoughtful than immediate ones.
It would also help if I stopped being so long-winded, but I have this constant fear of forgetting books and feel compelled to cram it all down in words as much as possible. The book log is almost like a code; it's supposed to trigger in me the memory of not only what I thought about the book but the experience of reading it.
During my journal-hopping today, I came across the "ten ways you know you're reading my fic" meme from way back when again. I couldn't think of how to answer it when the meme was still going around, but now I think I can:
1. One-word titles. Alternatively, a verbose phrase for a title. Either way, they're kind of bland.
2. Most of the action verbs are people looking, staring, gazing, glancing (and occasionally, for variation, not looking) at each other.
3. It ends in some sort of silence. They didn't need to speak, or they stopped speaking, or they had nothing left to say, etc.
4. There is nearly no description of what the characters look like.
5. There is very little description of what the characters are thinking
6. Nothing happens.
7. If something does happen, it's usually only dialogue.
8. Dialogue is often circular and takes a long time to get to the point.
9. The first one or two paragraphs may often be full of description that seem incidental to the rest of the fic.
10. Overuse of the semicolon, especially in dialogue. (Also overuse of the dash, but I like to think that I'm getting better at that. -_-)
I should get to sleep.
Yours &c.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-04 05:23 am (UTC)I love your booklog, by the way. You're very good at getting at to the heart of things. I get too hung up on specifics.
2: yes.
5: YES.
4: When I do write this, I always feel very silly and amature.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-08-04 01:34 pm (UTC)I actually like the way you focus on specifics; it often points out an aspect of a book that I hadn't noticed before (if I've read it before, that is). Also, you're very effective at persuading people to read or not read a book. Half the titles on my to-read-next list at the moment are from you; the other half are probably from Charmian. XD
Re: #4, in fanfiction, it's assumed that the reader knows what your characters look like so it's not necessary. The only problem is that I carry the habit into my original fiction as well (what few origfic I've attempted anyway). It's not so much the lack of detailed description (which are a bit silly, I agree) but the lack of any description at all. But then again, I suppose it doesn't matter since I nearly always write fanfiction anyway.