Me and Fiction Reading

[hrj]

I'm entering a new phase of my relationship with e-books: I've bought copies of several novels that I already have in hardcover but have not found time to read yet. (My previous e-book reading has all been re-reading of favorites.) I'm feeling a need to return to fitting fiction reading into my life. For the last several years I've found myself avoiding novels -- especially novels that intersect significantly with the genres and themes of my own work -- because I want to avoid by the appearance and reality of being influenced by other people's writing. And because to a large degree I use the same head-space and life-space for writing and reading and it's been more important to me to write. But now that my own book is coming out I'm both feeling a bit more more comfortable that I can maintain the distinction between what I consume and what I produce, and feeling like I want/need to be part of the larger conversation and community of writers.

So, lined up on my iPad are Nicola Griffith's Hild (just out), and Mary Robinette Kowel's "Glamourist" novels. That should see me through my Thanksgiving-related travels adequately.

Comments

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

I'm looking forward to Hild, especially after visiting Durham Cathedral last week and seeing the splendid Hild icon (and getting a copy of it, finally, since you can't take pictures in the cathedral). Hild was a character in my story for Fabulous Whitby, so I have a soft spot for her. I suspect Nicola Griffith's version will have a little more depth than mine did.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

And, I like using iBooks to read novels whose physical books are too heavy to easily read. (I'm looking at you, Neal Stephenson and Tad Williams.)

I know a lot of writers who don't read while writing. I think in these days of internet trolls gone is the tradition of referring back and forth to each other's works, because "plagiarism" is such a harsh brand, even if incorrect.

[hrj.livejournal.com]

Although I do worry a little about being influenced in style by what I read, it's mostly that if I'm reading something really good, it bleeds off the need to write. And if I'm reading something not very good, why am I spending my time on it? But I've taken very much to heart a blog I read somewhere on how to be a well-behaved author in a community of authors, which is that you talk about other people's works more than you talk about your own, because that's how cross-pollination happens. And I feel like I've got a bit of catching up to do if I expect other authors to be willing to invest in my career. That sounds awfully cold-blooded when I lay it out like that, but I'm not really a natural networker. I'm a hide-in-my-cave-working-on-my-project person. So I have to approach the communal/networking side of this like in a programmatic manner.

[xrian.livejournal.com]

[Like button] good observation! and no doubt relevant to my career in the knitting world as well.