Friday, November 14, 2008

Writing stuff-Post 14 for 30dow

Our prompt today:
In Lectures on Literature (1980), Vladimir Nabokov writes that "the good reader is one who has imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense - which sense I propose to develop in myself and in others whenever I have the chance."

Of those listed, which do you think is most important to being a good reader? How does that translate to writing? Is a good reader the same as being a good writer?

I'm not officially taking a pass, but I have to say that I don't have the energy to write much. I am still plugging away on my novel, despite being behind due to the election and a long weekend trip to Texas. I've been in training for work for the past three days, so I just want some nice free time.

I think a good reader needs to have a good imagination. I read a lot as a child, and I still picture things in my head in my little brain movie screen. I think that that is an incredible thing that the brain does. I see people in my brain acting out things the author describes. That to me is just amazing. I wonder if children who do not read very much and who only watch tv have that same sort of inner movie screen, or if they've never had to fill in the blanks like a reader must.

Anyways, I think that it somewhat translates to writing, but it depends on what you're writing.
I think that to be a good novel writer, it is really important to have a strong memory, both to mine events in your own life and to remember what the hell you wrote earlier in the book.

Being a good reader is not the same. When you write, you want to create some gaps in your story so the reader can fill them in herself. When you read, you're just filling in those gaps as you follow along with the story.

Whatevs. I'm tired and I still haven't checked overheardinny today. For shame!

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