Comments on: reading like a writer–part 1

By: Armed and bewildered … « Out of My Mind

Armed and bewildered … « Out of My Mind — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:47:25 +0000

[...] Cynthia Newberry Martin blogged a five-part series on Reading Like a Writer. She ended by taking apart Alice Munro’s short story Dimensions. I read the story, but for the [...]

By: cynthia

cynthia — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:56:31 +0000

Owl and Sparrow, I do think you could write your own series! Thanks for the critiques–very interesting. I look forward to your post on Glee, as well as your latest post.

By: owlandsparrow

owlandsparrow — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:15:35 +0000

Sure! As far as the TV shows go, I love Lost and admire the way they’ve paced their (very complicated) story; the way they manage to make you care about the individual characters of a huge ensemble cast; the way they drop extremely subtle clues about what’s going on; the way they make even their most horrible villains relatable and their heroes, at times, despicable; and more.

With Glee, I actually wrote a post about some things I like, several months ago. Here’s a link: http://owlandsparrow.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/and-im-a-gleek-its-official/

As for Heroes, well…I’d say their biggest problems are lack of overall vision for where they want to go, and lack of follow-through with what they start. They tend to drop whole characters and plot lines without ever re-visiting them; I think, perhaps, they’ve written themselves into a few holes given the nature of the show (between such powerful super-powers and the ability to time travel, there’s not much suspense, or much at stake – why care, if they can just go back in time to change it?).

Wow. Maybe I should do my own series, haha. Sorry to write an entire novel in your comment section!!

By the way – I have a little surprise for you in my latest post. Thanks again for this awesome series!

By: cynthia

cynthia — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:27:36 +0000

Thanks for your comment, Maggie. Great idea to keep a list of the details you notice in the books you read.

By: Maggie

Maggie — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:42:26 +0000

well, reading like a writer or not…. if I am reading, and it takes me to my “happy place” that’s real pleasure!. An observation is that, in-case you are reviewing a book even if it is for your friends, the details just don’t stop flowing in, (something you would have missed otherwise) more often than not it makes the book so much more worth! I read a few books and missed out on a lot the first time…. but ever since I started noting down details of each book just as a pass time, I have become a better reader!

By: cynthia

cynthia — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:10:59 +0000

Greetings from Columbus, Georgia! Nice to see you here, A Cuban in London, and I appreciate your letting me know about the Zadie Smith “What Makes a Good Writer” series reprinted on your blog. I’m off to read the first installment now.

By: cynthia

cynthia — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 14:03:47 +0000

Hi Tricia-I read that book in 2006. I enjoyed reading it, but for some reason, which I can no longer remember, I gave it away instead of keeping it on my shelf. It just didn’t seem to be one I would refer to again. I’d love to know how you like it and if it’s helpful to you.

By: cynthia

cynthia — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:52:02 +0000

Lisa, I agree. I find I’m noticing more as I read these days too. That’s another thing the blog has done for me–knowing I want to comment on a certain aspect of a work definitely helps make it more concrete in my own mind. I often discover things I would not have known were there if I hadn’t been writing about it.

Guy, nice to see you here. I love Lisa’s word “encapsulate” too. I think it’s actually forming the words in our heads to express a thought or a feeling that brings that point to the forefront and then makes it possible for us to see how other features are working with it or against it. Nice point that in good books it’s all working together.

By: howdidyougetthere

howdidyougetthere — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:39:44 +0000

I agree. I think the more advanced we are the more of a role ‘technical novelty’ plays in our enjoyment, whether we realize it or not.

I’m just not sure how to analyze that, to break it down so I can use it in my writing. Therefore am looking forward to your helping us with that in this series!

By: cynthia

cynthia — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:41:19 +0000

Kristi, when I think of reading for pleasure, I think of curling up in an armchair and getting lost in the world of the book, not thinking about anything other than the story and the beautiful language. I started to write and then deleted that technical appreciation was in a different category altogether. But now that I think about it, again when I was reading Wildlives, what the author Monique Proulx was doing in that book did become a part of my enjoyment of the book.