Reading Log - June 2013

It shouldn't come as a surprise that as an amature author, I read.  A lot.  When I'm not first-drafting or editing, I try to be reading.  And I try to not just read genres that I'm partial to when I'm writing; my general rule of thumb the last few years is that it doesn't matter what the content or the genre is: As long as it sounds interesting and is well-written, I'll read it.

Ever since I graduated college in 2009 I've been keeping a log of how many books I read in a year, from June to June.  So far my count has been 30 books a year, which I'm always trying to break.  I didn't get off to a very good start this year as I only finished two in the month of June, but I'm hoping to amend real quick.

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

East of Eden was one of my bucket list books - a book that needed to be read sometime in my lifetime.  My mom was the one who first suggested it to me, and considering that I enjoyed Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath (I'm probably the only one in my whole junior English class who did), I knew that Steinbeck and I got along pretty well and gave it a go.  The book might not have blown me away like I was expecting it to, but I did enjoy it; it's a great window into the past, and it takes place in an area of the country that I'm familiar with and can picture easily.  It was also very easy to read, so I felt like I moved through its 600+ page bulk at a pretty decent pace.  The characters were incredibly well-written, from world-wise Samuel Hamilton, to philosophical Lee (my favorite character), to the Devil-in-the-flesh Cathy/Kate.  It's a great introspect to the true nature of Good and Evil and the ending is both heartbreaking and uplifting.  This is one of those books that I wish I could have studied while in college; you could easily discuss this book with a group of fellow literary nerds for hours and never repeat the same idea twice.

This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

It's like The Breakfast Club meets Night of the Living Dead, though I mean that in the best way possible.  Yes, this book is about the end of the world and the collapse or civilization and yes, it does have zombies, but that's not what the story is about.  It's really a story about human nature when confronted with the breakdown of order and society.  Sloan, the story's protagonist, is almost qualified to be an invisible narrator; her tragic situation at her home even before the zombie apocalypse starts gives the readers a raw, honest look at the other characters through her eyes without a "woe is me" veil to obscure it.  There were times where it was not an easy book to read, as it's very angsty and it was hard to like any of the characters for a long period of time, but I think that was the author was going for and in that case, it was very well executed.  It was also creepy as shit to boot.  I can watch a million zombie movies and not be phased, but after reading chunks (no pun intended) of this book at a time there would be some nights when I didn't want to go near the open windows, much less look outside them and see something sinister lurking across the street.

Tools of the Trade

Like any craft, there is a certain amount of trial and error that goes into the writing process.  I'm not just talking about finding your voice or establishing a style; I'm talking about the mechanics of it; what each individual author needs - and I don't mean what they like or prefer, absolutely needs in order to work - before the words start to flow.  Here's a small list my own needs.

1) Notebooks.
Try as I might, I cannot first draft on the computer.  It seems counter-productive, since the whole purpose of a first draft is to just get the idea out, to write anything and everything that comes to mind, even if that means that 75% of it ends up being garbage and is jettisoned in later drafts.  However, I've discovered over the years that I actually benefit from being slowed down.  Hand-writing my first drafts allows me to funnel my thoughts and helps give me a clearer idea of where the story is eventually going.  It's hard to explain, but hand-writing the first draft sort of opens up two channels of thoughts in my head: the "what-I'm-writing-now," and the "where-is-this-going-to-go," which has made the plotting of my novels easier and more efficient.  When I try to do the same thing typing, my thoughts just sort of trip over themselves and get hopelessly tangled in the process, and I end up getting nothing accomplished.

When I first-draft now, I do so in a Mead or 5-Star multi-subject notebook (college ruled, of course).  Each new story idea is started in a new subject of a notebook, and if I'm able to fill up that section of the book (roughly 75 pages), then that story graduates to get its own single-subject notebook that continues the plot.  The only drawback to this method is that I've accumulated a lot of notebooks, which becomes cumbersome when I want to write anywhere that's not my house, such as at my favorite coffee shop or when traveling.  Then I have to decide which notebooks I need to bring (it's also reaching the point where I'm beginning to get them mixed up and grab the wrong one, and working on a story outside of its designated notebook is unthinkable), but I couldn't have it any other way.

2) The pen.

To me, having the right kind of pen is essential.  My tool of choice is a Pilot Precise V5 RT free-flowing ink pen.  If I don't have that specific type of pen, or one very close to it, then I don't write. When the closest grocery store stopped carrying them for about a year, I would make special trips to the Target store across town just to pick up a pack.  They're that important.

3) Music
If I don't have my music, I might as well not even bother.  Listening to music while writing has become as essential to me as the pen and paper.  Without music, the creative flow just sort of congeals until it stops altogether.  Almost all of my stories have their own playlist I composed on iTunes, made up from artists, bands, and musical scores and soundtracks, and, unsurprisingly, those tend to be my first choice playlists depending on whatever I'm currently working on.  And if I don't necessarily feel like listening to those, there's always my go-to albums (right now the Akira soundtrack and Florence + the Machine do quite nicely).  And when those don't work, I just put my entire library on shuffle and let my iPod choose for me.

(My other go-to is Halloween sound effects and music.  I can't explain why.  If I'm stuck on a particularly troublesome scene, Night in a Haunted House and Night in a Graveyard does wonders to dislodge it.  It just works.)

There are lots of other factors that help the process as well.  A good cup of tea or a glass of wine is always appreciated by the muse.  And while I always have my headphones on, I more often than not have some terrible horror movie playing in the background while I'm at home.  I think it's because they take 0% concentration while watching.

And, of course, I wouldn't be able to write without my writing buddy by my side.

Even if he does snore.