Hello Readers,
As you may know, I've been reading a lot more recently in pursuit of my 100 book goal. If there were any fears within me that I wouldn't be able to sink into a story the same for sake of necessary speed, they were fully dispelled today. To be clear, that means I sat on the couch and cried in front of my roommates as I read the last 50 pages of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. Sure, the ending events were what got my tears started, but it was the thought of leaving the crows behind that made me feel so sentimental. It didn't matter that I'd known them for what amounts to less than a week, it mattered that in that time, I'd become a crow, too.
Even though I've been writing for just about 11 years now, crafting my own characters and the ways they'll grow close to a reader, I still couldn't place the secret ingredient Bardugo used to keep me so wrapped up in the cast. I find there is still a mystery behind why we can connect to fictional people of all kinds through the medium of ink and paper. Try as I might, I can't puzzle it out and though I want to know so I can implement the same tactics into my own WIP, I am also satisfied to know that it keeps the sweet magic of falling in love with new characters, well, magical.
It's because it's done a different way every time, each character a one-of-a-kind snowflake that fingerprints themselves on our hearts. It can't truly be replicated, only used for inspiration. Well, that is if you subscribe to the belief that plagiarism is a no go!
My writer colored glasses may not reveal some secrets to me, but there are others I now understand because I can put myself in the shoes of the author. The amount of times I read a beautiful line (are you someone who highlights or sticky notes those moments?) and gasp aloud because it works so well or clap with glee when a rather twisted point of the plot finally makes itself clear has steadily increased over the years. In some of my reads this past month, I've taken a lot of mental notes on chapter pacing and dialogue tags in conversations between handfuls of characters. Now that I'm aware of what it takes to write a book, there is a whole new world of learning to be done. It struck me that the unconscious absorption of my favorite authors' work in all of the years before is what brought me to this point!
I will admit, at times when I am not meshing with a work or find something odd about it that takes me out of it, I curse my new writer's perspective for allowing me to name the precise problem. It might be what keeps me learning, but I sure feel nostalgic for the days I could inhale a story without familiarity with its construction. I try to practice both, being just a reader and just a writer, for that reason. I can't let one or the other grow too rusty!
Again, I've found myself to be long winded, but there aren't the proper words to dissect such a topic with incredibly clarity when your mind is muddled by post-Crooked Kingdom sorrow.
I am always curious to hear about others' experiences and how reading at any point in one's writing journey changes with time. If you have a thought to share, please do! We all live our lives in this little community and sharing in one another's wisdom is how we can all grow.
I wish you a week spent with a book that touches your heart!
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