What if no one reads it?

I'm sure the question that's crossing my mind right now is the same question that's crossed almost every writer's mind. What if no one reads it? I haven't even published anything yet, but the question has been weighing heavily on my mind. Maybe it's the reason I haven't finished editing. Maybe I'm not sure of myself. How much would it bother me if no one reads the work of fiction I've been working on? Maybe it'll bother me a lot, maybe it wouldn't bother me at all. Even if no one reads my book, it won't take away from my accomplishment. I would have written a book, promoted it, and tried my hardest to sell it.

Why I give up on books, or what I don't like in a book.

I finally gave up on Horns, by Joe Hill. It had been in my possession for over a month and I didn't find myself tempted to read it. It started out good enough, with a promising idea, but it started to bore me. It seemed interesting enough, guy accused of murdering his girlfriend grows horns and people start telling him their darkest secrets and desires. I kept thinking of what it would be like if that happened to me. I probably wouldn't want to know every one's dark secrets and desires, just like I wouldn't want Sookie Stackhouse's ability to read minds. Anyway, the book lost me when it got off track and went back in time. I'm sure there was a point to that, but I didn't feel like reading to find out why. I'm sure it introduces the girlfriend and shows their relationship, but at that point I would have preferred to see what was going on with the horns. I don't like when stories take me out of the story to show me something else. In horns there were plenty of nods to the way the girlfriend behaved. I didn't read too much about her to see if any of those things were true. I also don't like when stories get too silly. They have to have some level of believability.

To Be Read

I haven't had time to read recently, so my to be read list is growing. I thought maybe if I listed these books I would get through them a lot quicker.

Silence of The Lambs This book has probably been on my tbr list the longest. I've read all the other Hannibal books and plan to reread them, but I just never got around to reading this one. Silence of The Lambs was the Hannibal movie that I liked the least so I decided to read it last. I decided to take a break from the Hannibal books right before I read this one, and it's just been sitting on my books shelf for years.

The Hunger Games/All I haven't read any of the Hunger Games books, and I think now is a pretty good time to start.

Double Dexter I actually started reading this book and never finished it. I need to read the rest of the books in the series as well. I think I stopped reading this because I watched the ending of the show and was disappointed and needed to distance myself from Dexter.

Horns I've been dying to read something by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son), and I thought I was going to read the graphic novel first. After seeing the trailer for this movie I knew I had to read it, and I'll probably watch the movie as well. I have it on hold at the library.

Warm Bodies loved the movie, but I heard the book is a million times better.

I would also like to read more by Richard Matherson. He's an amazing author, and his novels still hold up, even though they were written a long time ago. A lot of his books have been adapted into tv shows or movies.

Writing for yoursef vs. writing for your audience

I recently read an article about a woman who was told she couldn't write a character the way she wanted because it wouldn't sell books. This is part of the reason I decided to self-published. I can't imagine being told to change a character that I feel strongly about just because people might not read it. I know you have to write for your audience, but unless your character is offensive you should be able to write the way you imagined them. There's a character in the book I'm about to release, his name is Miller and he talks differently than any of the other characters, but he adds to the story. He owns a bar for werewolves (and sometimes vampires) to hang out. He's a werewolf himself, and I can't imagine changing him. A lot of times I find myself writing about characters I can relate to, and I'm sure it's the same with many other authors. I have written about characters that are different than me, but to make them real you have to make your audience releate to them. Since I'm self-publishing I haven't thought about my audience too much. That's probably because I don't have an audience yet. I'm not out there selling books yet. I don't know how people are going to react to my characters yet. I haven't been thinking about the marketing part of publishing as much as I should. Will people still be interested in reading what I write if they know it was written my way and not a publisher's? I don't think publishers bad, they offer great things, like editors and simple suggestions that could make your story better. I just don't like the idea of someone being able to tell me that I have to change an entire character. I don't understand why anyone would have to change a character if it doesn't make the story any different.

Do I read like a writer?

The other day I was checking my twitter and noticed a post by a writer. The post was in response to something one of her followers had asked her, and her response was that she sometimes couldn't enjoy a book because she read like a writer instead of a reader. I hadn't thought that there was a difference. I thought people just read like readers, since they usually were reading something they hadn't written. I decided to think about the books I read lately, and the reasons I enjoyed or didn't enjoy them. First Grave on The Right was simple, I didn't care for it because all the male characters were good-looking and so was the main female character, plus there was no real plot, or the plot was put on the back burner in favor of describing these great looking men. Right now I am reading the Sweet Valley adult book, and I notice little things I may not have noticed when I read the teen books as a teenager. The actions and way these people speak are unbelievable. I don't mean crazy, I mean no one says like in every sentence. I will get to the behavior part this weekend for my weekend review. My complaints for these books were things I might not have noticed or paid much attention to if I wasn't a writer myself. A book that I recently enjoyed was White Trash Zombie (I've reviewed all of these books or plan to, so check the items tagged with weekend review if you want to read more about these books). When I was reading White Trash Zombie, I kept thinking that the pacing of the book was perfect. There were parts that had nothing to do with the mystery of who turned Angel into a zombie, but I was still interested in those as well. The book was far from boring, and I plan to pick up the rest of the series, the first of which I kept wishing I'd written myself. Most readers will just put down a book they don't like, without wondering why. If you ask them why they might be able to pinpoint a reason, or they might just say that it was boring. I no longer read like a "normal" reader. I read like a writer.

Favorite Books

I read a lot, maybe even more than I write, but I only have a few books that I consider my favorites. Today I basically had a lazy day, which consisted of me watching the entire third season of the UK's Being Human, but I still wanted to blog.

 

Carrie is the first book I think of whenever I think about my favorite books. It's the first Stephen King book that I've ever read, and the one I've liked the most. There were at least a dozen different covers, but this happens to be the cover of the one I own. A friend bought it for me at a used bookstore after hearing me talk about the book so much. Some of the other covers are so beautiful that I would love to own them. I've seen all four Carrie movies (Carrie, Carrie the Rage, the tv one, and the remake), I would love to see the play as well. I think Carrie is a book that everyone should check out.

 

I guess I'm going to break the first rule by talking about this book. I actually read the book and watched the movie around the same time. I think I actually made myself read the book first so that nothing would be ruined. It's the most quotable book that I've ever read, and the book itself made me think and look at things differently. I liked the movie too, but I think I prefer the book.

 

After reading I am Legend I picked up Stir of Echoes, both are good books and I plan to read more by Richard Matheson. The main character is the last man in a world filled with vampires, which makes him legend (like the vampires used to be). I wasn't sure how I would feel reading something written so long ago, but this was one of the best books I've ever read. It's the best vampire book I've ever read. I found myself being beyond disappointed when watching the Will Smith movie.

 

 

I wasn't aware that this was a tv series when browsing through the barnes and noble website. I was looking for something to read and stumbled across this. I bought the first book, not knowing what to expect. I read the book in one day, ordered the next three books, and read this again while waiting for them to come in. The first few books in the Sookie Stackhouse series are great, but the quality of the rest of the books steadily declined. I watch True blood every so often, but I prefer the books about the telepathic waitress.

 

My favorite comic book, the Crow. I love comic books. I collect the 30 days of Night series, and I would love to collect the other Crow comics. I only have the original, the one the movie was based on. I saw the movie first, and shortly after I purchased the comic on eBay. The comic is slightly more violent than the movie, but I don't really have a problem with violence.

 

 

Honorable mention: The Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay

Write reviews, but don't bash books

Around this time last year the Twilight craze was almost dying down, but I'm sure there are Twilight memes all over the web. I've done my share of Twilight dissing, even though I haven't read the books or seen the movies, but I regret that. No, I haven't suddenly read the book, or even picked up the book. I read a comment that the writer made when asked if she'd ever return to the Twilight world. She said that if she did it would be three paragraphs saying who died. I was shocked. I think that an author should love the world they build. I love the worlds I build, but I am aware that there are things I can do to improve them. That's why I plan to read my negative reviews. The reader doesn't just dislike a book for no reason. It might not be what they read on a regular basis, or the author might have overlooked something/left something out/written something offensive/created an annoying character. That doesn't mean that you should bash the author or their work. Even if you don't like it, it's still something that someone spent their time writing. Someone found an idea that they loved and stuck with it until they had a story. It's still something that someone put their blood, sweat, and tears into.

#PromoteYAInstead

I don't read much YA. I don't have anything against it, I just have never really read much YA. I read the Fear Street series when I was in my early teens, but other than that I read adult horror. While my friends were reading Go Ask Alice, I was reading Carrie. I guess Carrie could be considered YA. Recently I read an article on Slate. The article stated that adults should be embarrassed to read YA. The reasoning behind this was basically that the people who read YA wanted a neat little story that got wrapped up with the happy ending bow. Not all YA books have a happy ending, and a lot of them are about learning a lesson. I don't think anyone should feel embarrassed for picking up any book. What's wrong with reading a book about characters you can relate to? Characters that have gone through or are going through what you are? I've recently read a YA series by Jesi Lea Ryan, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, and I found them to be enjoyable. I don't want to give too much away about the books, but they didn't have happy endings. The characters went through changes. The characters were damaged. They went through things both emotionally and physically that they may not recover from. I didn't feel like I was reading a "children's" book when I read these two books. I felt like I was reading a book. Just a book, no labels needed. Right now I'm writing an adult series, but someday I might want to write YA. I wouldn't want anyone to shy away from my book, or any book, because it's YA. No one should feel embarrassed to go into a bookstore or library and read the book they like. I actually plan on reading more YA. I've been hearing a lot about the Immortal Instruments series and may have to give that a try. A lot of YA books are just less violent/less sexual books that feature a younger group of characters. A lot of adults read books like these because they don't care for overly sexual or violent books. I don't think people are going to stop reading YA because of the lame article, but I do think the author of the article is going to end up missing out on some great books.

School books that I actually enjoyed reading

I'd developed a love of reading (and writing) early on, so I was always excited whenever the teacher gave us our summer reading list. For me it meant more books, for my classmates it probably just meant more work. Anyway, here's some of the ones I enjoyed the most.

The first one is Bunnicula. I had to read this in sixth grade and don't remember much about it, other than it being about a vampire bunny. I was probably too old for the book at the time, but I still really enjoyed it.

The Giver is another book that I really enjoyed. It's about a future where people are forced into the jobs that are picked for them. One lucky boy gets to be the Giver, who is basically the only person with knowledge of a different world. It's kind of hard to explain without spoiling it, but it's a sci-fi book that I really enjoyed.

I really enjoyed the outsiders, and I am disappointed that I lost my copy in Katrina. I was planning to reread it. It's about a group of troubled teens who fight with each other over their social classes.

Lastly, there's Smack. I actually read this book on my own. I was later told to read it for one of my college classes. It was one of the best books I had ever read at the time. It's about two teen runaways who find themselves addicted to drugs. I had trouble putting this book down.

Early writing mistakes

I've always wanted to be a writer, it seemed like my calling since I wrote my first non school story in second grade. I stopped writing for awhile when I was a teenager. I wish I had kept writing, it would have only helped me improve. I picked writing up again when I was about twenty three or twenty two. I'm not sure why I picked it back up, my only guess is the stories that were in my head begging to be written wouldn't go away. It's been a rough journey for me. I have trouble finishing projects, although the one I'm working on now just needs another glance over. I was often broke when I was writing these stories, and I actually tried to sell books after just writing the first draft of whatever I was working on. That turned out as well as you can expect, and I know it wasn't good for my writing career. The only reason I rushed through the first chapter and sent it off was because I was poor, I was struggling to pay for gas to get back and forth to work. My situation improved a little when I got a job that was closer to home, and so did my outlook on writing. I decided that I didn't want to sell my book to a publishing company, I wanted to self publish. I wanted to live all the ups and downs of my journey. I know it's going to be hard, probably harder than I could ever dream, but I decided this is the path for me. I haven't sent off what I'm working on to a literary agent, at this point I don't want one. Maybe one day that will change, but for now I want to see what this is like. In fact, I hope to soon, maybe late this month or early next month. Another mistake I've made is letting other things get in the way. When I get home from work, it seems like I'm too tired to think. Maybe I should take naps and write when I wake up. I've also allowed other things to get in my way, like getting a new video game or book. Things that I shouldn't put before my writing. I know I need a break sometimes, but a break shouldn't turn into me catching all 150, or however many pokemon they have now. I've made a lot of mistakes, and I know I'm going to make more, but that's my journey to take.

The job I want vs. the job I need

I can't recall a time where I applied for a job because I wanted it, and not because I was in need of a job or a bigger paycheck. As a result, I have grown unhappy with every job I've had in a matter of months. I always feel like I'm stuck and I need to get out there and find something better. I don't know how to explain it, just a feeling like I should be doing better. I know I could do better, but I've never been sure how to approach getting a job I actually want. To be honest, I'm not even sure I know what job I actually want. I had to pick a major when I attended college, but the major I picked isn't something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. The only thing I can see myself doing for the rest of my life is writing, and I'm frustrated with myself for putting my writing off. I have a ebook that's already written, I just have to edit it, but I keep letting things get in the way. From work to my own laziness. I managed to beat the new pokemon game this month, but haven't put in any real time writing. I guess I feel like if I had a job that I actually enjoyed everything else would fall into place.

Dialog

I took a college fiction writing class at a community college last semester. It was actually more like a fiction reading class with a splash of writing thrown in, since we only did three or four writing assignments and we read about twenty stories. I took this class because I believe you can learn something from everyone, but I learned nothing in this class. Well, nothing the teacher taught me. For our first writing assignment we were told to write a 300 word story that was character vs. nature, character vs. the world, or character vs. supernatural. I went against my better judgement and took the easy way out. I wrote a courtroom scene that was mostly dialog. I thought my teacher would run screaming away from anything I actually wanted to write. I had to filter my writing for fear of being feared. Even tame fiction can be twisted into something that it's not. What I mean is, because of all the violence, school shootings, etc., I was afraid to write a story that I might actually like. An innocent piece of werewolf fiction could be frowned upon in a school setting because of the violent content. When my teacher graded the paper she wrote, "Too much dialog, and it's boring." Maybe not in those words, but she wrote them. The next assignment I turned in had maybe two sentences of dialog, but I wrote more along the lines of what I wanted to write (well, the paper was based on a photograph the teacher had chosen for us). My teacher did enjoy that assignment more, but she didn't love it. For the last assignment we were given a 1000 word limit and no boundries, so I finally decided to write about something I actually wanted to write about. I picked a topic that was more tame than werewolves, but was still something that interested me. This time my teacher actually loved it. I wonder if I had just wrote what I wanted in the first place if I would have actually learned something else.

Could writing a book cause me to lose interest in reading?

In the past I couldn't wait to take a trip to Barnes and Noble. I loved browsing the shelves and looking for something new to read. Today I visited Barnes and Noble and walked away empty handed. It's not the first time that I've walked away from the bookstore, but it is the first time I didn't see anything that held my interest. I try to squeeze in writing time on a daily basis, but I have been neglecting my reading list. The only books I've even picked up in the past few months are Double Dexter and Angel Ink. I'm sure this is just a phase and it'll pass, but I hope it passes soon.