Just over a year ago, I interviewed debut author Janice Hardy about her new book The Shifter (aka The pain merchants). Barely a year later, Janice is doing another blog tour for her new book, Blue fire, sequel to The shifter. Janice stopped by here for a guest post about some occupational hazards of writing:
Looking on the Write Side
One of the things I’ve noticed over the last few years is that it’s getting harder to turn off my inner editor when I read for fun. Things I never would have noticed before jump out at me. Sometimes this is good, as I’ve noticed subtleties in work I might have missed, but other times it hurts my enjoyment of the story because I see things that I feel someone should have caught and fixed, or see things that I would have done differently.
I’ve accepted this as an occupational hazard of being a writer. I know too much about the inner workings of crafting a story, so I’m naturally more critical of what I read. But I have found a few ways to help counteract my writerly nature.
Don’t read on the computer
For me, computer = work. Either I’m working on my own manuscript or critiquing one for a friend. This is one reason why I’ve been resisting e-books, because a screen makes me look at the words with a more critical eye.
Don’t read right after an editing session
I’ve found that when I’m in editor mode and working on revisions, I can’t get out of that mindset right away. I need time to let the brain spin down.
Read something different from what I’m working on
A different genre, market, or even POV made it easier to see the story and not the text. It’s clearly "not my work" so my inner editor could sit back and relax.
Turning off my writer’s brain isn’t as easy as flipping a switch, but most days I can usually find a way to lose myself in the story and not look at how it was created.
More about Blue Fire:
Part fugitive, part hero, 15-year-old Nya is barely staying ahead of the Duke of Baseer’s trackers. Wanted for a crime she didn’t mean to commit, she risks capture to protect every Taker she can find, determined to prevent the Duke from using them in his fiendish experiments. But resolve isn’t enough to protect any of them, and Nya soon realizes that the only way to keep them all out of the Duke’s clutches is to flee Geveg. Unfortunately, the Duke’s best tracker has other ideas.
Nya finds herself trapped in the last place she ever wanted to be, forced to trust the last people she ever thought she could. More is at stake than just the people of Geveg, and the closer she gets to uncovering the Duke’s plan, the more she discovers how critical she is to his victory. To save Geveg, she just might have to save Baseer — if she doesn’t destroy it first.
You can find out more about Janice through her blog, or buy Blue Fire online at Barnes & Noble or The book depository.
2 comments:
If I get really sucked into a story, like yours, I read as a reader the first time. Then I have to read it again to learn from it. Thanks for the great post.
Thanks! I find I do the same editor thing with TV shows and movies. I crit the stories :)
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