We're all in this together

Posted by KS Augustin, 09/15/07 03:56 PM

A lot has been written about why writers write. Isaac Asimov, for example, encapsulated much of how writers think in this little snippet from his book Asimov Laughs Again:

I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters in three segments, all at once, though they were to be run on three separate days. In between two of the segments, she asked me how many books I had written, and I told her. She said, “Don’t you ever want to do anything but write?”
“No,” I said.
“Don’t you want to go hunting? Fishing? Dancing? Hiking?”
And I said, “No! No! No! and No!”
She said, “But what would you do if the doctor gave you only six months to live?”
I said, “Type faster.”

We know, as W. Somerset Maugham said, that “there are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” Alas, decades later, we still twist this way and that, and the rules continue to elude us. And I could not let this little essay slip by without also including a quote from a writer, and person, I admire immensely…Mark Twain. He said: “If I had more time, I would write a shorter story.” Wisdom and witticism. The man was a marvel.

I can also ::koff::sympathise::koff:: with Anonymous’ corollary of an editor’s part in any author’s life: “The relationship of editor to author is knife to throat.” (But don’t tell any of the Samhain editors I passed that along, okay?)

And, with all the kerfuffle going on regarding various writer organisations recently, I’m sure we’ll all nod sagely when reading detective novel writer John D. MacDonald’s remark that “if you would be thrilled by watching the galloping advance of a major glacier, you’d be ecstatic watching changes in publishing.” Although, to be honest, I don’t quite agree with him. Romance publishing has seen changes in the past five years alone that, in my opinion, can’t be equalled by any other genre. The quote’s still funny, though.

But that’s just one side of a very symbiotic coin. Because all of the above are from the writer’s side of the camp, we find quotes—witty, ironic, sarcastic—galore. But what I’m wondering is this: why do you read?

After all, our words would mean nothing without you. We know why hundreds of writers write. But what is it about you or your situation that makes you want to read? Do you read mostly for educational purposes? To escape from your present situation? Has something you’ve read helped you deal with a difficult situation in your life? If you had the chance—and I’m giving you one right here—what drives you to read? Or, what quotable quotes would you come up with to describe the very valuable act of reading itself? A blank Comments pane awaits you…

Kaz Augustin
Spicing up the galaxy … one planet at a time!
http;//www.ksaugustin.com

Category: | 09/15/07 03:56 PM
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Comments: [6]

  1. 1 Delle Jacobs

    To tell you the truth, I’m not sure I know why I read. I know why I write, and I know I read for some similar reasons, but I’ve never quite been able to pin them down.

    I do know when I read fiction, I am transported in some way, to a different time, place and state of being. But I’m not sure if I am the one transported or if I become a different person, perhaps the hero or heroine, who is transported. Whatever it is, the altered state of being is an exciting and vital experience that enriches my life. If I don’t feel that wonderful experience, I put the book down, oddly, feeling guilty sometimes because perhaps I was the one who somehow kept the altered state from coming into being.

    But your Azimov quote reminded me of a discussion among a group of historical romance writers about how we’d like to pass from this world. I have never forgotten Jo Beverley’s reply:

    “Nose down into the keyboard, having just typed The End.”

    Comment by Delle Jacobs · Sep 15, 06:12 PM
  2. 2 sami lee

    Great post Kaz.

    I think I read because I want to experience a world outside my own, the ‘escape’ thing. Also because reading gives me an insight into the human mind, I like to try and understand human motivations. I write for exactly the same reasons I think, and because I like to control the world I’m escaping into.

    I love the quotes. I also like one by James A Michener: I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent re-writer. It gets me through the long and arduous process of re-writing and editing. I mean, imagine re-writing one of his books!

    Comment by sami lee · Sep 15, 09:28 PM
  3. 3 Chantal

    Wow, great question. I have never been asked that before. Never really thought about it either.
    I can’t tell you why I like to read so much. Heck, I wish I knew. It’s an addiction, really. I must always be reading something. As soon as I finish one book, I immediately start on a new one. You heard of chain smokers? I’m a chain reader. lol

    Comment by Chantal · Sep 16, 09:25 AM
  4. 4 KS Augustin

    You bring up a good point, Delle. I wonder if any research has been done into brainwave patterns while reading…. Most of the romance academia, for example, are social scientists. I wonder if anyone in any of the “harder” sciences has thought of, say, hooking a romance reader up to a machine?

    And I agree with you, Sami. I think the reason I read s-f is to see how different people view the future.

    Chantal, I love the “chain-reader” analogy! LOL Will have to use that one myself.

    Comment by KS Augustin · Sep 16, 06:53 PM
  5. 5 Bev Stephans

    I don’t ever remember not having a book in my hand. Whether it was someone reading to me or reading to myself. Why do I read? I love the many places I have been. Where else could you go around the world or into outer space so cheaply. Books cost less than airline tickets and I don’t know what the going price is on a rocket ship. I have gone back in time and into the future. I have been down the block and partied in Times Square. I have climbed mountains and explored the deepest caves. I have been swimming in the Great Barrier Reef.

    Yes, I could experience all of this on television or at the movies but my imagination would never come into play and I guess that’s why I read: To exercise my imagination.

    Comment by Bev Stephans · Sep 18, 03:06 AM
  6. 6 Xakara

    I read because I can.

    It sounds profound when left just hanging like that, but in truth it’s the toddler mentality.

    We crawl, walk, and run as small children simply because we can. It’s a way to get somewhere else and a celebration of the sheer freedom to determine where we go. As each way becomes more advance than the last, we choose the fastest and most freeing at any given moment.

    Reading gets me farther than running could ever hope to.

    So I read because I can. Feedom of movement is everything.

    ~X

    Comment by Xakara · Sep 18, 05:32 AM

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