On the heels of my last post(I know I missed earlier this week...sorry), someone asked me if I read my own books. The only thing I can say is...well...yeah.
No, I don't obsess over my novels, lovingly caressing them before bed each night, but I look at them off and on, and for several reasons. First off, both Akeldama and Salvation Day have upcoming sequels, so I have to make sure I can remember various pieces for the sake of consistency. Readers remember the original well enough to catch flaws in new work that the author may have forgotten about.
Beyond that, though, I just like them. I've often spoken of writing what I want to read, so why wouldn't I enjoy going back to my own work the same way I've read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince or Guns of the South over and over? Authors, I hope, don't write something and then think, "Wow, that's crap. But I hope people still buy my book." Just as any reader does, I get attached to my characters and like to remember their travails and triumphs.
In addition to that, going back and re-reading my own books reminds me of where I was in life when I wrote them. Ask any writer, and he or she will tell you the energy and life circumstances that went into writing a novel. I can look at a chapter, a plot line, or a character and remember, Yup, that's what was going on at that time. I can then see how the book evolved as my life evolved. It's also fun to retrace the evolution of not just my life, but my writing style. You can find what you did not as well, and how you might change it today. It aids with growth as a writer.
This is not to say I read only my own books, or even that I do so very often, but I do it, and it'd be dishonest not to admit that. I'd wager that any writer worth his or her salt will cop to that.
No, I don't obsess over my novels, lovingly caressing them before bed each night, but I look at them off and on, and for several reasons. First off, both Akeldama and Salvation Day have upcoming sequels, so I have to make sure I can remember various pieces for the sake of consistency. Readers remember the original well enough to catch flaws in new work that the author may have forgotten about.
Beyond that, though, I just like them. I've often spoken of writing what I want to read, so why wouldn't I enjoy going back to my own work the same way I've read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince or Guns of the South over and over? Authors, I hope, don't write something and then think, "Wow, that's crap. But I hope people still buy my book." Just as any reader does, I get attached to my characters and like to remember their travails and triumphs.
In addition to that, going back and re-reading my own books reminds me of where I was in life when I wrote them. Ask any writer, and he or she will tell you the energy and life circumstances that went into writing a novel. I can look at a chapter, a plot line, or a character and remember, Yup, that's what was going on at that time. I can then see how the book evolved as my life evolved. It's also fun to retrace the evolution of not just my life, but my writing style. You can find what you did not as well, and how you might change it today. It aids with growth as a writer.
This is not to say I read only my own books, or even that I do so very often, but I do it, and it'd be dishonest not to admit that. I'd wager that any writer worth his or her salt will cop to that.
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