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 Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 9:49 pm
 Do you agree with the above statement? Why? Why not?
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Posted: Thu Nov 21, 2013 11:33 pm
I suppose whether or not I agree would depend on what we are considering a "book".
Is it just stories, or will textbooks be counted as well? And then what about magazines, comics/graphic novels, articles, newspapers, etc.
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Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2013 1:31 am
Reading a book and being able to analyze and understand what makes it good, mediocre, or bad are two very different things. That is the problem I have with this kind of advice. I can read a million books and that won't make me a good writer. I could read three and be brilliant at it.
Being able to understand what you're reading, being able to break the book down to its parts and grasping the nuances of the characters, then applying those things to your own writing when necessary is what you need to able to do.
I could do all those things before I was able to read the words myself, my brother can't do any of those things despite being able to read just fine.
First you have to read(or be read to), then you have to understand, then you have to be able to use that understanding in your own work.
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Posted: Sat Nov 30, 2013 8:08 am
I disagree. While I do think that you need to read a substantial amount of books, I don't think that you shouldn't be allowed to write.
Why can't you write? I mean, if it makes you happy, and other people don't necessarily have to read it, why can't you write?
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 6:30 pm
Renkon Root I suppose whether or not I agree would depend on what we are considering a "book". Is it just stories, or will textbooks be counted as well? And then what about magazines, comics/graphic novels, articles, newspapers, etc. Although the quote does specifically say "book", it does remain ambiguous as to what type of book. But then again, in this day an age of e-readers, a "book" isn't even a book anymore. I would interpret it to mean, don't write until you have read at least 1000 things that can improve you as a person and/or as a writer. There is lots of s**t out there you can read that won't make you a better writer no mater what. So, its not so much quantity, but quality. But a greater quantity of constructive literary works with improve you more than a smaller amount.
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 6:32 pm
Aha Reading a book and being able to analyze and understand what makes it good, mediocre, or bad are two very different things. That is the problem I have with this kind of advice. I can read a million books and that won't make me a good writer. I could read three and be brilliant at it. Being able to understand what you're reading, being able to break the book down to its parts and grasping the nuances of the characters, then applying those things to your own writing when necessary is what you need to able to do. I could do all those things before I was able to read the words myself, my brother can't do any of those things despite being able to read just fine. First you have to read(or be read to), then you have to understand, then you have to be able to use that understanding in your own work. This is very similar to my own reply to Renkon's post. Yes, understanding what you're reading and being able to dissect it into is basic elements is what really will help you further yourself as a writer.
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Posted: Wed Dec 25, 2013 6:36 pm
Sintalokse I disagree. While I do think that you need to read a substantial amount of books, I don't think that you shouldn't be allowed to write. Why can't you write? I mean, if it makes you happy, and other people don't necessarily have to read it, why can't you write? But then, when people who've never picked up a book in their lives and then write for a specific genre that they know nothing about and then PUBLISH that work, it does tend to produce less desirable pieces. A glaring example of this would be Stephanie Mayer's Twilight series. Mayer flat out said in an interview that she knew nothing of vampires or the vampire genre when she began writing. In fact, she didn't even do any research on vampires until she had to write the scene in the first book where Bella is doing her own research. In cases like that, I think the quote is good advice. But perhaps the quote should be altered to "Don't PUBLISH until you have read 1000 things."
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Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 5:47 am
Ren LehCrow Sintalokse I disagree. While I do think that you need to read a substantial amount of books, I don't think that you shouldn't be allowed to write. Why can't you write? I mean, if it makes you happy, and other people don't necessarily have to read it, why can't you write? But then, when people who've never picked up a book in their lives and then write for a specific genre that they know nothing about and then PUBLISH that work, it does tend to produce less desirable pieces. A glaring example of this would be Stephanie Mayer's Twilight series. Mayer flat out said in an interview that she knew nothing of vampires or the vampire genre when she began writing. In fact, she didn't even do any research on vampires until she had to write the scene in the first book where Bella is doing her own research. In cases like that, I think the quote is good advice. But perhaps the quote should be altered to "Don't PUBLISH until you have read 1000 things." Meyer's style is eh-ok-not-horrible-but-not-good. However, her content, and most people would agree, is pretty much garbage. Personally, I never liked her writing style, and while I probably would have ended up putting the book down anyway because of the vampire sparkles and love and ugh *shudders*, what initially killed the book for me was how irritated I was beginning to feel as a result of me hating the way Bella portrayed her sparkly boyfriend- in a godlike view. He never walked into a room. He floated or glided or some other excrement like that. I do, however, agree that she didn't know what she was doing. Honestly, it's the equivalent of a fifteen year old with Microsoft Word and a AO3 account, except comparing Meyer and the fanfic writers would offend the latter. I suppose that's more accurate. Don't force it on the world, right?
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Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 11:37 am
Sintalokse Ren LehCrow Sintalokse I disagree. While I do think that you need to read a substantial amount of books, I don't think that you shouldn't be allowed to write. Why can't you write? I mean, if it makes you happy, and other people don't necessarily have to read it, why can't you write? But then, when people who've never picked up a book in their lives and then write for a specific genre that they know nothing about and then PUBLISH that work, it does tend to produce less desirable pieces. A glaring example of this would be Stephanie Mayer's Twilight series. Mayer flat out said in an interview that she knew nothing of vampires or the vampire genre when she began writing. In fact, she didn't even do any research on vampires until she had to write the scene in the first book where Bella is doing her own research. In cases like that, I think the quote is good advice. But perhaps the quote should be altered to "Don't PUBLISH until you have read 1000 things." Meyer's style is eh-ok-not-horrible-but-not-good. However, her content, and most people would agree, is pretty much garbage. Personally, I never liked her writing style, and while I probably would have ended up putting the book down anyway because of the vampire sparkles and love and ugh *shudders*, what initially killed the book for me was how irritated I was beginning to feel as a result of me hating the way Bella portrayed her sparkly boyfriend- in a godlike view. He never walked into a room. He floated or glided or some other excrement like that. I do, however, agree that she didn't know what she was doing. Honestly, it's the equivalent of a fifteen year old with Microsoft Word and a AO3 account, except comparing Meyer and the fanfic writers would offend the latter. I suppose that's more accurate. Don't force it on the world, right? While I don't really want this to turn into a hate-on for Twilight, I realize I was the one who brought it up, so to conclude my views on it in relation to this discussion; I was very frustrated by her complete and absolute lack of understanding of the creatures she was writing about. She would have been better off calling them by another name. Dark Elves, maybe. Since all of the non-Cullen "Vampires" were very malevolent. Or Faerie. Hell, she could have just made up a new name for her creatures. But she didn't. She took the label of "vampire" and applied it to a creature that did not fit the definition in the slightest. Her lack of understanding and lack of research to make-up for that lack of understanding bothers me. (Also, her utter sexism, and misogynistic portrayal of women pissed me off. But that's not relevant to this thread.) So, yeah. Do not publish until you have read 1000 things (that are relevant to what you're writing).
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 8:04 pm
Like most others, I would have to disagree with the quote.
Many of the points made were very fine ones, and I have to agree on them. A person's ability to comprehend things is not based on how much they read; I've known people who have read just as many books as me, if not more, and had to turn to someone else for more abstract opinions on what they had just read. I recall reading The Scarlet Letter some years in High School, and some of the class needed the teacher to provide them with everything Nathaniel Hawthorne had been talking about, while there were others still who didn't need to have their hand held through the book because they were at a higher level of understanding.
I also must add that having a natural talent could make someone a better writer than just reading books as well. Just as some artists, musicians, and athletes are already inclined to be talented at their specific outlet at a young age, I'm sure some writers are the same way.
That being said, I'm a research junkie, and I feel that all good writers should research their topic thoroughly before releasing it into the world. Maybe my suspension of disbelief is skewed, but I like things to be organic with the time period and subject matter that the author is dealing with.
So, I disagree, but respectfully so, I suppose. As long as the author has a firm understanding of what they're writing, and can write in such a way that keeps the audience captivated, the amount of books they've read shouldn't matter much.
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Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:24 pm
Strawberry Requiem As long as the author has a firm understanding of what they're writing, This, right here, is the crux of what I think the quote is trying to convey.
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