Have you ever bought a book because it had a great cover, only to find that the cover disguises a sub-par book? Or perhaps you read the back cover blurb, and it intrigued you? But some blurbs are flat-out misleading, leaving you disappointed, even angry.
I want a book that delivers on its tantalizing promises. I want well-drawn, sympathetic characters who speak and act realistically ( at least to some degree! ) I tend to fall in love with characters who seem to be real people, people that I'd like to meet and get to know better. I like to be left with no doubt as to who are the heroes and who is the villain. ( J.K. Rowling I'll forgive for fooling me! )
I love settings that I'd enjoy visiting and exploring; maybe I'd even want to stay there a while. But then, I also enjoy encountering fictional places so terrifying I'd rather die than be stuck there. ( J.R.R. Tolkien's Mordor comes to mind! )
I love books with plots that grab me, draw me in, then enfold me and won't let go. And they don't disappoint me in the end. If I just have to know what happens next or I'll be up all night wondering---if one more page becomes ten, or twenty---then I realize that I've fallen in love.
And if, when I'm through reading the book, I know I'll never be the same again, then that's a book I'll cherish and savor over and over again.
Keep on reading---keep on writing, my friends!
MRTighe
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
So What's Keeping You From Writing?
At some point in life just about everyone dreams of writing a book, usually a novel. From the outside looking in, writing seems easy to do, loads of fun. And the financial rewards seem enormous.
Sorry if it's news to you, but the truth is that writing is darn hard work, not always fun, and takes not only talent, but loads of time, accompanied by many headaches. And except for a tiny handful of writers, writing seldom pays off financially-speaking. You'll probably spend a good deal more than you'll ever make.
But for those who possess the requisite talent and the unquenchable desire to write, never allow any obstacles to stand in your way. To find time to write, many authors get up before dawn; others stay up into the wee hours of the morning to find the peace to write. Some write on their way to work, on buses, trains, even airplanes. I don't recommend trying to write in your car unless it's stationary, as in waiting for school to get out.
I never had time to write seriously until my youngest was in kindergarten. I worked at night and wrote when I got home, too wired to sleep. While everyone else in the house slept, I wrote. I began by revising work I'd started years before. When I ran out of money to pay for typing supplies, I applied for and won a literary grant.
After my own experiences, good and bad, my best advice is don't allow yourself to get discouraged; don't allow obstacles to stop you; and above all, don't stop writing! Write wherever and whenever you can and as much as you can. You may never get rich or be famous, but you will become a better writer, and that's reward enough!
Keep on writing!
MRTighe
Sorry if it's news to you, but the truth is that writing is darn hard work, not always fun, and takes not only talent, but loads of time, accompanied by many headaches. And except for a tiny handful of writers, writing seldom pays off financially-speaking. You'll probably spend a good deal more than you'll ever make.
But for those who possess the requisite talent and the unquenchable desire to write, never allow any obstacles to stand in your way. To find time to write, many authors get up before dawn; others stay up into the wee hours of the morning to find the peace to write. Some write on their way to work, on buses, trains, even airplanes. I don't recommend trying to write in your car unless it's stationary, as in waiting for school to get out.
I never had time to write seriously until my youngest was in kindergarten. I worked at night and wrote when I got home, too wired to sleep. While everyone else in the house slept, I wrote. I began by revising work I'd started years before. When I ran out of money to pay for typing supplies, I applied for and won a literary grant.
After my own experiences, good and bad, my best advice is don't allow yourself to get discouraged; don't allow obstacles to stop you; and above all, don't stop writing! Write wherever and whenever you can and as much as you can. You may never get rich or be famous, but you will become a better writer, and that's reward enough!
Keep on writing!
MRTighe
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