Wednesday, February 1, 2017

DANGLING BELIEF

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group, founded by the one and only, Alex J.CavanaughIf you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.



This month’s challenging question is:  How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?


Being a writer is easy…
Blissfully crafting a story…
The premise, the plot...
The arc, the black moment, and the resolution.
Creating memorable characters with distinctive voices... 
Fantastic settings and building worlds …
Weaving research invisibly into the story…
Like stitching on a fine quilt …
To make it all believable no matter the genre.
After countless hours, days, and months…
Chapters accumulate until finally…
Your story is a manuscript…
But definitely not ready for publication.
Oh, no…
Now comes the “work” part…
Editing…
Editing…
Editing…
Until your eyeballs are red and bleary…
Ready to fall out.
If you’re a writer…
You know what I’m talking about.
And that’s why being a writer has RUINED me!!
Me, as a reader, that is.
Every book I read, I try turning off my internal editor…
But when I find repetitive words…
That don't enhance the story…
Dangling & squinting participles…
Too many adverbs, especially those ending with "ly" *wink wink*
Sloppy punctuation, lazy grammar…
And one-dimensional characters…
My mind screams…
Who didn’t catch these?
Because now I’ve lost my emotional connection with the story.
*sigh*
And lately, I've been reading many like this. 
What about you?
Has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?
Read any clunkers lately?
Care to share?

Always,

Em-Musing