Reading vs writing
Nov. 5th, 2004 10:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wiseheartOkay, the subject line might be a little misleading, but I couldn't think of a betetr one...
Anyway, I'm reading several books parallel right now. It's probably not the best solution, but my attention span is rather narrow in these days.
One is The Tolkien Reader, gifted upon me by the most generous Archet for one of my birthdays. Currently, I'm reading Tolkien's essay about fairy tales. It's most intriguing. I might try to inspire some discussions on Edhellond, based on a few of the quotes.
The second one is Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin, courtesy of the equally generous Ithilwen. This is the last of the Erthsea books I haven't read so far. I'm going more slowly with this one than with the others, probably because it isn't one story but a couple of shorter ones. I don't really know.
Then I'm also reading Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales, whenever I'm in the fitness studio, riding that stupid bike there. I like folk and fairy tales - they've always inspired my writing.
As for writing, hell, yeah, I'm working on A Dwarven Yuletide, my answer to the Edhellond Xmas challenge. I'm also writing small, random pieces to the so-far unnamed Andromeda/Star Trek: TNG story. I'm supposed to work on the final chapter of Kansas, so that I'd eventually be able to launch the sequel(s), but so far it hasn't moved from the spot I left it at the end of Chapter 20. Sighs.
I wish I had more time for writing. It's not just a hobby for me; I never wanted to be anything else but a writer. Okay, I had short forays into monastic life and stuff, but at the end, I always returned to my first and most important goal.
I remember starting my first - ridiculously stupid - sci-fi story at the age of 10 or 11. I finished my first story at the age of 12. It was about Sioux Indians fighting for they feedom - and, in a historically correct manner. losing. They were the good guys, of course. *g*
I wrote historic novels, taking place in Ancient Egypt, Pannonia Inferior (Hungary during the Roman Age) and the Middle Ages. Well, I was working on those, anyway. Investing an incredible amount of time in geeky research, of course. *g* Never really finished them. Too little time, as always. Starting working at th age of 19 can do that to a person. *sighs*
But I did finish my mammoth original fantasy novel. It was more than 1,000 pages long, written on an ancient, mechanical typewriter. I wrote it in about 10 months, as it had to be ready before I left for Germany - forever, as I believed back then. Consequently, some parts of it were hastily written and really bad.
I'd like to return to that story and rewrite it, probably in the form as a series of about a dozen or so short stories. Unfortunately, I borrowed someone one of the six volumes (I had them bound back then), and enver got it back. So, about 1/6 of the story is lost, forever. *sighs*
Writing in English can be a real nuisence at times. When I write in my native Hungarian - or even in German, for that matter - I can focus on what I want to write, instead of living in constant fear of English grammar, spelling and punctuation. And even though I have a few very generous and helpful beta readers, sometimes the corrections, although I know they are right, just don't sound right in my ears.
Which is mostly because I don't know enough English to hear what sounds right in that language and what doesn't. I always "hear" the things as they would sound in Hungarian... my English vocabulary is so pitifully small it isn't even funny. That's why I try to read more original stuff in the fantasy genre. Hopefully, they will educate my poor "inner" ear.
Okay, I'm not sure there was a point to this entry at all. *shrugs* I'm getting even more chatty at my old age.
Anyway, I'm reading several books parallel right now. It's probably not the best solution, but my attention span is rather narrow in these days.
One is The Tolkien Reader, gifted upon me by the most generous Archet for one of my birthdays. Currently, I'm reading Tolkien's essay about fairy tales. It's most intriguing. I might try to inspire some discussions on Edhellond, based on a few of the quotes.
The second one is Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin, courtesy of the equally generous Ithilwen. This is the last of the Erthsea books I haven't read so far. I'm going more slowly with this one than with the others, probably because it isn't one story but a couple of shorter ones. I don't really know.
Then I'm also reading Scottish Folk and Fairy Tales, whenever I'm in the fitness studio, riding that stupid bike there. I like folk and fairy tales - they've always inspired my writing.
As for writing, hell, yeah, I'm working on A Dwarven Yuletide, my answer to the Edhellond Xmas challenge. I'm also writing small, random pieces to the so-far unnamed Andromeda/Star Trek: TNG story. I'm supposed to work on the final chapter of Kansas, so that I'd eventually be able to launch the sequel(s), but so far it hasn't moved from the spot I left it at the end of Chapter 20. Sighs.
I wish I had more time for writing. It's not just a hobby for me; I never wanted to be anything else but a writer. Okay, I had short forays into monastic life and stuff, but at the end, I always returned to my first and most important goal.
I remember starting my first - ridiculously stupid - sci-fi story at the age of 10 or 11. I finished my first story at the age of 12. It was about Sioux Indians fighting for they feedom - and, in a historically correct manner. losing. They were the good guys, of course. *g*
I wrote historic novels, taking place in Ancient Egypt, Pannonia Inferior (Hungary during the Roman Age) and the Middle Ages. Well, I was working on those, anyway. Investing an incredible amount of time in geeky research, of course. *g* Never really finished them. Too little time, as always. Starting working at th age of 19 can do that to a person. *sighs*
But I did finish my mammoth original fantasy novel. It was more than 1,000 pages long, written on an ancient, mechanical typewriter. I wrote it in about 10 months, as it had to be ready before I left for Germany - forever, as I believed back then. Consequently, some parts of it were hastily written and really bad.
I'd like to return to that story and rewrite it, probably in the form as a series of about a dozen or so short stories. Unfortunately, I borrowed someone one of the six volumes (I had them bound back then), and enver got it back. So, about 1/6 of the story is lost, forever. *sighs*
Writing in English can be a real nuisence at times. When I write in my native Hungarian - or even in German, for that matter - I can focus on what I want to write, instead of living in constant fear of English grammar, spelling and punctuation. And even though I have a few very generous and helpful beta readers, sometimes the corrections, although I know they are right, just don't sound right in my ears.
Which is mostly because I don't know enough English to hear what sounds right in that language and what doesn't. I always "hear" the things as they would sound in Hungarian... my English vocabulary is so pitifully small it isn't even funny. That's why I try to read more original stuff in the fantasy genre. Hopefully, they will educate my poor "inner" ear.
Okay, I'm not sure there was a point to this entry at all. *shrugs* I'm getting even more chatty at my old age.
