Reading and Writing

I read a lot of fiction when I was young, before High School. In High School there were the assigned readings. I began reading novels again as I believe it will improve my writing.

I am halfway through “Moby Dick”. I started last year and it will be at least the end of the year before I finish. I have developed a deep sympathy for my former classmates that were forced to read this novel in High School. Of course I was familiar with the story and certain quotes and the background for those quotes (I saw the movie). You can recognize allusions to the story in “Chuck Hammer and the Invisible Squadron; A Vendetta’s Wage” and there will be more in the next Chuck Hammer, the reason I feel the need to finish the story. I am reading a free Kindle version. Always read reviews of Kindle books, especially free ones, and look for what people say about the formatting. It makes a difference.

I just finished “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. Highly overrated but an important read if you are politically or socially minded. Far too wordy in its philosophical investigations, but if you want to write a weighty novel addressing political and philosophical trends this is what you want to read, and maybe her other books, to know how to and not to do it. My version had an ‘Afterward’ giving examples of the authors notes on characters and ideas she was writing down in preparation for writing the book. It was insightful. Her notes on reviewing her written chapters reflected my own conclusions when I review my work. It makes one feel validated to discover such things. But with her emphasis on competing philosophies and trends embodied in her characters, the characters become caricatures. Also I thought the Kindle price too high considering the formatting I had to endure.

I spent $0.99 for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Complete Sherlock Holmes and The Complete Tales of Terror and Mystery.” One reason I spent the money was that I was checking if I could find all the Sherlock Holmes Stories for free but some titles were not available. Also I was warned in reviews about the formatting of some free stories. The description claimed the profits from my meager purchase went to the estate or Sit Arthur Conan Doyle. I am half way through the complete works and am won over by the concept of getting complete works of out of copy write authors for $0.99. Its about the formatting and having a grasp of the entire scope of an authors life work.

Sherlock Holmes is much more my style of reading for enjoyment. I hope it reflects in my own stories. Mystery is something I need to put into the next Chuck Hammer on a more practical level. The writing is not perfect and one realizes that before the days of grammar checks and editors available at the click of a mouse (if you have the money) books were not nearly refined as what comes out of the big publishing houses today. In “Moby Dick” a room was filled with ‘only…’ but a few paragraphs later there are other substantial pieces of furniture beyond the ‘only.’ In “The fountainhead” parts were outright confusing and impossible to understand outside of the context and maybe even within.

Through reading I gain confidence, encouragement and insight, things to draw upon in my own writing. When reading older works the intimidation of some perceived perfection of grammar and syntax melts away. It can help your writing and and possibly editing, but editing is a tricky business. Self editing the Chuck Hammer story I have to completely, absolutely and profoundly agree with something I read today on an Indie author’s site; that if you self edit (not recommended) put away your story for six months or more before coming back to edit it. I first published via Kindle the first Chuck Hammer in May 2011. Coming back to it later, to prepare for a print version debut, I could not believe how differently it read to me and how many errors I had to correct. The print version and updated Kindle version will come out when I am confident I can get out “Chuck Hammer Rebooted; Loyalty’s Fertile Soil”, the next installment, within a year.

Look for excerpts from the next Chuck Hammer to come out over the next months.