August 22, 2011

I love what author Bob Greene says in “Free entertainment, for life,” an article on CNN.com. It resonates with everything in me.

“Are you a person who loves to read books? If so, you’re set for life.”

Good News for Book Lovers

At first, Greene lists the “not so cheery” conditions of the current writing scene: Borders book stores closing, the digital ebook revolution, the difficulty of selling books now, etc. So what, he asks, is there to be so cheery about? His answer:

“Just this: There are so many wonderful books that have been written over the centuries, books that will thrill you and make you cry and change you and bring laughter to you and keep you up all night. Even if you did nothing else for the rest of your life but read, you would only be able to get to the most infinitesimal percentage of books that you would be destined to adore. They’re just waiting for you — waiting to be found, right now…And in most cases, even in these rugged and scary economic times, they’re free.”

Still Free!

He’s talking about public libraries. (Read his whole article, if you have time.) In my city, I’m sure there are millions of books in print to choose from if you count all the branch libraries. Even when I lived in a very small town, I could get books on interlibrary loan.

So…this is my question for you. What books have you read this past year that you would rank in the top five spots of “best books for the year”? They don’t have to be new reads either.

As Greene points out, “A book that was stirring and lovely when it was written — whether 15 years ago or 60 years ago or 150 years ago — does not lose its power just because it sits on a library shelf for decades at a time with no one pulling it out.”

I’ll Start

Some of my favorites this year have been:

• Margins (nonfiction) by Richard Swenson, M.D.
• Firefly Summer by Maeve Binchy
• several British mysteries by Charles Todd (w/ hero, Ian Rutledge)
• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• O! Pioneers by Willa Cather

How about you? Now that school is starting again, and you might have time to settle down with a good book, let’s recommend a few titles to each other. I’d love to know which ones you liked–I will look for them!

October 6, 2010

I’m thinking about voice this week, and I’m enjoying (again) Les Edgerton’s excellent book Finding Your Voice: how to put personality in your writing.

He gives an idea (see below) about finding your true writer’s voice that intrigues me–and I’d like your reaction to it.

Your True Readers

He says that most of our daily contacts with people (spouse, people at your day job, small kids, people at the coffee shop) aren’t readers, at least not readers like you are. They may be casual readers, but not readers to the depth you’re a reader. He asks:

“What does this mean to you as a writer? Only this–it’s easy to begin to think of your own potential readership as being comprised of the same kinds of folks you see at work or at play or bearing a strong resemblance to the family next door… After a while, it’s only natural to imagine most people in the country itself are pretty much like the folks you see every day. Well, most folks are…but those aren’t your readers, usually. Your reader is yourself.”

Who Are My Readers?

His advice is to remember that your reader is yourself–or someone much like yourself. (Someone who shares your interests, knows just about the same things you do, has a reading background and history similar to what you’ve had.)

Except for your writer’s group or a friend who reads as voraciously as you do, you may not have a lot of contact with this potential reader, but they’re the ones you should be writing to.

Why–and what does that have to do with finding your true voice?

Where’s the Real Me?

“Make yourself your intended reader,” Edgerton says. “By writing to you as your reader, you get closer than at any other time to getting your real voice on the page. You write naturally.”

I don’t know about you, but doesn’t that sound like FUN? It makes me look at the subject of voice in a whole new much-less-stressful and much-less-intimidating way. I think it’s also the way I used to write.

Want to Try It?

For more about this intriguing way to find your true voice, get the book above and read Chapter Five: “Here’s Lookin’ At You, Kid…A New and Different Way of Looking At Your Audience.”

What do you think about this idea? Would it change the way you write? Does it make it easier to find your voice? Give me your thoughts!