In April 2010 I went to the LA Times Festival of Books at UCLA. It was my second year there, I had been counting down the days like a child coked up on the approach of Christmas. I went this time with a more precise agenda. I had missed Dave Eggers due to work, but found a very worthwhile replacement. Mark Danielewski was speaking on a panel titled Fiction Outside the Margins.
At the time I read his book, House of Leaves, it was the closest thing to a spiritual experience I had ever had. So, I was beyond thrilled with anticipation of the wisdom he might share. All three panelists had a lot to say about writing fiction that pushed outside the boundaries of format and style etc. There was much they said that had me feeling inspired and ready to keep writing. There was one thing though, that Danielewki and a fellow panelist disagreed upon. Someone had questioned what they as writers would read while working on a particular piece. The other panelist had said he tended to stay away from anything that resembled his style, out of fear of it influencing his own work. Danielewski took this and flipped it around. He said that you need to read what you fear will influence you, to make you better.
It was this statement that made me realize that it was important to my writing that I read as much as I can. To challenge my fear of being influenced, I finally got around to reading Kurt Vonnegut, and bought more flash fiction and short story compilations. Now I see every book I read as a reminder to myself. Can I write this well? Can I write better?
So here is me reading.
Jessica, thank you for starting this blog. We gain so much from reading, whether it is to improve and test our own writing, or just to keep our mind expanding (even if the universe is not).
ReplyDeleteI once aspired to write as well as the authors I read. Now I realize that will only happen if I read worse authors.