I try really hard to read well written novels to soak up the goodness. When I come across one I don't think is well written, I think through what bothers me and make a mental note. I'm learning and I'm soaking it up trying not to give myself a complex about all the great work out there.
But, the other day a character trait popped up in my own protagonist that I had read recently in another novel. Randomly. And some part of my brain jumped up and down and said - Yes! this is good. It wasn't at all how my character should be acting.
Oh. My. God. I did not just do that?
Holy crapola, I did.
Holy crapola, I did.
Thankfully, I realized it and shuddered while deleting the whole darn scene.
I've immersed myself in the YA book world almost exclusively (although the adult novel slips in now and then), because when I read adult work, my protag's voice drifts. It takes me a few thousand words to find it. But, now I'm afraid that by reading other YA work while I'm writing, I might be unconsciously incorporating ideas I've read elsewhere in my own book. Just call me Authorus Copy-ous Cat-icus.
So, I considered cutting myself off from books while I'm writing. Like Lady Gaga without the egg. And the costumes and the bajillion dollars. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
I clearly can't read adult novels, and now I can't read teen ones either? What about TV? Should I stop watching Vampire Diaries - or heaven forbid - One Tree Hill? That sucks! Not One Tree Hill (don't judge), but the fact that I wouldn't get my story fix from anything but my own addled brain.
And then I started reading this writing craft book and realized that my problem might not be that I read while I'm writing. (Hallelujah). My problem is that WHAT I'm writing isn't fully formed enough for me to write it without dumping in a whole bunch of other crap. My characters aren't fully formed, and their journey (otherwise known as THE PLOT), is still up in the air for me. I'll confess, I'm a little lost in my novel. I think my pantster ways have finally gotten the better of me.
I'm on the right track now and working to get all the soft spots in my novel firmed up. I'm also pleased to report that I won't be going through story withdrawl anytime soon.
What I'm wondering is, has this happened to you? Do you find your story drifting into another author's territory without even realizing it? Do you read while you write? Is it the same genre?
I have found myself doing this during a first draft when the story and my characters are still coming to life. I think it's normal...as long as you find your own groove along the way.
ReplyDeletePhew. I'm not the only one? So glad. :)
DeleteInteresting post!
ReplyDeleteI usually avoid books that are similar to mine. For example, if I were writing a vampire book (I'm not), I wouldn't read other vampire books at the same time because I'd want to know it was my own vision on the page. It gets tricky, though, because we need to be aware of what has already been done.
I write YA and MG, and that's mostly what I read.
I've heard a few published authors say the same thing. They'll read outside their genre until they are done with the book they are writing.
DeleteThe more I read, the harder of a time I have finding that original story nugget. A few leak through once in a while and I guess that's all that I need.
P.S. - I love that cat picture! Hee-hee!
ReplyDeleteThe LOL cats website was a new experience for me. It was hard picking just one picture.
DeleteI may have drifted in voice once in awhile. Actually, I just did a really boneheaded thing in my novel after reading The Scorpio Races, which I loved. I was so impressed with the voice that I went through and started changing my story to present tense to try and match the style. So dumb. Had to go back and change it all again. Happily writing in past tense again. :)
ReplyDeleteI did have this happen to me in one of my early, unfinished MSs--from like 2010. I went back and looked at it a few months ago, and the setup was almost identical to another book I'd read around that time--LOL! It's funny b/c you really don't realize it when you're writing, but it's easily fixed. Give the characters different jobs/interests, voila! The basic story can't be identical b/c you're different people. True plagerism takes intentional effort. :o) <3
ReplyDeleteThis used to happen to me more, back in my earlier books. The way I've gotten a handle on it now is that I have a much better image in my mind of my characters and their voice. If I start out with a really strong voice, then their actions come naturally. They let me know if I ever write something that they wouldn't do :)
ReplyDeleteThis hasn't happened to me, but I definitely see how it can! Reading in your genre, which is what we all know we should do, can be tricky this way. glad you caught it!
ReplyDeleteLindsay - You're a much more seasoned writer than I am. Even your blog is sensational. I'm glad I was able to spot it. I guess I'm learning as I go and that's always a good thing. :)
DeleteI've never experienced this, but worried that I would. So, I don't read books of the same genre when I am writing a first draft, just so I'm not influenced somehow. But, as long as just a little thing here or there slips in, you can edit out later, and keep your pantsing ways!
ReplyDeleteI think it's natural for an author to channel what they've just consumed as they work -- and what an author channels comes from many different sources. We are channels by nature, so don't trouble yourself that you have simply done what you are, in a sense, designed to do.
ReplyDeleteWhen the work is at such a tender, plastic stage, many influences will impress themselves on it -- again, totally expected. Then as the work begins to mature and move past its inchoate form, it 'comes into its own.'
Your posts are great, Kari Marie. You write about what so many others go through and spark very beneficial dialogue, as a result.
Thank you dear Suze.
DeleteI like the idea of being a channel for - whatever. It makes me feel as if I am amassing untapped and unlimited knowledge if only I could find the right words to communicate it.
I will let my first draft be what it is. No more, no less.
I read a bunch of YA last year, but this year have been reading almost exclusively adult fiction...
ReplyDeleteI understand exactly what you mean when you say it makes your character's voice drift.
But I refuse to limit my reading to a single genre.
So it's a risk I take. For better or worse.