How did writing spoil reading experience for you?

[AwkwardlySet]

This is something that often crosses my mind when I take a look at some Lit stories, or when I start reading some mainstream novel. I am certain that before I started to write, before I realized I could do it myself, before I understood the process, I was cutting a lot more slack to various authors. I mean, I would often see something that hadn't been done right; I would see that some plot was thin, that some characters were weak and undeveloped, that some worldbuilding was lazy and superficial, but I was always telling myself that I shouldn't be so spoiled and that writing was hard, even when it hadn't been done perfectly.

Good old days. Now, I simply cringe when I see it in mainstream novels or Lit stories. It has spoiled my view of some stories and novels I had previously enjoyed. I think it has also enhanced my enjoyment of the stories and books where those things were done exceptionally well. Last but not least, it has changed my opinion of the first stories I have written. I remember feeling quite proud when I first wrote them. When I go through them now, I often find things that go beyond the grammar issues I knew I had at the start. Clunky sentences, too much exposition, too much detail, problematic pacing... The ideas and certain moments still look good to me but there are things that spoil the experience considerably.

Did the same happen to you as well? Did writing and, let's say, a better understanding of the story-creation process and its nuances, change your perspective and enjoyment of other stories?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Did the same happen to you as well? Did writing and, let's say, a better understanding of the story-creation process and its nuances, change your perspective and enjoyment of other stories?

If anything, becoming a writer has made me more critical, both of myself and others. My tolerance for junk has dropped, that's for sure. I used to give a story five hundred words or so, now I'm gone in 250 if it's not pulling its weight. Life's too short!

 

[onehitwanda]

Writing has honed my likes and dislikes and deepened the rift between them.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Writing has totally ruined reading for me.
I can't read while I'm writing.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Not that much. I haven't touched my books in so long and the last one I bought was around probably 2018; Grimm Fairytales. I read two stories and then let a friend borrow it and ain't got it back yet.

I can see most of or all that stuff, but it doesn't deter me from reading. When I'm reading here, or fanfics, sometimes webcomics, especially bad translated comics or fan fiction, I expect those things to happen. The bar is pretty low for erotica and porn comics, and fan fics. I just try to let the example be set as something for me to try not to do.

I think it was Neil Gaiman that said you should read shitty stuff, so you know what not to do as a writer, than try to copy good work.

 

[oneagainst]

I'm proofreading something at the moment. I've taken the plunge IRL and found myself a writing group and we're given work to critique before the next meeting. After writing pretty much non-stop since 1st Nov 2021, I now have a totally different view on how stories work. From "comma missing" to "people who, not people that" to wholesale restructuring of opening chapters to get to the meat and eviscerate the padding, it's changed the way I look at things.

I was invited by a friend to a premiere screening of a TV series on one of the streaming channels, and spent two hours picking apart the characterisations and the plot pacing in my head. I think if you write, you suddenly become much more sensitive to the pot holes and plot holes that you'd previously just have skimmed over. I think this is because of editing. Re-reading 3000 words to make sure of the spelling and the grammar and the pacing and the narrative, it trains you to notice the flaws because you need to see these things to fix them. But, as a result, it pops you out of a story, or a film, or a TV show, when you see them everywhere else.

 

[onehitwanda]

Writing has totally ruined reading for me.
I can't read while I'm writing.

 

[BarracudaSwordfish]

I now find it very hard to read anything without critiquing it. As with others above, it has spoiled many novels for me.

I read one self-published book on Kindle a while ago and it was a best-seller and got rave reviews. I couldn't get past the first page it was so badly written.

I daresay people say the same about my stuff, but at least I am not trying to get paid for it.

 

[mildlyaroused]

It might be arrogant, but as someone who's been writing since I was nine or ten I quite enjoy the sensation of judging other authors as I read their work. Especially if it's published. There is a distinct satisfaction in reading a sentence, passage or turn of phrase and thinking I can do better than this.

I think writers' heightened judgement of fiction comes in two forms: objective and subjective.

First let's consider objective judgement. This is more what people have been discussing so far in this thread: issues such as grammar, syntax, pacing, plot holes, lazy worldbuilding or character work, etc. Authors tend to be more critical when they see these issues and, as people have said here, it can detract from immersion and enjoyment. I still think it's ultimately a good thing. It not only allows us to put down bad fiction faster (and therefore be more immersed in the really good stuff), but also acts as a learning experience. Reading fiction we are critical of allows us to analyse writing that isn't our own, and judge why we don't think it's successful.

Subjective judgement I think is less obvious to us but still equally valuable. We are still critical of things if objectively they don't have much wrong. Authors naturally develop their own preferred styles of storytelling. As a writer, if I come across writing I don't like, I sort of subconsciously think about how I would change it if I were the author. Take Stephen King. He seems to be doing something right, considering how successful and beloved he is, but when I read his books I still find myself judging the shit out of his work. I'd do things differently at almost every clause. Am I better writer than Stephen King? Probably not - but I still think it's really valuable to be a little judgy like that. It's a manifestation of your own preferences, which shows you have your own voice as an author.

There's obviously nuance here. Just because I judge Stephen King's books doesn't mean I think I'm a better writer than him; we are just different (and it's more than likely the other way around). I don't think my style of writing is superior. You can and should appreciate work that doesn't fit your style while still judging it.

Either way, if you're judging work for its objective flaws or just weighing it up against how you would write it in our own style, I think it's a valuable habit. And yeah, sometimes it makes it harder to enjoy fiction because you can't set aside the critical eye. That is sometimes a shame. At least it makes the good stuff stand out, and marks your growth as an author.

 

[Bazzle]

Here is something to puzzle.

How did Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters and others manage to write such excellent stories without editors?

You read a modern novel and the "thanks" section at the back is almost as long as first chapter.

Are we chasing a impossible perfection?

However spotting spelling mistakes and typos is a godsend having another pair of eyeballs read something!

 

[alohadave]

When I started writing, I found myself unable to read a book anymore. I feel guilty for spending time reading a book because it reminds me that I could be writing. I find that I can't set aside the time any more. I try every so often to read something new and never get past a few chapters.

But, I don't actually write more since I stopped reading books.

I still read a lot, it's just online.

 

[AlinaX]

I find I don't read nearly as much literature as I used to, and lately I've been re-reading old favourites.

For a long time, since I started writing myself but long before Lit, I have found bookshops to be very frustrating. Mainstream literature so often just seems pretentious, or dominated by certain authors; I accept that I'm overly quick to dismiss many books, especially if they touch on topics of war, because I don't like reading stuff that will just get me depressed about the state of humanity. I like sci-fi & fantasy, especially if it's a female heroine and there's no romantic male interest.

And often when a book's blurb does offer some hope of an actually interesting and original story, the quality of the writing can be a definite frustration. On Lit, at least most of the authors are amateurs and without editorial support, but there's no excuse for published authors to get away with bad writing and lazy plot development.

 

[samhasstories]

In a lot of ways writing has enriched my reading experience. I have just have to be choosier about what I read - I have less patience for shoddy writing, but can better appreciate the good stuff. It's not hard to find the good stuff, in my experience.

The challenge comes in genre fiction - sometimes I have a hankering for a good old fashioned tropey sci fi/fantasy/horror romp, and since a lot of genre fans aren't necessarily looking for the level of craft I am, it can be hard to separate the entertaining from the truly good. I know the good stuff is out there, you just sometimes have to wade through some duds to find it.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Once I started writing, my reading of other works on Literotica took a nosedive. Like many others who responded here, it did make me notice the issues in published works I've read over the last four years. It has also made me appreciate the skill shown by the authors who managed to weave multiple story lines together and make them all come to a head at the same time at the end.

 

[SimonDoom]

I wouldn't say that writing has "ruined" reading for me, but it's made me a more critical reader. I sometimes re-read stories I read 20 years ago and am struck by all the stylistic and grammatical errors I overlooked before, or the unsatisfying simplicity of the presentation of characters. On the other hand, being a writer makes me appreciate good writing and good storytelling even more than before.

 

[KeithD]

Writing (and being training in editing) have made me more aware of technical issues in what I read, interrupting the flow of the read. This involves technicals more than content. It's like when I started writing drama reviews for the newspapers. I was seeing too much in what was going on on stage to be able to just let the action wash over me ever again.

 

[GemmaGemmaGemma]

I've just got back into lit and still enjoy the reading a lot because it helps to inspire me to make stories of my own and improve my writing but I do sometimes get distracted reading because it feels like precious time I could be using to write. I just need to delegate my time better to be honest so I can enjoy both and not feel like they're fighting for priority

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I accept that I'm overly quick to dismiss many books, especially if they touch on topics of war, because I don't like reading stuff that will just get me depressed about the state of humanity. I like sci-fi & fantasy, especially if it's a female heroine and there's no romantic male interest.

I can relate to this very much. I also resort to some form of escapism to avoid being depressed about the reality of the human race and how much of a failed project it is. And I absolutely love both Fantasy and SciFi.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Here is something to puzzle.

How did Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters and others manage to write such excellent stories without editors?

Do we know that they weren't edited? My understanding was that the Brontës edited one another's work.

Dickens certainly had friends who read his work before it was published, and seems to have taken feedback from them, in particular John Forster. See p. 104 and 211 here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25851/25851-h/25851-h.htm#Page_211

He was an experienced editor himself, and it'd surprise me if the magazines where many of his works first appeared didn't have an editorial process.

You read a modern novel and the "thanks" section at the back is almost as long as first chapter.

I think that's at least as much about changes in who gets acknowledged as it is about changes in how stories are written.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

On Lit? Irreparably. Still, it got me revisiting the old classics I read way back, spotting faults even in them.

In some thread a couple of months ago, I mentioned Le Pere Goriot, a well-known classic, and some of my issues with it. I remember way back when I was in school how some teacher of mine had praised the description of the Maison Vauquer at the very start of the book, calling it brilliant. I remember being utterly bored and powering through that same extremely long and tedious description, thinking how it must have been my lack of literary knowledge that was stopping me from truly appreciating it. Now, I am simply calling it bad writing and I don't think that there is anyone who can convince me otherwise.
The shift of perspective is truly mind-blowing and I see it is almost universal among AH authors.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Here is something to puzzle.

How did Charles Dickens, the Bronte Sisters and others manage to write such excellent stories without editors?

You read a modern novel and the "thanks" section at the back is almost as long as first chapter.

Are we chasing a impossible perfection?

However spotting spelling mistakes and typos is a godsend having another pair of eyeballs read something!

Perhaps the cause and effect is backwards.
They wrote better stories because they weren't encumbered by an army of editors.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Writing has made me a more discerning reader, naturally.

It has also made me a more appreciative reader by keeping me focused on what constitutes good literature. When I see a writer employing literary elements, techniques, and devices in creative ways, it is rewarding. Yes, the story needs to have a good plot and well developed characters, but there is so much more beyond those elements alone.

I tried to share this appreciation with a recently posted submission in the "How To" category and the feedback seems to indicate that this in itself was appreciated.

 

[Bazzle]

Do we know that they weren't edited? My understanding was that the Brontës edited one another's work.

Dickens certainly had friends who read his work before it was published, and seems to have taken feedback from them, in particular John Forster. See p. 104 and 211 here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25851/25851-h/25851-h.htm#Page_211

He was an experienced editor himself, and it'd surprise me if the magazines where many of his works first appeared didn't have an editorial process.



I think that's at least as much about changes in who gets acknowledged as it is about changes in how stories are written.

It must have been a quick process? I believe Dickens was being published weekly!

 

[jhealy55]

Circling back to creative writing a long time after studying Lit as an under grad, I don't think it takes anything away from my enjoyment of reading or writing.

Same is true in music. If you have to learn the bass part to be in the band, you pay a lot more attention to every bass part and your joy increases every time you hear it done well.

If you play O-Line instead of QB your enjoyment of the game goes up when you see someone do it at a level that approaches genius in how their footwork, application of leverage based on position and hand work create a kind of symphony of inevitability about the result, even if the camera is focused on the QB, WR or RB.

I personally love seeing the whole thing once you get to the end of a novel or film and realize how the writer set you up for how the end game played out. I love the attention to detail, creativity, commitment and patience that created the payoff.

I forget the characters name in Guardians of the Galaxy, but I ugly cried in the theater when they held the funeral for the blue guy at the end of the second film while the Cat Stevens song played. I would have taken any bet to the contrary at the end of the first film, but we were being set up the whole time so that there was that symphony of inevitability about the reaction that was just masterful.

It doesn't matter how much I understand the components of that process. I want to go back and see every bolt getting tightened and every wire getting soldered along the way so I can marvel at the craftsmanship.

The only downside is I do get frustrated when the initial premise is so much better than what should be the narrative peak and resolution. I think a lot of YA story arcs are better at premise than arc and halfway through a Maze Runner film I rage-quit when I find out it's just another zombie movie.

Maze Runner, Hunger Games, Divergent were all a letdown based on how well they started. I get why GOT has struggled to wrap up. If you didn't have something really good already in mind when you started, its going to be tough to make it work well once you've committed to so much of the story already.

I have zero respect for those who employ dream sequence or alternate dimension explanations to climb out of a box canyon. You took us there, suck it up and write your way out.

 

[mirafrida]

Like many here, I definitely find it harder to read stories here now, and I approach them more critically.

I would say for me, it's not so much that I'm more picky about technical writing details. Moreso that I'm more apt to be put off by shallow characters and tired, stilted plots.

The types of fantasies I like require a good bit of unreality and suspension of disbelief, and I used to give a lot more slack to authors who took shortcuts to get there. But I can't write that way, which means I spend a lot of time spinning on scenarios and character personalities, trying to make it all add up to something that I believe has a certain degree of freshness and plausibility.

So now, when I see authors who obviously didn't bother, but just went back to the same stock tropes and cardboard characters without apparently trying to bring anything new, I get exasperated. Even though it still may be a well executed story that pushes the buttons most readers (including maybe my earlier self) are looking for.