So I've Been Thinking About Story...

...and how I react to stories as a reader and writer, because the two are intertwined now, despite my best efforts to keep them separate.

First thing: I like all kinds of stories. I like deep, thoughtful pieces full of theme and plot. I like fluffy wish-fulfillment fantasy. I like science fiction, fantasy, horror, westerns, adventure tales, mainstream, romance, mystery, historical, classics, pulps, game and movie tie-ins, and on and on.

I am, it could be said, not the most—discerning reader. But I like what I like, from Raymond Carver to Roger Zelazny to Mickey Spillane to Mercedes Lackey to Ernest Hemingway to Jane Austin to Tom Clancy to Octavia Butler to William Burroughs to Carol Joyce Oates to Louis L'amour to Charles deLint to Angela Carter to...

Well, you get the idea.

But being a writer colors my reaction to a story, so that even if I enjoy it, I'm looking at it, at least a little, from the writer's point-of-view. I've recently figured out there are (of course) varying degrees. As a reader I enjoy a story for its own sake, no matter its style, content, themes, tone and all that lit crit stuff.

My writer-brain, however, breaks the stories down into categories and those categories determine whether or not a story is simply enjoyable or something that leaves me breathless in its wake (there are, of course, stories that simply don't do it for me at any level: We are not discussing those at this this time).

"I could have written this" are stories that, well, I could have written at the skill level I am now. This is the most basic level. Sometimes these story entertain me, sometimes not.

Sometimes I read a story and say, "I wish I had written this," which means the story probably wasn't anything I couldn't have managed as a writer, but I didn't come up that idea. I usually enjoy these stories, but they don't always stick with me.

Most of what I'm reading falls into "I couldn't write this right now, but maybe in time." These stories are beyond my current ability to write with the tools I have, but I can see and understand how it was done. I get excited about these stories, because not only did I enjoy reading it, I've learned something as a reader and a writer.

Then there are the "I couldn't write this. Ever." stories. These are the stories that leave me breathless and stunned, that stick with me and haunt me for days and months and years afterward. They're not always the greatest piece of literature (whatever that might mean), not always award winners, not always "well-written" even. But they have a certain indescribable something that clicks. Something in the language, the tone, the way the sentences flow and ebb together, the themes it touches and takes apart.

And when I read a story that makes me say, "I couldn't write this. Ever." It doesn't make me despair for my own work, but fills me with joy and glee that something so good and lovely and shiny found its way into my life. What's more, while I don't think I'll ever write something like that, it still gives me something to strive for. Seeing it done makes me want to hit that level of writing, makes me reach, stretch, try to be better than I am.

These are just my thoughts.

So I've Been Thinking About Story...

...and how I react to stories as a reader and writer, because the two are intertwined now, despite my best efforts to keep them separate.

First thing: I like all kinds of stories. I like deep, thoughtful pieces full of theme and plot. I like fluffy wish-fulfillment fantasy. I like science fiction, fantasy, horror, westerns, adventure tales, mainstream, romance, mystery, historical, classics, pulps, game and movie tie-ins, and on and on.

I am, it could be said, not the most—discerning reader. But I like what I like, from Raymond Carver to Roger Zelazny to Mickey Spillane to Mercedes Lackey to Ernest Hemingway to Jane Austin to Tom Clancy to Octavia Butler to William Burroughs to Carol Joyce Oates to Louis L'amour to Charles deLint to Angela Carter to...

Well, you get the idea.

But being a writer colors my reaction to a story, so that even if I enjoy it, I'm looking at it, at least a little, from the writer's point-of-view. I've recently figured out there are (of course) varying degrees. As a reader I enjoy a story for its own sake, no matter its style, content, themes, tone and all that lit crit stuff.

My writer-brain, however, breaks the stories down into categories and those categories determine whether or not a story is simply enjoyable or something that leaves me breathless in its wake (there are, of course, stories that simply don't do it for me at any level: We are not discussing those at this this time).

"I could have written this" are stories that, well, I could have written at the skill level I am now. This is the most basic level. Sometimes these story entertain me, sometimes not.

Sometimes I read a story and say, "I wish I had written this," which means the story probably wasn't anything I couldn't have managed as a writer, but I didn't come up that idea. I usually enjoy these stories, but they don't always stick with me.

Most of what I'm reading falls into "I couldn't write this right now, but maybe in time." These stories are beyond my current ability to write with the tools I have, but I can see and understand how it was done. I get excited about these stories, because not only did I enjoy reading it, I've learned something as a reader and a writer.

Then there are the "I couldn't write this. Ever." stories. These are the stories that leave me breathless and stunned, that stick with me and haunt me for days and months and years afterward. They're not always the greatest piece of literature (whatever that might mean), not always award winners, not always "well-written" even. But they have a certain indescribable something that clicks. Something in the language, the tone, the way the sentences flow and ebb together, the themes it touches and takes apart.

And when I read a story that makes me say, "I couldn't write this. Ever." It doesn't make me despair for my own work, but fills me with joy and glee that something so good and lovely and shiny found its way into my life. What's more, while I don't think I'll ever write something like that, it still gives me something to strive for. Seeing it done makes me want to hit that level of writing, makes me reach, stretch, try to be better than I am.

These are just my thoughts.