Chapter 9
I've come to the end of my second week. My Kindle shows about 30% finished (184 pages). It's a slow pace, sure, but one I can keep without too much trouble. I've endeavored to do recurring things before, but it's always been overly ambitious and something unsustainable. But this, while needing commitment, is proving far closer to what I can reasonably do.
On to the Spoilers:
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Mistborn Liveblog 9
Chapter 8
In this chapter, I discovered a creature that was reminiscent of something I'd seen in a video game. And it led me to wonder about the newest generation of writers (including Brandon Sanderson) and how the video game space influences their writing (or at least their creative engines). I go into spoecifics in the spoiler section, but here I'm just musing about external influence on writing.
I imagine every new medium has a strong influence on those writers who grow up alongside it. The advent of movies, television, video games, etc. all likely play a role in shaping the writer. And I think a good writer knows how to use those influences to draw in a different audience. There are certainly the social commentary stories like those of Orwell that show clear influences of technology (1984) and politics (Animal Farm), but those are pretty textbook examples, and I'm not as broadly read as I eventually would like to be, so am not certain of others. But it makes me think of my own writing and what may be influencing my work in progress. Other than the things I've already recognized, that is.
On to the spoilers:
In this chapter, I discovered a creature that was reminiscent of something I'd seen in a video game. And it led me to wonder about the newest generation of writers (including Brandon Sanderson) and how the video game space influences their writing (or at least their creative engines). I go into spoecifics in the spoiler section, but here I'm just musing about external influence on writing.
I imagine every new medium has a strong influence on those writers who grow up alongside it. The advent of movies, television, video games, etc. all likely play a role in shaping the writer. And I think a good writer knows how to use those influences to draw in a different audience. There are certainly the social commentary stories like those of Orwell that show clear influences of technology (1984) and politics (Animal Farm), but those are pretty textbook examples, and I'm not as broadly read as I eventually would like to be, so am not certain of others. But it makes me think of my own writing and what may be influencing my work in progress. Other than the things I've already recognized, that is.
On to the spoilers:
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Mistborn Liveblog 8
Chapter 7
It's getting to the point that I want to read a bit more of this book each day. But, I'm keeping myself to a chapter each day for this blog, though. It's a very different experience to read through a chapter and then think through it before going onto the next chapter. I'm considering and noticing things that I don't think I would have otherwise-- things like a foil character (more on that below).
In fact, I think doing this blog is actually transforming the book for me. It's not just about being entertained, it's about peering deeper. It's like one of those images that are actually made up of hundreds of tiny still frame pictures. Reading a book is like admiring the image as you walk past, but it feels like stopping and considering each chapter is like looking at each still frame picture instead.
Some may argue that it means I'm missing the real point of the story-- and there's validity to that argument, particularly since I've never read this story before, so I don't really know the bigger picture. But on the flip side, I am seeing writing construction and story pacing in a depth I never would have otherwise. Which is better? Perhaps some of both would be ideal.
Onto the spoilers:
It's getting to the point that I want to read a bit more of this book each day. But, I'm keeping myself to a chapter each day for this blog, though. It's a very different experience to read through a chapter and then think through it before going onto the next chapter. I'm considering and noticing things that I don't think I would have otherwise-- things like a foil character (more on that below).
In fact, I think doing this blog is actually transforming the book for me. It's not just about being entertained, it's about peering deeper. It's like one of those images that are actually made up of hundreds of tiny still frame pictures. Reading a book is like admiring the image as you walk past, but it feels like stopping and considering each chapter is like looking at each still frame picture instead.
Some may argue that it means I'm missing the real point of the story-- and there's validity to that argument, particularly since I've never read this story before, so I don't really know the bigger picture. But on the flip side, I am seeing writing construction and story pacing in a depth I never would have otherwise. Which is better? Perhaps some of both would be ideal.
Onto the spoilers:
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Mistborn Liveblog 7
Chapter 6
I've had a few thoughts about what the point of all of this is for me. I mean, for someone who's already read Mistborn, it may not be very interesting to read someone discuss the book chapter by chapter in this manner. And for someone who's not read the book, the bulk of what I've written has had spoilers, so there's not much point for them to be here.
So, what is the purpose, I ask myself. And I think I've come to an answer. You see, I'm an unpublished writer myself. I took over a decade off of writing to explore more "traditional" employment. I currently work as a public school teacher. Anyway, my decade away coincided with a decade of less reading. Now that I'm back into both, I need a bit of extra spurring and commitment to make myself devote the time to reading and writing-- otherwise the rest of life just gets in the way.
So, for me, that's the point. Now, onto the Mistborn Spoilers:
I've had a few thoughts about what the point of all of this is for me. I mean, for someone who's already read Mistborn, it may not be very interesting to read someone discuss the book chapter by chapter in this manner. And for someone who's not read the book, the bulk of what I've written has had spoilers, so there's not much point for them to be here.
So, what is the purpose, I ask myself. And I think I've come to an answer. You see, I'm an unpublished writer myself. I took over a decade off of writing to explore more "traditional" employment. I currently work as a public school teacher. Anyway, my decade away coincided with a decade of less reading. Now that I'm back into both, I need a bit of extra spurring and commitment to make myself devote the time to reading and writing-- otherwise the rest of life just gets in the way.
So, for me, that's the point. Now, onto the Mistborn Spoilers:
Monday, June 25, 2012
Mistborn Liveblog 6
Chapter 5
Welcome back to a new week. Five chapters in, roughly a hundred pages and I finally get to see Brandon Sanderson work a fight scene, plus see some major Allomancy at work. This chapter is easily my favorite so far, but before I dive into it, there's something I've been neglecting.
At the beginning of each chapter, there's a bit of text from the view of some hero. I didn't think much of it at first, but now that a second story is starting to take shape, I have a few thoughts on it.
Bur first, the requisite warning. Spoilers:
Welcome back to a new week. Five chapters in, roughly a hundred pages and I finally get to see Brandon Sanderson work a fight scene, plus see some major Allomancy at work. This chapter is easily my favorite so far, but before I dive into it, there's something I've been neglecting.
At the beginning of each chapter, there's a bit of text from the view of some hero. I didn't think much of it at first, but now that a second story is starting to take shape, I have a few thoughts on it.
Bur first, the requisite warning. Spoilers:
Friday, June 22, 2012
Mistborn Liveblog 5
Chapter 4
Ah, plans. They always seem so simple when you talk about them, yet so complex in pulling them off. My plan was to blog a chapter of this book a day, and after only a week, I'm just realizing the kind of commitment I've made to time and punctuality. Yeah, I'm hoping my plan comes off better than Kelsier's plan is likely to-- just knowing how heist stories work.
I'm taking Saturday and Sunday off, so I"ll be back with Chapter 5 next Monday.
Spoilers:
Ah, plans. They always seem so simple when you talk about them, yet so complex in pulling them off. My plan was to blog a chapter of this book a day, and after only a week, I'm just realizing the kind of commitment I've made to time and punctuality. Yeah, I'm hoping my plan comes off better than Kelsier's plan is likely to-- just knowing how heist stories work.
I'm taking Saturday and Sunday off, so I"ll be back with Chapter 5 next Monday.
Spoilers:
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Mistborn Liveblog 4
Chapter 3
It's getting a bit harder to think about writing this section of the liveblog without spoilers. I imagine the deeper in I get, the less there will be that's spoiler-free. Let's just say that I'm starting to see some Star Wars imagery; I'm just hoping the eqivalent of midichlorians don't show up-- or if they do, it'll be a bit better than how Lucas did it.
Spoilers:
It's getting a bit harder to think about writing this section of the liveblog without spoilers. I imagine the deeper in I get, the less there will be that's spoiler-free. Let's just say that I'm starting to see some Star Wars imagery; I'm just hoping the eqivalent of midichlorians don't show up-- or if they do, it'll be a bit better than how Lucas did it.
Spoilers:
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