Polls: Reader, Writer, or both? [PLEASE READ BEFORE VOTING AND COMMENTING]

The Chatters
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1

When it comes to reading books, do you read with a writer mentality, a reader mentality, or both?

I shall explain what I mean.

Writer Mentality: You go into reading fiction with the mindset of a writer. You study novel gathering informative ways on how you can better learn and adapt when you write. You read the work of authors as inspiration and yet motivation and guidance to help you become a better writer, by learning their ways in the hopes of finding your own. This doesn’t mean you aren’t enjoying the story, but you are viewing the book as a writer who wants to learn the craft and utilize it to get better when you start writing your own stories.

Reader Mentality: You read books with the mindset of a reader, even though you are a writer. You learn how to express your creative juices by reading certain authors. But more importantly you find what makes their books so enjoyable and engaging to other readers and what doesn’t, so that when you write your own story you know what to do and not do for your work. You find that with the reader mindset you place your writerly mind behind to get immersed in the story the way any reader would and relate to the characters and become fascinated by their world.

Writer and Reader Mentality: You go into reading books with the mindset of both a reader and writer. You reader to understand how to write, but to also understand what makes a story engaging to people on a personal level. You enjoy the book as a reader but admire and might even love the author writing style and more as a writer. Using that knowledge to make your stories appealing to the those who would like it and anyone who will be interested. Most writers are readers, so this is a more popular option because utilizing both mindsets can inspire yet motivate you as an author.

Choose wisely:

  • Writer Mentality.
  • Reader Mentality.
  • Both Writer and Reader Mentality.
0 voters

Thoughts and feelings?

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3

Its more editor vs im bere to lose my mind.

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4

Lol :laughing:

5

Come hither, everyone!

6

The first time I read a book, I read it purely for entertainment as a reader only. But if the book is amazing, then I’ll reread it again in writer mode, trying to figure out why it’s so good and how I can write like that. But most books aren’t worth reading a second time. It’s so hard to find amazing books. (♯^.^ღ)

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7

I have moments of both. I mainly read to enjoy, and take what I can from a story, whether it’s making a point via storytelling or just entertainment, but there are times when I also take notice of the author’s style, the way they describe things, and their voice. It’s interesting to look at both sides. Most of the time I just read as a reader, for enjoyment, but there are times I can’t help but think about the author, too, especially when something is done really well or inspires me.

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8

Firstly I go in with a reader mentality… Then often I read something that strikes me as “Oh, I really liked that!” It could be descriptive, or just the wording used for that moment… Sometimes its the structure of the paragraph, and the use of both wording and descriptive…

There is a moment in The Lord of the Rings when Frodo, Samwise and Gollum first set eyes upon the City of Minas Morgul (The City of the Moon in Gondorian history), and the way Tolkien describes it is both wonderous and beautiful in the dark description, That very paragraph I could never achieve in such ways of writing, even in a hundred years…
My goal in my writing life would be to write a paragraph that comes close, even distantly close with descriptive writing as such a manor…
This is what sets great writers apart from very good writers…

Yet we should not see such things of wonderous beauty and falter, they are here to aspire to…

If you have not read it, I would say to do so…

It is here:-

A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley’s arms high on a rocky seat upon the black knees of the Ephel Durath, stood the walls and tower of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Not the imprisoned moonlight welling through the marble walls of Minas Ithil long ago, Tower of the Moon, fair and radiant in the hollow of the hills. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night. For a moment the three companions stood there, shrinking, staring up with unwilling eyes. Gollum was the first to recover. Again he pulled at their cloaks urgently, but he spoke no word. Almost he dragged them forward. Every step was reluctant, and time seemed to slow its pace. so that between the raising of a foot and the setting of it down minutes of loathing passed.

Wonderful indeed… Tolkien is the Master…

SD

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9

I am loving everybody’s comments and the votes so far.
Thank guys!

10

I like that idea!

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11

The reader in you comes out first then comes the writer in you.
Read first then write.

:blush:

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12

Yeah, you have to absorb first to learn how to create

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13

True, true. LOL!

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14

It might be a great thing that there’s no votes for writer mentality, because that requires you understand the craft on an author level, and you are a published author yourself.

15

I didn’t vote, because it depends on the book. I alternate a lot.

For Star Daughter, I heard mixed reviews about it before reading it, so I went into it with a writer mentality knowing I would find things that would be like “what is this thing” as a writer. It taught me what not to do :stuck_out_tongue: I slip between reader and writer while reading the thing, but it’s mostly a writer hat because it failed to immerse me in the story. I will end it as a reader though because I need to give a review.

Books like The Storm Keeper’s Island trilogy, already the premise intrigued me as a reader, so I was solely a reader for the entire trilogy. Absolutely brilliant.

So, if there was a forth option, it would be all of the above plus alternating based on the book and on my level of interest going into it.

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16

So, sometimes it’s A, sometimes it’s B, sometimes it’s AB with a bit of C?

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17

Exactly.

I think :stuck_out_tongue:

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18

Lol!

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