ot: two Ray Bradbury quotes about reading
Jul. 10th, 2014 08:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
filkferengi posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
queensthief"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
and
"If you want to write, if you want to create, you must . . . write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy head."
:)
and
"If you want to write, if you want to create, you must . . . write every single day of your life. You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next. You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy head."
:)
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Date: 7/10/14 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 7/10/14 08:14 pm (UTC)Maybe it describes mwt's. I'm having a hard time picturing her skulking in libraries in canary yellow raiment. Of course, blinding color is a good "don't see me" spell.
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Date: 7/13/14 12:14 am (UTC)Love the "hiding in plain sight" image! ;) I suppose Gen does a bit of this, playing the fool (a la Pimpernel) in court, etc, but he can be a sneaky shadow-dweller too. Good to change up your tactics now and again, I suppose.
In regards to your question about my creative process... I took the overall meaning of the second quote as being more in the vein of "fake it till you make it" and "don't be ashamed" than simply "keep your nose in a book at all times and hide from everything else", though I'm probably putting my own filter on it. It took me a long time to think of myself as a writer, and tell people I was a writer, and not just say lame things like "I like to write" or "I want to be a writer". Writers are people who write, I think he's saying. And I agree. (Same with painting and just about everything else I do despite there being little or no paycheck involved.) Sometimes, one really does feel as ridiculous as if you were wearing a book as a hat, but you kinda just have to embrace it.
(continuing thoughts in my response to agentmaly below...)
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Date: 7/12/14 01:25 am (UTC)What more do you see as being involved in the creative process? You may have a different view than Bradbury; I don't agree with everything he says in the quote. I personally don't like the way that many writers insist a writer must write every single day -- it makes me feel guilty, like I'm not keeping up and I'm doing it wrong, and there are already so many other things I need to or am supposed to do every day, besides which, people need breaks from things. Even if you're doing a very intensive fitness regimen, you can't work out every single day; you'll wear yourself down and not actually make fitness gains. I think the same is true with creativity: people's creativity flows in individual ways, and though I would sincerely like to write more consistently, I am a person who has ebbing and flowing, and likely most people do. So many writers, when asked about the Writing Process, or Advice for Budding Writers, state prescriptively what is really their idiosyncratic approach.
I have thoughts about reading bad books, too, but I think I'll wait to bring those up until it's clear whether people are interested in pursuing this line of discussion. I've been wondering about it for a while, since a talk that MWT gave in Tennessee, which I didn't attend, but at which she was reported to have also said that writers should read bad books as well as good.
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Date: 7/13/14 12:35 am (UTC)Okay, I didn't realize my off-hand response would spark such interesting discussions of the creative process! I've already shared a few thoughts in my reply to filk, above. In regards to writing EVERY day: I hear this a lot too, but I agree that it doesn't seem rooted very deep in reality (or the habits of the authors I follow). I think it's safe to say it's more or less a blanket term or motto or some kind of idealized motivational poster slogan. The idea behind it is GET INTO THE HABIT OF WRITING. And it often takes commitment to doing something regularly, perhaps every day, initially, to form it into a habit, no? Heck, a few years ago I was basically paying my instructors to FORCE me to write everyday, in order to get stuff in on deadline. It was very good for me, and took me from merely talking about writing to actually writing, but yes, it was stressful over long periods of time. Nowadays I tend to write in semi-regular, scheduled spurts. Like a watering can. I have to refill before I can be poured out again. Get out and do things and recharge and find fresh inspiration. But, eventually, a great deal of sitting in front of piles of books and papers has to follow, and sometimes that involves practically wearing books as garments and telling people "I'm busy" even though it looks like I'm just lazing around a library. :)
Okay, I've mulled over the bad books thing too. My conclusions are indefinite, but thus far I've been feeling like it's pointless to read something I'm not enthusiastic about (after all, there's so many books I am enthusiastic about, just waiting their turn). And once I start to feel a book is really bad, I'm pretty much done with it. However, there are certainly times when I enjoy a book (for its characters or setting or concepts or whatever) even though it is not spectacularly written. It may have no lasting value or influence or information, thus labeling it a "bad book" -- and if that is what one means by "bad book", then maybe I get it. It might even prove useful after all, if it has anything about it that makes me think, "Now, how could this be done better..?" Thoughts?
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Date: 7/13/14 01:48 am (UTC):)
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Date: 7/13/14 02:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 7/11/14 03:33 am (UTC)I *do* lurk in libraries! I shall have to wear some books on my crazy head.
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Date: 7/11/14 12:29 pm (UTC)There's a Canadian filk band, Dandelion Wine, that's quite wonderful. Their site is http://www.dandelionwine.ca/ , with a link to preview mp3s on cdbaby.
There's a group in Texas called October Country, whose song of that name is chock full of Bradbury references. If you message me an email address, I can send you mp3s of either group, or both, to see if you like what they're doing.
There's apparently also a band called Dandelion Wine in Melbourne, Australia, about whom I know nothing at all. http://www.dandelionwine.com.au/
To go with your literary hat, you may enjoy the S. J. Tucker song, "Ravens In the Library". There're lots of versions on youtube, including this one with lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viIh-M5iZn8 There're also live performances you'll want to check out. Speaking of checking out, you might also enjoy the _Ravens In The Library_ anthology.
Sooj [SJ] also has a whole album of songs inspired by Catherynne Valente. Then there're all her other albums. I think you're sorted for a while. Obviously this post should've had the While She Knits tag.
;)
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Date: 7/14/14 12:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 7/14/14 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 7/15/14 01:49 am (UTC)