{"id":786,"date":"2016-03-09T19:42:57","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T03:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=786"},"modified":"2016-03-09T19:42:57","modified_gmt":"2016-03-10T03:42:57","slug":"its-hard-for-me-to-enjoy-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/?p=786","title":{"rendered":"It’s Hard for Me to Enjoy Books"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently finished Zero World<\/a> by Jason M. Hough<\/a>. \u00a0This book has 4 stars with 98 reviews on Amazon, and came highly recommended to me.<\/p>\n

Before I get too much into the subject of this post, let me say this: read this book! \u00a0You will most likely enjoy it. \u00a0This post is about my shortcomings as a reader, and not Mr. Hough’s\u00a0shortcomings as a writer. \u00a0In fact, nothing I’m about to say is a critique of\u00a0Zero World or Jason Hough. \u00a0I’m mentioning the book because it’s the most recent story I’ve listened to, and I want to encourage other people to read it, too.<\/p>\n

In case that wasn’t clear: this post is not a criticism of Zero World, by Jason M. Hough.<\/p>\n

Okay. \u00a0Let’s begin.<\/p>\n

I didn’t enjoy Zero World\u00a0as much as I wanted to. \u00a0It is the latest in a growing list of books that I’ve listened to that didn’t leave me satisfied. \u00a0I found the story clever, and Gideon Emery<\/a>\u00a0did a fine job reading it. \u00a0I didn’t hear any inconsistencies, and the descriptions were strong. \u00a0Jason Hough did a great job of bringing to life the scenes, and he handled action well.<\/p>\n

So why didn’t I enjoy it?<\/p>\n

It’s me. \u00a0This sounds like a humble-brag, but as I’ve grown as a writer, I’ve become more difficult to surprise. \u00a0I recognize when details are included for future plot devices, and I accurately predict how those plots will evolve. \u00a0I’m no longer surprised. \u00a0In fact, I haven’t enjoyed the thrill of discovery in a story in a long while.<\/p>\n

I can appreciate the cleverness of the plot, the dialog, and the word choices. \u00a0But it’s like all of my Christmas presents have been wrapped in cellophane instead of paper. \u00a0I can see what’s coming.<\/p>\n

This happened with the latest Mistborn<\/a> books<\/a> by Brandon Sanderson<\/a>. \u00a0This happened with the first book of the Iron Druid<\/a> series by Kevin Hearne<\/a>. \u00a0The list goes on and on.<\/p>\n

I have to think that all writers go through this. \u00a0I don’t think I’m special in this regard, or have developed some unique superpower\/curse. \u00a0It must be some natural part of the journey of a writer. \u00a0Developing the skills necessary to craft a good story, we learn how to see beyond the curtain, and know the mortality of the wizard putting on the grand show.<\/p>\n

If all writers go through this, and all writers are typically voracious readers, then it adds a layer of proof to the idea that writers are masochists.<\/p>\n

I don’t think it’s quite as simple an idea as developing a craft makes it more difficult to appreciate the work of others in that craft. \u00a0For example, as\u00a0I’ve grown as a musician, my appreciation for all music has also grown. \u00a0I can hear nuance that I never heard before, and know the difficulty involved in making the instruments sound they way they do. \u00a0My development as a programmer hasn’t diminished my ability to appreciate someone else’s code. \u00a0As I learned more about baseball as assistant coach for my kids’ Little League, I grew to enjoy a game I previously didn’t care for at all.<\/p>\n

I’m going to continue reading and listening to books. \u00a0Don’t get me wrong. \u00a0I have no intention of stopping, even if I’m not enjoying books as much as I used to.<\/p>\n

But how am I going to give reviews? \u00a0I make it a point not to give reviews or rate books unless I can be honest, and say something nice. \u00a0An author has to go out of their way to get a poor review from me. \u00a0I want to support my fellow writers, but I want to make sure my support is positive and true.<\/p>\n

If I’m stingy with reviews, how\u00a0can I expect other writers to rate my work?<\/p>\n

I suppose that’s a problem to unravel later. \u00a0I’m nearly finished with the second draft. \u00a0Progress is moving along faster than it had before, and I’m really happy with what I’ve written so far. \u00a0A third draft will be necessary, but it won’t be nearly as deep or involved. \u00a0I’ve edited about 54,000 words so far. \u00a0The first draft ran a little over 60,000 words. \u00a0That should tell you how far I’ve come.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, buy Jason M. Hough’s book. \u00a0I met him at Worldcon last year, and he’s a fantastic, knowledgeable writer that is excellent at his craft. \u00a0Zero World is a good book, and deserves to be read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently finished Zero World by Jason M. Hough. \u00a0This book has 4 stars with 98 reviews on Amazon, and came highly recommended to me. Before I get too much into the subject of this post, let me say this: read this book! \u00a0You will most likely enjoy it. \u00a0This post is about my shortcomings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":787,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions\/787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/briancebuhl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}