What Makes a Novel a Good Peice of Art?
When talking about Fine art Lessons, my crossover novel near becoming an artist, I oft observe that readers tell me they are non artistic, that they could never write or describe. My reply is this: readers are artists. Reading is an art grade, considering it requires many of the same skills as making art. When nosotros read, we are making the novel, the story, the play, the poem, the memoir, with the author. On the shelf, the pages are simply full of blackness marks, just the volume comes alive in our hand, our ear, our eye.
We co-write.
We essentially co-write when nosotros read. Nosotros fill in then many gaps, gaps left specifically for us to fill in. Writers know that readers love to exist engaged and care virtually characters, and that for characters to "be somebody" and come to life, they must take the help of readers who will requite them humanity. Readers practice that by bringing all of what nosotros know, what we've seen, where we've been, to the writing. Nosotros but add together on. We embellish, nosotros replenish, we clothe, because nosotros feel, we think, we empathise, nosotros empathize.
We curate.
When we read, nosotros not just decide what to read, but we make choices based on our by reading. We also use book reviews, listen to others' recommendations, wait at prize lists, search for similar titles to our faves. Nosotros research and read, then, with intention. This is also how artists create, with a purpose, a goal, or at to the lowest degree an exploration in listen.
We collaborate.
This comes from the reviews, give-and-take-of-mouth recs, or, best of all, when another person gives us a book they think we'll enjoy. Reading tin be done solitary or aloud to each other (one writer I know reads to her partner when they drive long distances, and vice versa when she drives). Talking virtually the reading is where we provide our interpretations, enquire questions and expand our understanding of the writing. Book clubs provide this opportunity, merely the person who reads the book y'all were given too wants to know what you thought about it. Artists are likewise collaborators, learning from each other constantly and working together, be it as teacher-pupil, editor-author, director-performer or many other ways.
We critique.
This is when the reader may send a note to a author to give their stance on a piece. I long ago adopted the do of sending what I telephone call "charming notes" to writers of books I loved. I ever say why, which is what authors ache to hear. They want to know what function of the story touched you, and why. Sometimes as readers we have extra insight, feel or enquiry on the topic or characters to offer, and this is always interesting to a writer. I take had readers and listeners inspire me to write the story after the story, write the story in a new form to include the new cloth I've only that second realized is waiting for me or consider a side graphic symbol for a whole new story of their own. These interactions are gilt for writers. This is also where y'all tin can gently inform a author of a new fact or correct a detail they may have missed or mistaken.
We celebrate.
When we have read a volume that really satisfied, seen a play that provoked united states or heard a poem or song that felt as though information technology was written precisely for ourselves, nosotros similar to tell others. We honey to celebrate the glimpse of humanity contained and captured in the trip the light fantastic, the opera, the painting. Sharing our reading, through social media or in person, is part of the reading. We celebrate authors who know us, somehow, without having met united states of america. We read their entire backlist. Nosotros await forrad to their next local reading, so nosotros tin can hear their vocalization, tell them in person how much their work means to us, get our books autographed, snap a selfie together. We continue the conversation.
Nosotros change.
Reading changes us. We may not feel it at the exact moment in time, but reading near other people, places and situations expands our world. We learn. We go through the aforementioned journey equally the characters and so, like them, we change by the end of the story. When we step out of our comfort zone, we become more than sensitive to others, more empathetic, more tolerant.
Oliver Wendall Holmes said, "A listen that is stretched to a new thought never returns to its original dimension." Every bit a reader I find that notion extremely comforting but every bit a writer I feel its inherent responsibility. Reading increases our emotional intelligence and, like the author who has learned so much in the writing of the piece, the electric current book prepares us for the next ane. In the words of Ursula K. Le Guin, "Nosotros read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and call up and experience... is an essential guide to our understanding of what nosotros ourselves are and may get." And so, we grow.
Katherine Koller is a 2019 Capital City Press Featured Author. Check out her list of books she'southward nearly enjoyed in the last few years beneath.
My Favourite Books
Source: https://www.epl.ca/blogs/post/reading-is-an-art-form/
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