Writers as Readers

2) I really like dystopian books/series. I think it’s cool how the concepts used can seem bizarre but it can really hold true to real life too. Not always in America but in other countries too. The examples are amplified to make the story more interesting but they are nonetheless possible or already happening. Sometimes holding a mirror up to society can be painful but what is needed to make change and I like how books and literature have that ability. The first dystopian book that I remember reading and falling in love with is The Giver. I remember my middle school self being in awe of the whole idea of such a restricted and dysfunctional society. From then on that's what I usually read. I sort of ditched realistic fiction after that. I'm not saying I never read realistic fiction because that is untrue. I read too much to avoid that genre. But I definitely favor dystopian.

 

3) The writer I feel like I identify with the most is J.D. Salinger. I don't imitate him because I've always written like this. But I immediately recognized his writing style as my own after I picked up The Catcher in the Rye. My writing is like one long run on sentence. My thoughts kind of just come out as they please and usually in no particular order. My thoughts and attention seems to jump sporadically. I notice that when I am trying to tell my friends a story I jump to different subplots or related topics. My mind is as messy as my room. That really runs along with my writing style. That’s why everything I write feels like a journal entry. I don't really seem to have a filter sometimes. I feel like my thoughts hold my fingers hostage and I have to write what it says. Even if it is stupid.

 

4) When I was in Paris I did not sleep. I don't know if it was the time difference or just the pure excitement running through my veins but sleep didn't come easily. I read most of the nights. I made it through 5 books while we were there. Luckily my uncle had been to Paris before and knew a famous bookstore called Shakespeare and Company. Since it was so well known I had assumed it would be a giant store filled with every book imaginable. This was not the case. It was a small little store that was cramped and a little too hot. I still loved it. Up the stairs they had a small YA section and they had a little "Highly Recommended" section. So I picked up a book called The Fault in Our Stars. By the way, many people in France speak English and this copy was in English. So I bought it and got it stamped and read the entire thing on the plane ride home. I cried like a baby.

7) The first real book I remember reading was The Tale of Emily Windsnap. I don’t know why. I know it was about a mermaid and that’s about all I remember about it. What I do remember is that it was the first “page turner” I read. The first book that kept me up past bed time. The one I had to read under the covers with a flashlight in case I heard my mom coming. The first book that had gotten me in trouble for reading in class instead of doing my math problems. I finished the first book really quickly and immediately begged my mom to take me to the bookstore afterwards to pick up its sequel. My sister is reading it right now and that makes me happy.