What does that have to do with anything? Do engineers in a formula 1 team also drive the cars? No. They have to know how to construct a car. They talk to drivers, so they can understand how the car handles, but they're not drivers. And drivers don't build good cars. They need engineers. Edit: PS (again) I don't expect you, or anyone, to read my drivel.
I forgot to answer this question, but I think it's important. I read a TON of books when I was a kid. I read many more then than I do now, because my job takes up a lot of my time these days. But I think reading when you're young is incredibly important. That's why I'm answering this now. It's easy to learn when you're young. Even if you glean nothing from your early reading other than SPaG, it's more than worth the time. And if you read a lot when you're young, SPaG will seep into your bones and you won't have to ask questions about it on a writer's forum when you're fifty. I've said this before on this forum, and I know it's silly because it presupposes time travel, but READ WHEN YOU'RE YOUNG!! That's the best advice, by far, that I can give anyone who wants to be a writer.
How do they have the know how to construct a car? Why write if you don't expect people to read your drivel?
1. They study engineering. They don't join the junior racing academy. 2. Because I enjoy being creative, which is another reason I take offence to being called vain or pretentious, because I like to make things for myself and don't go after praise or admiration from others.
Sellbin is an adult and so am I. This is not personal unless stated by Sellbin as so. I see this is as a DISCUSSION.
Well, not by driving fast cars. Probably by learning from other engineers, by understanding complicated physics, and by learning about various composites: the mechanics of how components work together (like, maybe, the mechanics of a story). Stuff a driver wouldn't know, or need to know. Drivers go out and get the information the engineers use to develop the car. You know, like a writer getting feedback from a reader.
Urgh. Fine. All race engineers are also race drivers. All plane designers are also pilots. All knife makers are chefs. All Architects are builders. All rocket scientists are astronauts. You win.
Sorry, this may be a discussion, but it's a discussion better left to PM between you two. I don't see how its relevant to the topic, nor do I see other people interested in two grown adults (as you put it) bickering about a petty disagreement. So it's better left to private messages, hopefully you can sort out your differences there.
Please read the original topic, and then tell me how your discussion is relevant. Please remember, the whole argument started by someone calling the other 'pretentious'.
I agree that the thread was interesting when it was responses to the questions, and now that it's all about an argument between two people, that interest is being lost. If you don't want to take it private, perhaps that argument could be taken to a new thread created for that purpose.
Right now I write an average 500 words a day, sometimes more or sometimes less. As long as I write something on a daily basis I'm happy. As a child I gobbled up books like they were candy, but as an adult I try limiting myself to a chapter a day (or more if the chapters are short). I noticed if I read too quickly I don't enjoy the stories as much as I could. However, it doesn't stop me from browsing and buying an overabundance of books for later. I was an awkward, lonely teenager who spent my study hall classes and lunches in the school library and my free time in the public library. It's difficult to say how many books I read during that time, but I'm sure it was a lot. Books were my constant companion then.
Well... I don't write novels or stories, so I don't measure my writings in pages. However, I do write a piece or two every week. sometimes more, sometimes less. Unless I have a writer's block, last time it happened it lasted for months, particularly because I write a lot of artistic, abstract writing that rhymes, so im pretty picky, and its pretty challenging. I never read a book, and I'm still 19, but I do get inspiration from music a lot. especially Adele and Florence. there lyrics are like my bible.
I write at least 1000 words a day every day, sometimes I'll take Sunday off. It's hard to keep showing up honestly, but on the days where I have to force it, I write complete utter trash instead of the normal trash haha. At least I know that I'll never write those 1000 words of complete waste ever again, and that because I show up every day, eventually, hopefully, the muse will come. That's what the authors say at least. In terms of reading, my goal is at least 50 pages of fiction and 50 pages of non fiction a day. I usually go over but that's my goal for the day. I end up reading two books a week on average. By the time I was 20, I only read maybe around 30+ books. I didn't start reading seriously till I was late in my 19's. Now i'm 20. Will I remain this motivated throughout the years? Who knows... And I'll tell you what, I SUCK at writing... BUT, my writing is leagues ahead of what it use to be a year ago.
("...the number of words I write each day means little or nothing to me as they're just words of a wordcount whatever until they're used to good purpose somewhere on forumland..." ventured the goblin returning to topic now, continuing "...no instead, I try to complete something worthy of my pen each day without fail, that same something that I then post up for forum readership across forumland in edit threads where, depending on the forum, the readership varies form just a few readers, up to tens perhaps, right on up to hundreds, thousands even, all meaning nothing though because I always remain anonymous, and would gladly swap all the readers who have ever blankly read my posts to date for those few who feed me back something worthy of their pens...", so the goblin was not writing for the 3%, he knew that the vast majority of humanity, the other 97% then, had already turned their back on books by now, where books had become like the fat lady singing opera, a commendable sign of culture recommended for the book reading few but passing way over the heads of most people out there, smiling "...but forumland is a growing readership isn't is, just up for grabs too, where even this forum is a clear sign of how you want so much to interact now, so need I say more humans or have I said too much already...")
I am working towards writing on a regular basis. I don't yet manage to write every day but probably 4-5 days per week and probably at least 500 words per day. I read avidly and probably get through 2 books per week. Perhaps I need to read less and write more!
First of all, writing and reading comes in bursts for me, and when i do both come in large quantities. But as for a rate . . . i'd say five books per chapter i write? maybe more? (i guessed that at about three books per week and one chapter per two weeks -and the books i usually read are over 800 pages) the ammount of books ive read in my whole life are countless.
Without wanting to be assaulted here, I also don't read much in terms of how many books I finish each year. I am an extremely slow reader because I am usually glued to the screen and can't put it aside in favor of a book. So it's one novel, maybe two, per year for me as well. That does not mean I consume little fiction - I read short stories, novellas, I keep up with quality films and series, I critique lots of works and I do listen to an audio book once in a while. This is somewhat reflected in my writing style, I would assume, in that it is very visual-oriented, very much focused towards "showing" instead of "telling", but also means that I usually completely screw up my stories' pacing because I am just not too familiar with the way novels are structured. It's a practice-thing though, and I'll get there eventually. Chipping away at it one page at a time. I did read a lot more when I was younger though. A LOT more.
different perspective Ummm are you sure that quote isnt about reading those paragraphs that you already wrote, over and over again? Thats what I feel it is about. I think it all depends on what kind of writer you would like to be. There is no secret that most of the top selling authors really steal most of their ideas from other authors, for instance there are a lot of similarities between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. So I agree if you want to sell a lot of books you must blur your mind with other people's ideas, see what sells and write accordingly. However if you are actually an artist and you want to write something with some kind og purpose to it, and not just write to please a big audience, then you would want to make sure you stay true to your own raw ideas.
