You know you're tired when you catch yourself complaining that the characters in the book you're reading are being played by poor actors giving wooden performances.
Usually, I get absorbed in my reading. I step inside, go with the flow, and let it come to life. I don't try to pick it apart or analyze technique, and it's rare that I'll put the brakes on to step back and try to outguess the mysteries of the plot. Some authors and stories pull me in more than others, but the writing has to be outright terrible for me not to step into their world.
That this happened meant that not only was I too tired to bring their world properly to life - leaving just a bare stage and flat delivery - but that, for at least a moment, I was too tired to realize that the shortcoming was mine rather than the author's.
honestly it's nanowrimo's fault. i know too much about the mechanics of writing now. especially if i'm reading an author i'm very familiar with; i'm conscious of him/her behind the scenes, telling the "actors" what to do, and why. i may be able to lose myself in the story for a while, but then something familiar will happen and i'll go "ah! i know why he did that" and it stops being real.
i have a similar problem with movies because i spent too many late nights with my sister, the year we shared an apartment, analyzing movies after we watched them. i can "believe" it for a while, but then i'll notice something that seems a little trite, or that makes me think "ah, they were trying to get this particular message across" etc.
and these things combined two weeks ago, when we had the much-anticipated neil gaiman-authored episode of dr who. i can usually "believe" dr who regardless of knowing *why* they did this or said that, but in this case it was just too hard. i was fully conscious of the actors *as* actors, and the author behind the scenes. (it would probably have been ok if i werent a reader of his blog...) it actually felt sort of weird, because i'm used to seeing the doctor AS the doctor, and...the word "wooden" did go thro my mind. not because he was, but because it just didnt feel believable to me. but i'd say that was definitely my problem, not the actor's.
And I have a similar problem with movies. Which is exactly why I so rarely go to movies. Because if it's not good enough to keep me from doing that, it all falls apart and I'm stuck with nothing else to do but sit there quietly and watch what's left as my mind continues to pick it apart. For the next hour. (I've never walked out on a movie.) I don't find that entertaining (unless I'm watching MST3K). In fact, quite the opposite. So why should I pay to subject myself to it?
Interesting reaction to Gaiman. I wouldn't have expected that, but I do see what you're saying. Fascinating as it can be to see backstage, it can ruin the magic show.
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That this happened meant that not only was I too tired to bring their world properly to life - leaving just a bare stage and flat delivery - but that, for at least a moment, I was too tired to realize that the shortcoming was mine rather than the author's.
What do you do when you read?
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i have a similar problem with movies because i spent too many late nights with my sister, the year we shared an apartment, analyzing movies after we watched them. i can "believe" it for a while, but then i'll notice something that seems a little trite, or that makes me think "ah, they were trying to get this particular message across" etc.
and these things combined two weeks ago, when we had the much-anticipated neil gaiman-authored episode of dr who. i can usually "believe" dr who regardless of knowing *why* they did this or said that, but in this case it was just too hard. i was fully conscious of the actors *as* actors, and the author behind the scenes. (it would probably have been ok if i werent a reader of his blog...) it actually felt sort of weird, because i'm used to seeing the doctor AS the doctor, and...the word "wooden" did go thro my mind. not because he was, but because it just didnt feel believable to me. but i'd say that was definitely my problem, not the actor's.
...i still enjoyed the spisode, tho.
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And I have a similar problem with movies. Which is exactly why I so rarely go to movies. Because if it's not good enough to keep me from doing that, it all falls apart and I'm stuck with nothing else to do but sit there quietly and watch what's left as my mind continues to pick it apart. For the next hour. (I've never walked out on a movie.) I don't find that entertaining (unless I'm watching MST3K). In fact, quite the opposite. So why should I pay to subject myself to it?
Interesting reaction to Gaiman. I wouldn't have expected that, but I do see what you're saying. Fascinating as it can be to see backstage, it can ruin the magic show.