A Little Introduction

I want to write. I have discovered this about myself over the past few years. I want to create language and life and meaning. I want to explore people and behaviour and beauty and transform them into words. I think there is nothing more wonderful than when writing generates emotion. That's when you know the author has captured something real and raw - when you connect with the characters, the story. When you feel their fear, when you laugh out loud, when you cry with them, when you hold your breath until the end of a paragraph. I want to evoke those responses, to create a relationship with the reader. I want to write.

Almost all of my favourite books have made me cry. This is something important about me - I love sad endings. I love death and betrayal and loss. This may seem rather dark, but I think death brings out people's true thoughts, their purest emotions. I am fascinated with how people react to death, how they grieve and respond to it. Happy endings always leave me with a sense of falsity, of cliché. They so rarely occur in reality that it feels too construed, too artificial. But I also have to admit that I do enjoy a bit of cheese fiction here and there. Or everywhere. I can't seem to stay away from those awful teen romance novels with poorly written prose, horribly predictable plots, and cheese of the worst kind. Maybe this balances out the death thing. I don't know what it is, I just love the awkward characters and dialogue, I love laughing at the plot holes and twists. It makes me feel better about my own writing, I guess. But recently, I have decided to limit myself to these wonderful creations and read more actual literature, in case the cheese rubs off on me. I will try to contain myself on the reviews. 

Now allow me to clarify: I have complete respect for any author, and I will do my best to reflect this in my reviews. It takes a lot of work and dedication to write an entire novel, and a great risk. When I write something, I put a tiny piece of myself into it. I am revealing something about my experience, my thoughts, my life, into the work. To put your writing out there for others to read is incredibly rewarding, but also puts you at risk for criticism. And if other writers have the same intimacy with their work as I have, you are, in a sense, putting yourself, your character, at risk for criticism. You are allowing yourself to be vulnerable, and I think that is a brave and honourable act. Of course some authors are better than others, and everyone has their own taste and style. I welcome critique and comments on my work, as hopefully I will post some short stories of my own. I just ask that you as readers extend the same courtesy and respect to me.

I shall begin the book reviews soon, mostly in the YA (young adult) genre. There's a lot of crap out there, and I will attempt to highlight the good stuff. It does exist. 

A small note to add: I highly recommend the site Goodreads for any reader, I keep track of all my books through it. It's wonderful.

"The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly this: that a thing constructed can only be loved after it is constructed; but a thing created is loved before it exists." -Charles Dickens