Catégorie : Writing Tips

It’s all muddy, brown, sad. Where I live, Nature is not used to above-zero temperatures so early in March. Even the spring flowers are still sleeping.

Then rises a beautiful day, starting with a bright orange rosy blue delicatly cloudy sky. Birds are chirping away, geeses are waking up. So are the joggers!

For a moment, I’m tempted to stop thinking about the horribly hot summer waiting just around the corner, the increased risk for wild fires. My kiddo forced to play inside during summer vacations because it’s too hot, or the air quality is too poor.
It is going to be a very beautiful day indeed.

Our writing flow is influenced, tinted by everything around us, or course. But on weird weather day like this, I find it harder to focus somehow.

The writing plan is there, fun and exciting. The story is kinda singing in my mind. The Main character is finally shaping up to be as great on paper as in my imagination.

Still, I go back to comtemplate the sky and soon enough, it’s time to get things going.

Even before the midnight bell rang on the New Year’s Eve of 2023, book lovers from around the world have been sharing via the Socials Realms their favourite books of 2023, their most anticipated books of 2024, and their book reviews in between.

So. Many. Books!!!

I added wonderful titles to my pile-to-read. Books I might never have heard of otherwise, books I sadly forgot about, even though they did catch my eye once.

Like I said: so many, many, many books.

To top it off, since I’m working in a bookstore, I’m surrounded by new books, old ones, must-be-read novels or must-be-bought beautiful collector editions of books I’ve read before.

I want them all. I need them all! If you’re here to read this (thank you very much by the way!), there’s a good chance you understand what I’m talking about.

And, right this instant, if you heard a desperate muffled cry, it certainly came from my credit card (or was it yours!?!!! 🙂 ).

What can we say: one can never have enough books.

But… can there be too many books?

When will we have the time to read all the books we must read, according to our favourite book people on the Book Socials.

Do we even read as much as we used to, being constantly distracted by our technological devices?

Could it Be Such a Thing as Too Many Books (please don’t throw things at me, I’ll explain)

Going back to working full-time in a bookstore didn’t help the size of my books-to-be-read pile!

I know I’m not alone, dear readers and writers. Maybe it’s your case too. Some of my co-workers and some of my favourite BookTubers have full-on bookcases packed with to-be-read novels.

For now, I limit the physical pile to ten or so books, mainly novels, graphic novels and manga; also a guide about parenting, to refer to in times of « what just happened? ».

As for the wishlist… Oh my, oh my… Last time I checked, I had 350 + books waiting.

Every time I finish a novel, a dilemma arises: how to choose what to read next, the new ones or one in the wish list?

As pointed out many times before, there are so many booooks!

Too many?

For a while now I’ve been thinking about the near-infernal rhythm of the publishing industry.
The book ecosystem that gravitates around it too, and the amazing book community it creates.
But mainly about the frenetic pace of the industry.

Because, well, as much as I would love to, days and nights combined do not have enough hours for me to read it all.

No one does.

Plus, like you, I love to do other things! Really Really!
Things like spending time with my family, writing, and enjoying the wonderful nature surrounding our little house nestled near that beautiful tumultuous river. One more fun fact, I also like to go to work (yep, I love my underpaid, long hours, physically demanding bookseller/libraire day job!).

However, the publishing industry’s new releases are adding up, to the point where we should maybe stop and ask ourselves: wouldn’t it be damaging in the long-term for the publishers to get so many books out, when the reader’s attention is solicited over and over again, all the time, especially during the Book Prizes season?

As a writer, I would prefer to see my book released alongside a couple of other titles instead of a couple hundred…

As booksellers, there’s sort of a pressure building up. It comes from the many wonderful titles pushed upon us by the many wonderful publishers (and some less great, but since, as booksellers, we have to know even about the books they like less, or not at all, we have to at least take a look anyway).

As readers, we ought to read the Goncourt Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the Angoulême Prize, and so on, and so forth.
We have to read the book everybody is talking about on the Socials.
And, incidentally, we want to read OUR book pick !!!

How to Choose?

A colleague of mine said something refreshing. Maybe you heard it before.

Instead of looking at our pile of books to read as something that MUST be read, that MUST go down, let’s compare it to some kind of previous, mysterious library, sort of a library cellar if you may.

Books we own are there, waiting patiently for the right timing, the right mood.

As I like to say, books are patient. When we’ll be ready, they will be there.

How to choose?

Well, let’s just see what strike our fancy at the moment. Let’s just have fun reading what we want, not what « must » be read because it’s what everybody’s talks about.
Exit the fear of missing out!
And if we want to re-read something, let’s do it without a single smidgen of remorse.

Dear readers, dear writers, I hope you had fun reading this. Thanks for tagging along.

Until next time, I’ll brave this widly windy day and walk that dog of mine before it starts to rain again.

Driving back to my childhood house.
The front door’s open. The garden’s gate too. It’s a dark blue hour, and the sky is murky deep purple.
Heart sinking, beating like a wounded wild animal, I run everywhere inside and out of the house. I’m calling my kiddo’s name.
Kiddo’s gone. Kiddo’s lost. I have to find my baby. I have to. I will. But please, not at the bottom of the pool. Please. NoNoNo. No. Please.

And I woke up. It was a dream. Just a dream. The worst end to any story, right!? Otherwise the most wonderful one to our worst nightmares!

As you might have suspected, dear fellow writers and readers, no way I was able to fall back asleep after that. Nor was I able to read a little. I settle for the words and see where they would lead me.

As I sat down in front of my laptop friend, I soon realized this dream was one among many other strange ones I had lately. None so awful, thankfully.

It got me thinking about this power within the Dream Worlds. Was it especially good for writers, poets, and artists of all kinds? Does it help or rather feed creativity to have a vivid dreamworld nightlife?

Why We Dream the Dreams We Dream?

If there’s a question frequently asked by pretty much every human on Earth at one point or another during their lifetime, which we wish to be long and prosper, is why do we dream?

Even more frequently: why on Earth did I dreamed about that?

There’s no clear answer, and scientists are still looking for answers, but there is some theories upon wich they tend to agree. By the way, you’ll find the links for my tiny non-exhaustive research down below.

• Since dreams seem to have an evolutionary function, we dream about weird or scary things to prepare us for real-life threats… and weird situations. Same thing goes for our social skills. In short, our dreams help us become better humans!
  Dreams help us solve problems, consolidate our memory, and regulate our emotions.
  
• We might forget our dreams, but our brain doesn’t. Some of those images and strange situations created by our subconscious are stored away somewhere in there. Maybe nearby where our imaginations live?
  
• Dreams may mean something in our day-to-day life. Some might even be premonatory… but scientists have yet to explore the interpretation side of dreams.
  When it comes to finding our dreams meaning, it seems wise to be careful about the info we find online or in books. After all, the way we interpret dreams varies from culture to culture, from decade to decade… and from business to business.

Let’s Sleep On It. Really. Let’s Do It!

Among all the scientists, and from a mama who now knows better, there’s one common ground: sleeping is wonderful.

More so: a good night of sleep is A-MA-ZING.

Ask any university student, any new parents, or any person who suffers from insomnia: sleep deprivation is hard.

A few weeks without a good night of sleep has physical effects: intense fatigue (dah!), headaches, attention deficit, memory loss.
It also affects our appetite and our moods. We’re more likely to eat more to compensate for the tiredness. We’re also at risk of feeling depressed or anxious. Even burned out.

Yes of course, on some levels, we all know how sleeping well and, incidentally, dreaming is crucial for our creativity.
Then again, we all try to write a few hundred more words, we all read one more chapter, we all watch a screen before finally going to bed.

Lately, I got back to a good sleeping routine, adapting to the fact that every. single. night. kiddo is crawling in our bed, moving around, spreading all limbs in every direction.
I started to get to bed early.
At first, I was a bit « grrr » about that, thinking I was loosing the few free hours I have in a day to write but, after a few weeks, I really, really feel the difference.

And it shows in the words, in my focus, in the ideas swirling again in my brain.

Feeling great feel goods… Well, it’s not my most clever one, but it’s so true.

May all the good words flow your way, dear fellow writers and readers. Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time!

Sources

Sleep on it Canada – A French version of this article is available on their website.

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