Given that I love to write, I'm certainly familiar with writers' block and have several methods for tackling it. It's not a good feeling, however. There's nothing worse than knowing you need to write, but the words just won't come, or what comes out isn't any good. I get frustrated and even a little bit panicked because the product needs to be cranked out, but the "machine" just won't work.
I kind of get the same feeling sometimes when I read. Right now, for example, I am trying to get through Gone by Michael Grant, but I am really struggling. It has all the earmarks of being right up my alley when it comes to a great read--immediate introduction of conflict, pretty likable characters, science fiction/fantasy elements--but I'm reluctant to pick it up when I have a spare moment. Students past and present assure me that it will be a good read, but I'm still dragging my feet about getting through it. The fact that it has over 500 pages makes the task even more daunting for me.
Like my writers' block, I also have methods for conquering this "readers' block," too. The first I have already shared with my students and is what I need to try first: sustained silent reading for an extended period of time. If I could just find time to sit and get into the book, I'm sure I'd get hooked and fly through the pages. once I try that, if I just can't seem to move through the book, I might try another method, or just give up on it. After all, this is just reading for pleasure, and if Gone is the one for me, I need to find one that is. I'll keep you posted!
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Hey, Stranger!
I think that is what my blog might say to me, if it could talk. Obviously, it's been a while since I've posted to this blog. I'd all but forgotten about it until I started to edit my classroom webpage tonight. My hope is that my new students will run across it, read it, and respond to it. I am going to make an effort to post more often. :)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Harry Potter Musings
If you’re like me, you’ve spent the last two years anticipating the 7th and last of the Harry Potter series books, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I remember well two years ago when the last book came out, also in July. It just doesn’t seem fitting to me for H.P. to come out in the summer when the heat is at it’s highest; I’ve always thought that the books should be read with a chill in the air, preferably snuggled under a warm blanket. Somehow the cold adds to the suspense and really makes me feel like I’m inside the cold, damp walls of Hogwarts castle. I guess I’ll just have to crank the air conditioning. :-)
I’ve wondered some how the series will end, and I just don’t think that Harry will be off-ed as a finale. I feel like the books have all had the underlying notion that good will triumph over evil (despite some small incidents along the way that point, for a time, to the contrary) and I don’t think an author would abandon a theme at the end of a series just to throw the audience. I do believe, though, that she could accomplish that theme without Harry surviving. It certainly will be interesting to see what happens.
But if you can’t wait until July 21st . . .
Apparently there is some guy in England who is calling himself Gabriel who claims he has hacked into the publisher’s website and found a copy of the manuscript for book #7. What’s more, he’s decided to publish which characters die in this final installment. Of course, everyone from the British publisher, Bloomsbury, to Scholastic, Inc., the U.S. publisher, is saying that there are a lot of spoilers floating around the internet and that no one should take this one anymore seriously. Still, something tells me the denials are an attempt to mask the truth that the hacking (via email, apparently) did actually happen. At first I was dying to see what he wrote and almost went to the website (I peeked at the back of #6 and read who was going to die, the BIG one), but then I remembered how knowing what was going to happen at the end of 6 sort of ruined my enjoyment of the book. Plus, my sister was really mad that I peeked! So I sat on my hands and shut off the computer.
I’m hoping my sister and I will be able to read the book together, but it never seems to work out. We “assign” a chapter to read each night or over a week then talk about what we read on the phone. It’s fun to play detective and guess where the plot is going and it’s fun to hear what others are thinking. We’ve had many conversations with the comment, “I never thought about it that way . . .” which often leads to other epiphanies.
I’m looking forward to the book’s release!!
I’ve wondered some how the series will end, and I just don’t think that Harry will be off-ed as a finale. I feel like the books have all had the underlying notion that good will triumph over evil (despite some small incidents along the way that point, for a time, to the contrary) and I don’t think an author would abandon a theme at the end of a series just to throw the audience. I do believe, though, that she could accomplish that theme without Harry surviving. It certainly will be interesting to see what happens.
But if you can’t wait until July 21st . . .
Apparently there is some guy in England who is calling himself Gabriel who claims he has hacked into the publisher’s website and found a copy of the manuscript for book #7. What’s more, he’s decided to publish which characters die in this final installment. Of course, everyone from the British publisher, Bloomsbury, to Scholastic, Inc., the U.S. publisher, is saying that there are a lot of spoilers floating around the internet and that no one should take this one anymore seriously. Still, something tells me the denials are an attempt to mask the truth that the hacking (via email, apparently) did actually happen. At first I was dying to see what he wrote and almost went to the website (I peeked at the back of #6 and read who was going to die, the BIG one), but then I remembered how knowing what was going to happen at the end of 6 sort of ruined my enjoyment of the book. Plus, my sister was really mad that I peeked! So I sat on my hands and shut off the computer.
I’m hoping my sister and I will be able to read the book together, but it never seems to work out. We “assign” a chapter to read each night or over a week then talk about what we read on the phone. It’s fun to play detective and guess where the plot is going and it’s fun to hear what others are thinking. We’ve had many conversations with the comment, “I never thought about it that way . . .” which often leads to other epiphanies.
I’m looking forward to the book’s release!!
Friday, June 22, 2007
Welcome!
Welcome to INDY Book Clubs blog! This is my first time officially blogging in my own blog, and it's very exciting.
If you've decided to create an INDY Book Club, you are required to post a blog for every novel that you read. What I am looking for in these blogs is not summary of the text--I can go to Amazon for that. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you've read. At some point, I will probably post a list of sentence starters to get you thinking about your book (I completely understand writer's block and have it often myself :-). When I have also read your book, I too will write my thoughts in the blog. It's amazing the different perspective my 25 years of schema gives me compared to my students.
Your blogs will be due to be posted on the designated day. The great thing about the Internet is that the excuse "I left it at home" for late papers won't be usable.
Also, if you have questions regarding book club, you should post your questions on this blog. Your questions are most likely the same someone else has. There are many facets to the whole book club project, and nearly everyone has problems understanding part of it.
Happy blogging!
If you've decided to create an INDY Book Club, you are required to post a blog for every novel that you read. What I am looking for in these blogs is not summary of the text--I can go to Amazon for that. I'd like to hear your thoughts on what you've read. At some point, I will probably post a list of sentence starters to get you thinking about your book (I completely understand writer's block and have it often myself :-). When I have also read your book, I too will write my thoughts in the blog. It's amazing the different perspective my 25 years of schema gives me compared to my students.
Your blogs will be due to be posted on the designated day. The great thing about the Internet is that the excuse "I left it at home" for late papers won't be usable.
Also, if you have questions regarding book club, you should post your questions on this blog. Your questions are most likely the same someone else has. There are many facets to the whole book club project, and nearly everyone has problems understanding part of it.
Happy blogging!
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