Argh.

[hafital]

How do people feel about reading while writing? Does anyone ever feel like they shouldn't? Or that they become all muddled because of it? I mostly don't like to read while writing, if for no other reason that I'll use it as a means of avoidence. But also, if a fic is written in a different pov or tense, my brain starts thinking in that tense (or pov) and when I go back to writing its hell switching back. Anyone else have this or similar problems, or is it just me?

ETA: Okay, I don't mean simultaneously. LOL. That's a neat trick....

Comments

[hafital.livejournal.com]

Yes! One of the things I meant to mention was reading Neil Gaiman saying that while writing Neverwhere, he avoided other books that clearly dealt with the areas he was writing about, including another book that had a kind of London "underground" feel, and similar things.

Oh, totally. This is important because the wrong exposure at the wrong time can totally kill an idea.

Maybe it's the beginning to watch a live show (SV) while also having writerly thoughts? With HL, I didn't write anything while HL was live, and even when I was writing, it wasn't so much ideas that might obviously "overlap" other writers.

Certainly live fandoms present a whole other host of issues. I've never written in one, so I'm not sure what I would do or how I would react to the other stories being written. I can well imagine it would make me wary of reading, though. A lot more than in a closed canon show.

[elynross.livejournal.com]

I've never written in one, so I'm not sure what I would do or how I would react to the other stories being written.

Don't! For the love of God, DON'T!!!

Not that I have strong feelings about this, or anything. cough