Oh Crap! Now, I READ Like a Writer Too

There was a time when I'd hear some actor mumble "I can't watch movies the same way, now that I'm in them" and thought that sounded awfully short-sighted and snobberish. ( <-- It's a word in my world).

Except, now I kinda get what they're saying.

I've been a reader my entire life. But I've only been a reader who's serious about becoming a published author for a little over a year.

I've begun noticing more and more, my opinion of what I consider to be a good book is increasingly altered by the things I'm learning about writing.

With the lone exception of the Twilight Series (which breaks just about every rule of what you should not do), bad writing kills more books for me now than it did two or three years ago. And it's not just stilted or garbled sentences and dialogue that does it.

I'm far less forgiving of weak plots, cliched characters, lack of proper motivation, etc. I get annoyed by numerous things I rarely, if ever, noticed before.

Prime Example: ELIXIR by Hilary Duff.

I was so excited to read that book because of my long-standing girl crush on Miss Hilary. The premise sounded intriguing, especially considering the concept of soulmates & reincarnation is a big theme in my own stories.

At first, I was minorly irritated at how long it took the story to actually START. And when it finally got rolling, the darn thing blasted through a hodge-podge of plot bunnies that felt like something out of a beginner's "How to NaNoWriMo" guide.

But the worse part? The story ended without really ENDING.

Nothing was wrapped up!!

Now, I love reading series. Enjoy writing them too. And it's expected to end on some sort of cliff hanger that leaves readers feeling unsettled. But something has to be resolved. It's a book, not a mini-series for Pete's sake.

Sorry, didn't mean to turn this into a review post.

Point is: once upon a time I might have been fine with a book like Elixir. Now, especially after everything I've learned, it takes a lot more to win my approval . . . and more importantly, my word-of-mouth recommendation to fellow readers.

How about you all? Do you find yourself becoming a more finicky reader than you used to be or can you flip the switch on/off?