Do you ever read a book or series of books that so captivates you that you find yourself dreaming of the characters and other adventures, maybe with yourself in the story as well? I am not just talking dreaming at night either. I mean daydreaming when looking out of the window, or something very vivid as you are falling asleep on the toilet, or when you are supposed to be driving and all of a sudden you are in a world of someone elses imagination and RED LIGHT!!!! Ok so maybe not while driving.
There have been several series of books that do this to me. Sword of Shannarra series, David Eddings, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and JRR Tolkien have all done this. One of the biggest however was and still is Robert Jordan. I read all of the wheel of time books as they came out so many years ago and I can remember the bus rides to school when I was half asleep riding with Perrin and Lan heading to support the Dragon Reborn in several adventures that were not in the book. Yet.
I have always written some of these little sub stories in my head or out loud to myself but have never commited them to paper or even computer. I suppose I should start. That is half of the reason I am writing this blog, to just write and get my brain on the ‘net so to speak.
Why did this come up? Well I have been listening to the Robert Jordan books on cd lately. I don’t have much time to read a physical book right now, with taking care of the house and 3 kids so I spend most of my time with a new growth. My Sansa Clip MP3 player. My wife is convinced I can’t live without it, I told her it was like the power source in Iron Man’s chest; I can’t live without it. I do spend a lot of time with a podcast, radio show or book plugged into my head as I go about my daily chores. I love it!
But back to Mr. Jordan. I just recently got back into the world apparently and discovered that he had passed away 2 years ago. No wonder he hadn’t put out a new book. Then I found that he had outlined the book and another author was finishing his grand story. The new book just came out and I decided that I didn’t want to read it yet. The last one came out in 2005. The new book is number 12 in the series and I can’t remember hardly anything from the last few books. As a result, I am starting over and reliving it all again. I am now on book 4 and that brings me back to my original point, I am having those immersive semi conscious dreams again. I should write some of those down and put them out there.
My bigger point is this, READ! Read not just for speed, not just to get a book finished, read for the pure pleasure of the story; immerse yourself in it and let yourself be consumed with all aspect of it until you are finished. There is no movie out there that can wrap you in your own imagination and your own thoughts like that. I want to write the next book that makes people daydream of my characters.
Until next time, read like you really want to…
Justin
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