How does your past affect your reading?
When you read a novel, are you sometimes entangled by your own expectations or world view? Do you like to have your expectations turned upside down?
Let's picture a gym setting. For most it's automatically representative of health and the desire to look and feel fit. If the main character works in a fitness center you might mentally assign certain characteristics to him or her. But what if our hero takes drugs to maintain muscle mass (i.e. steroids), or has a secret drinking problem or is obese. How does the reader's image of a gym suddenly change?
What if the reader was always terrible at athletics or was permanently injured in sports? A gym setting could bring a completely different image to mind.
Another example, used in A Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, shows up when our main character is a veteran. Perhaps you know someone who is a decorated war hero. You may expect a veteran to hold himself to a certain standard, at the very least to be disciplined. But Cormoran Strike is the antithesis of that. He's an alcoholic, womanizing mess.
Yet, if your experience with the armed services was negative, you may have a completely different expectation of how a character might act. You might expect the veteran to be cruel or even erratic.
I recently read a memoir about a woman who rescued a horse,and was herself rescued in return. My life-long love of horses made this story both heartwarming and heartbreaking. But what if the reader has a fear of horses and sees them as large menacing beasts? That reader might find it difficult to comprehend how this creature could save a person from her own demons.
Consider the last book you read. Did your personal experiences make it easier to associate with the setting or the characters or more difficult? Were you surprised when your expectations didn't match the character's behavior? What makes reading the story more meaningful - that it matches your expectations or shakes them up?
Happy trails,
Leslie
Let's picture a gym setting. For most it's automatically representative of health and the desire to look and feel fit. If the main character works in a fitness center you might mentally assign certain characteristics to him or her. But what if our hero takes drugs to maintain muscle mass (i.e. steroids), or has a secret drinking problem or is obese. How does the reader's image of a gym suddenly change?
What if the reader was always terrible at athletics or was permanently injured in sports? A gym setting could bring a completely different image to mind.
Another example, used in A Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, shows up when our main character is a veteran. Perhaps you know someone who is a decorated war hero. You may expect a veteran to hold himself to a certain standard, at the very least to be disciplined. But Cormoran Strike is the antithesis of that. He's an alcoholic, womanizing mess.
Yet, if your experience with the armed services was negative, you may have a completely different expectation of how a character might act. You might expect the veteran to be cruel or even erratic.
I recently read a memoir about a woman who rescued a horse,and was herself rescued in return. My life-long love of horses made this story both heartwarming and heartbreaking. But what if the reader has a fear of horses and sees them as large menacing beasts? That reader might find it difficult to comprehend how this creature could save a person from her own demons.
Consider the last book you read. Did your personal experiences make it easier to associate with the setting or the characters or more difficult? Were you surprised when your expectations didn't match the character's behavior? What makes reading the story more meaningful - that it matches your expectations or shakes them up?
Happy trails,
Leslie
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