Freshly off another volume of sci-fi shorts, I’ve come up with a set of ideas, dos and don’ts (okays and not okays), random thoughts on how to approach them, based on my experience.
#1. If you don’t like
science fiction, don’t read it. It’s okay. But if you haven’t read much of it,
you are not at liberty to judge it. Much like claiming not to like lettuce soup
when you’ve never eaten a spoonful of lettuce soup in your life. Base your
ideas and opinions on your own experience.
#1.1. Those who say they don’t like sci-fi and their
argument is that alien stories, far-far-away technology and the likes are silly
and there’s no meaning to them, have no idea what they are talking about. Take it
from a sci-fi fan: it’s not the aliens that I watched 9 seasons of X Files for.
(It’s not Mulder either.) Better say “it’s not my cup of tea” and nobody will
blame you.
#2. Don't be too picky. Yes, Asimov, Clarke, Bradbury and Vonnegut are great.
But then so are many many others. If you pick up an anthology, don’t just select
the stories by authors you’ve heard of. Read ‘em all. You won’t regret. It’s
okay, however, to choose the order you read them in.
#3. Use a bookmark. Anything you can stuff in a book will
do. Avoid folding the corner of the page. Except in case of emergency. You
never know when you’ll pick the book up again. Trust me. Use a bookmark.
#4. Read-at-once. Short stories, rarely exceeding 30-40
pages, are best read at a sitting. This is a hard one to keep, especially if
you work a job and a half, have a family, a social life and other hobbies. I
usually fail at this, and I always regret. Once you’ve stepped out of the world
of a story, you’ll never sink as deeply back in. When a twig snaps, you can’t
glue it back together.
#5. It’s okay to take notes while reading.
#6. Let it sink in. When you finish a story, don’t rush off
to read another one watch a movie or do intellectual work. Think about it. Let
it roam through your brain. Sometimes you can stop and think between paragraphs
too. In fact, you should, when you feel the need. You’ll know. You can cook or
hang out clothes to dry or do anything that you can do without much focusing.
#7. Ensure the right conditions. Preferably read in a silent room. Don’t try to read
while your spouse is watching football in the room, while someone is speaking
on the phone. Indistinct noise (such as in a park or on a bus) is okay.
Anything you can ignore is okay.
#7.1. Reading while listening to music may or may not work for
you. If you’re the kind who listens to music rarely, but you listen with all
your heart and soul, chances are it won’t work. Monotonous, instrumental music
might. But we’re all different. Find out what works for you.
#8. Don't be sexist. Women, on average, are not as good sci-fi writers as
men. (Wonder if I’ll get stoned for that.) But that doesn’t mean that no female
writer will produce quality sci-fi. Again,
read before you judge. I’ve read one by a female writer and I liked it. Cold
hard sci-fi with a touch feminine is quite a surprise. Much like chili
flavoured chocolate. Or vanilla flavoured coke (that one sucked though).
#9. Devour it. Use all the time you can to read. In order to do that,
you should always carry a book around. Can’t really put this any better than
Stephen King did: (not that I could put anything better than he did): “Books are the perfect entertainment: no
commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent. What I
wonder is why everybody doesn't carry a book around for those inevitable dead
spots in life.” Well said, sir.
#9.1. It’s okay to read on the bus, on the train, etc.
Unless someone sitting close to you is talking loudly. Even while walking, as
long as you can look in two different directions at the same time. Honestly, I
wouldn’t try it, but I’ve seen it done.
#9.2. It’s okay to read while eating. As long as you’re
eating alone. And if you own the book you’re reading and you don’t mind tomato
chicken stains making their way through four or five sheets.
#10. It’s okay to read when tired. In fact, I’ve found that
stories can be a helluva lot more touching when you’re tired. At the end of a long,
hard working day it’s perfect.
#10.1. It’s not okay when you’re too tired. Stop reading long before it requires considerable effort
to keep your eyes open. How to know when to stop? If you glance back at the
previous paragraph, or at the previous page and you don’t remember instantly
what happened there – instantly means before finding keywords or rereading a
memorable line of dialogue –, you need to stop and go to sleep. If you find
yourself rereading whole paragraphs because you don’t remember what you’ve just
read, turn back a page, place the bookmark there and go to sleep.
#11. It’s okay to watch a film based on the story. But read
first. That way, you can enjoy both, think about them, compare them, and get the
fullest possible experience. Watching first will botch the read; it will
deprive your brain of the fun task of imagining what things, setting, characters
look like. That kills 80% of the fun of it.
#12. Life is too short. You’ll never be able to read
everything you might ever enjoy. So why are you reading this instead of reading
literature? There’s so much out there.
#12. 1. It’s okay, however, to reread.
#13. Come back to the real world when you’re finished. You
won’t have the chance to learn to read and write fluent Martian, you won’t be
there when they land on Jupiter Five and discover that …grrr… whew! just fought
off an urge to pop a spoiler in. It’s fiction. Live with it.
#13.1. Don’t forget to return the book if it’s borrowed. Do it before
you get tired of it lying about on your desk or in your bag and toss it up a shelf and forget about it.
Most important of all: Enjoy!
Most of these probably apply for most genres of written
fiction. And they probably don't apply if your primary reason for reading is research into language, narrative techniques, or anything scientific; or anything other than fun.
However (yes, this is a disclaimer), none of this is a proven fact and
it has nothing to do with school, aliens, literary analysis, elephants,
neurosis, or Eco’s theory of the model reader. Why should it?
