Reading The Book You Wrote
It’s not vanity. Far from it. It’s maintenance. Civil and electrical engineers build all kinds of structures but they don’t walk away after completion. They return periodically to check if everything is still in order, which could be a condition of the mega-million contract.
The city drives us crazy when it shuts down water. It is even worse in my province, the land of sleet and snow. That’s why the city of Winnipeg does maintenance during the summer: digging roads, rattling pavements and reducing road lanes because of water, electrical, sewer and other maintenance.
I read my blogs because of readers. Their reading patterns can be baffling, like visiting a 2015 blog. I become curious and re-visit the blog from the grave, only to find a big typo. Oops! Last week, I re-read a blog where I said I’m the author of Sweetness, the movie. I meant the novel. Movie my foot! Dream on!
Reading books you wrote makes you rewind to the exhilaration when you saw characters bloom and blossom, giving you the nod to publish.
You are too old to play with Lego blocks but you joined the conflicting characters, convinced them to accommodate each other for the sake of being under one roof, your book.
Somebody buying your book is the next subway station but that might not happen. Five or hundred might read it in its lifetime. You might even be lucky if you sold the 20 advance copies your publisher sent you. Lucky, because folks will come to the launch but not buy the book, just pose with the author for Twitter and Instagram.
This is reality as more publishers approach people with more than a million followers to write their life stories or novels. Nobody approached you. You just believe that you have a unique idea for fiction which you would like to see in print.
Therefore, reading books you wrote is for the number one reader, yourself. It is the official seal that you did the right thing, the book is alive in your bookshelf at home and in your mind. It is the reason you smile while waiting in line at the grocery checkout.
“You look happy today,” says the cashier.
“Oh! It’s Laverne.”
“Your cat?”
“No. A character in this novel I’m reading.”
“Must be a great book then.”
“It is. Thank you.”
Go on then. Read the book you wrote. It’s legal.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang, who is currently reading her novel Sweetness.
www.amazon.com
The city drives us crazy when it shuts down water. It is even worse in my province, the land of sleet and snow. That’s why the city of Winnipeg does maintenance during the summer: digging roads, rattling pavements and reducing road lanes because of water, electrical, sewer and other maintenance.
I read my blogs because of readers. Their reading patterns can be baffling, like visiting a 2015 blog. I become curious and re-visit the blog from the grave, only to find a big typo. Oops! Last week, I re-read a blog where I said I’m the author of Sweetness, the movie. I meant the novel. Movie my foot! Dream on!
Reading books you wrote is a vote of confidence in yourself, your imagination and ability to transform nascent ideas like characters and watch them fill up in the right places.
Reading books you wrote makes you rewind to the exhilaration when you saw characters bloom and blossom, giving you the nod to publish.
You are too old to play with Lego blocks but you joined the conflicting characters, convinced them to accommodate each other for the sake of being under one roof, your book.
Somebody buying your book is the next subway station but that might not happen. Five or hundred might read it in its lifetime. You might even be lucky if you sold the 20 advance copies your publisher sent you. Lucky, because folks will come to the launch but not buy the book, just pose with the author for Twitter and Instagram.
Therefore, reading books you wrote is for the number one reader, yourself. It is the official seal that you did the right thing, the book is alive in your bookshelf at home and in your mind. It is the reason you smile while waiting in line at the grocery checkout.
“You look happy today,” says the cashier.
“Oh! It’s Laverne.”
“Your cat?”
“No. A character in this novel I’m reading.”
“Must be a great book then.”
“It is. Thank you.”
Go on then. Read the book you wrote. It’s legal.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang, who is currently reading her novel Sweetness.
www.amazon.com
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