Story Forms

When I was young I was never into reading much because it took so long. However, when I had the time, mainly on holiday, to get into a good book I would notice and note every detail. I would understand the characters, what they looked like, what they wore. In addition I would also have created my own scenarios with the characters in my own story. This would be when my brain would wander off, into scenario land, after which I would then have to re-read the text that my eyes had glanced over, line by line, without taking any of it in.

( I think we have all done this at some point). Concentration was always hard for me. I have since found out in my 40's that I am dyslexic and this would explain a lot about the way that I read. I am not disappointed as I feel that my reading style helped to develop my creativity.

I was always more interested in short stories, magazine articles etc as the look of a solid page of writing seemed to be a bit of a chore. I really wanted to know the story but did not want to do the hard work of getting there. It took too long and I was impatient. This was how I felt in "normal" time and not when i had hours to while away on holiday, when my approach to a book was the opposite.

I liked Mrs Pepper Pot, the stories were short even though I wanted to read, like my big sisters, Swallows and Amazons, The Famous Five, Ring of Bright Water ( the older sister was the best reader of all) I just could not get into it. Again they took too long.

The internet is my friend, it allows me to read how I naturally do, allowing me to wander off into, sub stories that digress from the main narrative. I can build up my own picture of characters, events and stories by clicking on related links giving me a much more detailed view of the story in the same way that I did when I read when I was young.

I found it hard to prioritise my information, and frequently needed the chicken and egg argument to chuck off. Who knows which one came first and who cares, both the egg and the chicken are important. The non linear nature of interactive reading suits me fine. It represents the way I have always thought

At the same time, has it taken away my creativity, filling those related gaps with solid facts, images and information? Where does my imagination go now? Does it wander off at all? I don’t think it does, so maybe I have lost some of the ability to digress and wander off with my imagination.