Have you ever forced yourself to read a book?

We all have to read books for schools, but are there any particular books that you forced yourself to read all on your own (that wasn't for school or anything)?

@BlackBloodDemon: No. Why the hell would I force myself to read something I didn't want to read?

@Allelse: Well, the whole idea of the story could interest you, so you end up reading it, even though you aren't exactly enjoying it. It probably doesn't make sense, but that's what happens with me sometimes when reading a book.

@BlackBloodDemon: I see. My wife does that but I tend to write more than I read fiction.

@Allelse: Interesting, I find myself doing the same sometimes. I enjoy both.
Is there any kind of particular writing you do (like what genre)?

@BlackBloodDemon: Historical fiction and supernatural horror, and I mean REAL horror, not that pansy ass shit you get these days with teenage werewolves and vampires that go out in daylight.

@Allelse: Interesting. I like history and all the other things you mentioned.
I usually write fantasy stories during the medieval era (or even before the medieval era).

Good stuff. Well as someone who's been writing a bit longer than you I'll give you some advice, remember a writer writes, always (From the movie 'Throw momma from a train'). Never throw anything away, you never know when you might want to go look for it again, never let anyone tell you how to write, you'll find your own way to do things and once you do its yours, and if anyone tries to tell you different then tell em to get stuffed.

I would never throw any of my stories away, because they're going to be good stuff to laugh at in the future.
The thing I struggle with the most when it comes to writing are commas. There are so many rules, and the rules are broken. They say, "Don't use a comma here," but then they say, "But it's okay to use it here."
Make up your minds.

I also tend to shift the tense a lot throughout the story, so whenever I finish a story, I'd have to read it to fix the tenses.

Yeah bloody commas. Every author has their own way of using commas and as much as people say 'The rules, the rules!' Just ignore them and do what feels right to you. I go by the 'When you'd take a breath' so when I'm going along and typing away I've trained myself to pretend I'm speaking the words out loud, and I put the comma in where I believe I would have taken a breath and where I feel it wont ruin the flow of the story. The flow is very important. There are some authors who are very comma happy and others who hardly use them at all, just do what feels right for you and for the way you write.


Yeah tenses are a little bit of a bugger sometimes but nothing that a bit of revision cant fix.

@Allelse: I do the breath thing, too. I thought I was the only one who did that.

@BlackBloodDemon: Haha! Nah you're not the only one. Look there are elitist pricks out there, purists who'll shit all over your work because OH!! the comma is in the wrong place, just ignore them. They can go get stuffed. Just do what feels right for you and you'll be alright.

@Allelse: Okay, I will! Thank you. I want to eventually publish some stories, and I'm getting all worked up over punctuation.

@BlackBloodDemon: That's alright. Remember a writer writes, always. Watch 'Throw Momma from a train' Its a good movie for writers, dont worry its a comedy.

@Allelse: I recommend watching "Whisper of the Heart" for writers. It doesn't exactly teach you writing stuff, but it's a wonderful tale about a young writer who's trying to find her inner self. Her friend already has his dreams planned out, but then she's just there reading books all the time. When her friend went to go after his dream (which was to be a violin maker), she decided to challenge herself by writing a book.
It's also a studio ghibli film, so the movie is already a good film.