I’m one of those people who can completely get lost in a
story, become part of the action and emotion swirling around the characters. My
heart thuds in my chest along with the heroine’s as she rescues horses from a
burning barn and it leaps for joy at the sight of the man she loves (
TwoBrothers). I feel the beat of the music as a dancer takes the floor at a nightclub
on the arm of a handsome partner and the pain experienced when the truth is
revealed (
Silent Partner). The tickle of fear streaks down my spine with a
sickening churn in my stomach when I see the face of a teenage girl trapped in
a burning building (
Silent Scream).
But that’s me.
I’ve learned over the last 9 months that not everyone gets totally lost in the story, even an
exceptionally well written one. They can’t let go enough of their surroundings,
their thoughts or worries to become one with what they are reading.
To me, this is the whole point of reading—it’s an “escape
hatch” as Stephen King would say. And yes, I’m slightly addicted to King since
finishing his book On Writing. I
never expected to like it so much.
Anyway, I’ve also learned that there are those who get even
more engrossed than I. They invest so much of themselves into the story and the
characters that they become very angry with the author for not giving them the ending
they expect, the closure they feel they and the character deserve.
As a reader, I don’t begin reading a book with an
expectation of how it should end,
except for the necessary happy ending that the romance genre is known for. That
is why I read romance. I don’t expect the characters to act or speak a certain
way. The unknown is part of the journey, the best part, in my opinion.
I started out writing this thinking about a few typos in my
own published books. Some people noticed and some didn’t. Then an author friend
told me not to worry, she found typos in every book she’s ever read. Okay, she
actually mentioned my favorite author’s name, which I refuse to repeat. If you
know me or have been here before, you know of whom we speak. I’ve never
found a single mistake while reading many, if not all, of this favorite authors
books. Why? I think it’s because I’m so immersed in the story that I don’t
notice the mistakes. I’m not just reading the words, I’m living it, feeling and
breathing it.
Some, maybe most, of the ability to get lost in a story depends
on how well it’s written. But I think it can have a lot to do with one’s
ability to let go of the real world. It’s kind of like sex, they say a woman can’t
reach orgasm if she can’t relax, if she can’t let go of the worries of her day,
if she’s uptight, tired, or stressed. Maybe the same is true when it comes to
reading. If we are feeling guilty about sitting there, doing nothing, and thinking,
“I really should clean or cook…” or whatever else it is we heap on our
shoulders, then chances are we aren’t going to relax enough to get lost in the
story.
So what do you think? Is it the Author’s ability or lack of
to pull us in? Or do our own lives play a part in keeping us from getting lost
in the story?
