JoanDidion BBReading

This reading was quite interesting. There were many things that Joan said that I could relate to which made it easy to follow. I liked how she talked about the imagery that she uses in her writings. I had never thought about the author's thoughts when writing novel; how they have to find words that link harmoniously. They have to decide what details to put in and leave out.
Every time we read a book, we visualize in our minds the story that is playing out. We make our own movie in a sense. When I read a book, the author starts out with a character or a scene or a thought and I picture them in my mind. I think about all of the details that he/she had described and I paint my own picture. As the story goes on and the plot progresses, more details are released about the different people and my painting is edited. The most interesting part about it, is that the author controls what you can and cannot see. They decide what is necessary and unnecessary visually as well. They leave out the details that are not crucial for the plot line. They visually describe in many different ways. Sometimes the author comes right out and says it from the narrators point of view. Other times they give the images through other characters. They add details in their lingo and even into their thoughts. It wasn't until reading Joan's article that I realized authors not only have to create a story, but have to also detail the story in a way that makes sense to a range of people. They have to decide how to word their sentences perfectly and add just the right amount of details so that the story is portrayed the way that it is meant to be.