Quote:
Originally Posted by CatherineStewart
I know my husband. I know he would enjoy it once he sinks his teeth in, I just need to get him past this fear that "he can't" or it's "too hard" or "too daunting". And I really think the suggestion of short stories is a fantastic way to start.
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Oh, I'm a software engineer by trade. Sometimes when I need to write a piece of software, I'm going like this, even after almost 15 years:
"But I need to have it do THIS, and THAT, and take into account SUCH, and make it do SO, and.... I'll never get this finished before I'm pensioned off! Go away!"
And then I break it into pieces, like this:
[Program] consists of [TASK1], [TASK2], [TASK3].
[TASK1] consists of [T1_PROCEDURE1], [T1_PROCEDURE2], [T1_PROCEDURE3]
And so on, splitting it into smaller and smaller parts, until in the end, a part becomes so small that it only contains 10 lines of programming code or so. Then I work my way from the bottom up, writing the small parts.... and suddenly you have [T1_PROCEDURE1] done... and then the next... and suddenly [TASK1] is done and working.
And in the end, I'd be like: "That was it? Really? Gimme some real stuff to write, man. I'm tired of the small crap!"
Same with reading.
Start him off on the short stories; as short as an article in a magazine, something he'll read in 20 minutes. If he likes it, he'll want something that is more elaborate. Give him a novelette of a hundred pages, consisting of a few chapters, which he can then read in 4-5 sessions. And then a novella of 150-200 pages, and then a longer book.
Tell him that he shouldn't look at it as reading the entire book; look at it as reading a chapter at a time. Just like how you'd eat a whale: one bite at a time.
Before you know it, he'll be reading The Lord of the Rings backwards, including the appendices.
*IF* he likes reading. And I think he does like reading, or he wouldn't read those magazines on boats and ships and cars or whatever he likes
