Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
I don't understand why so many skip or skim descriptions of scenery or places.
|
Simple. Not all readers want the same things from books/stories that you do. It's not that hard to figure out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BookCat
For me, a strong sense of place is important for me to be immersed in a book. I especially like writers who write descriptions using all the senses, so I know what a place looks like, smells like, feels like, sounds like, yes even tastes like. (At the moment I keep reading about the salty taste of the sea.)
|
Again: skim does not equal skip. Not sure why people want to equate the two. Skimming does not mean a reader still can't achieve a strong sense of place. It just means that some people can do so without feeling the need to savor every single word of every sentence. I'm perfectly capable of picking up the concept/effect/feeling an author is after by glossing quickly over long descriptive passages. There's only so much "
the sky was blue / the grass was green / there was a tang of salt in the air" that I need to get the full picture. Dialogue and plot is what I typically get immersed in. Not narration. I can appreciate good prose: just not at the
expense of dialogue/plot.
And if there's prose worth slowing for in any of those long descriptive passages, then I've probably already noticed and have slowed my roll accordingly. I read in many "gears." Skim is just one of the higher ones. I know when to downshift.
Some people need to accept that savoring every syllable is not the default, nor the
proper way to enjoy reading. It's merely
A way to do so. There are many, many others.