Hosted

It's September!

Okay, it's not September, but it's close enough that I'm including today in the new series (you'll see why in a few days).

Lately we've been doing monthly series's in Writing Editing and All Things Rani, and I thought it'd be nice to continue the trend. So including today there are fourteen posts this month, but subtracting one special day (I told you, you'll see why that is in a few days) there'll be thirteen posts. Hmm... *number crunching*... *pokes side of head in hopes of inspiration*... *turns to look at bookshelf*...

I have it!

Thirteen days, thirteen authors who've inspired me -- and the books that have inspired me the most.

#13: The Host

I know, I know, it's Stephenie Meyer... But this book isn't Twilight. In fact, it's very little like Twilight. Well, okay, that's a lie. It's a lot like Twilight. BUT there's a reason why I'm including this one in the top thirteen authors/book that have inspired my writing.

You see, The Host showed me something I hadn't thought about before.

Like Twilight, it's an incredibly easy read, but it's one that's well worth the time (since it should only take you a few days to read it).

Here, four reasons to read The Host:

1. POV

It's not an unheard of point of view, but to me it was a unique one. Usually, when we read a book about an entity living within a human, we read the book from the POV of the human. Not so with The Host. Actually, this novel is written in the POV of the entity. 

2. Annoyance

I liked Wanderer, as the main character is named, for about five chapters. And then I couldn't stand her. So for me, reading The Host was like learning what I didn't want to do with my characters, or how I could use annoyance to create a character like Wanderer. She was supposed to be a strong character. She wanted to be a strong character. But Meyer's personal belief system kept her from getting there.

For me, it was a lesson in figuring out how not to do that, how not to impose my own beliefs upon my characters.

3. Cliched

Oh no! The human woman Wanderer has taken over is strong! She's fighting back!

Wait... Hasn't this happened before?

The answer is yes, it has. But because we're reading it from the point of view of Wanderer instead of Melanie (the human woman), it gets a little more interesting. It's not the struggle of a human trying to get her body back, but of an alien trying to figure out how to maintain her hold upon the body. To me, that was interesting. 

4. Character

This novel was the first I read which truly explored some new elements of character. First and foremost being that the body had it's own personality. There was a desire within the body, a desire that didn't belong to Wanderer and didn't belong to Mel. That made things a little more interesting, and showed me a little better how to separate parts of my characters.


Now, could you read a different book that would give you these same things? Sure. But could you find one that's so easy to read that you'll be done in a few days? I'm not so sure.

If there's one thing Meyer is good at, it's crafting a style so simplistic that a child could read it -- and the thing with simplistic is that it helps us know what we don't want to write.

Yeah, I'm critical of my choice in making this #13, but it had to be done.

[love]

{Rani Divine}