An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, was a very good lead in as to learning new techniques in writing. The book revolves around boy named Colin who is trying to get over a breakup but ends up falling for another girl while simultaneously trying to figure out his purpose in life. It seems like there is a lot going on throughout the story, but John Green writes in a way that eliminates confusion for the reader and directly points them right where he wants them. The first thing that I learned from reading this book was incorporating a light hearted tone while also dealing with broad and abstract concepts. Personally, I have struggled with knowing how to set the tone in order to intrigue the reader. I think that in this book John Green did an exceptional job at keeping the reader engaged while referencing a greater issue of purpose apart from the romance in his novel. Throughout the book, the main character Colin has a continuous battle with himself about his purpose, in the sense of what he can become after having graduated high school. This topic relates directly to a lot of people that are moving on to a different point in their lives, but I feel that Green also presented it in a way that connects with anyone who reads it. He creates this underlying unrest in his character which make the reader want to know more, but he doesn’t center the whole story around this one thing (enough that it would become overwhelming). I feel that this a very valuable aspect that I can seek to use in my writing, creating depth in my writing by introducing the topic in a way that relates to the audience. John Green has this knack for being able to effortlessly incorporate the meanings that he wants to without sounding forced. Green’s seemingly effortless narrow direction is another thing that I can learn from his writing. He finds a way to engage the reader in his story (usually a romance) and moves on from there with the greater meaning to his writing. In this story he uses Colin’s relationship with a girl named Lindsay, where they are both trying to figure out where to go in life, as a sort of path for the greater purpose of the novel. He allows for his words to speak for themselves. This, I think, is a very valuable skill, in the sense of knowing when to add more or take things out. His precise yet understandable diction leads the reader exactly where he wants them to go. I think this idea of setting boundaries of distraction for the overarching purpose is a very smart way to go about writing. Green is able to keep the focus throughout, while simultaneously straying to add depth to the story. Lastly from this novel, I learned a lot about characterization. Throughout the book, the reader was given just enough to understand the characters presented fully, but were also given room for their own interpretation. It seemed as though any character that was even mentioned served a greater purpose in the end, none were just frivolously thrown in. I think that this is a very valuable lesson in the sense that everything included should either push the story along or give it layers. This aspect also seems helpful setting the point of view and the depth that the person must have to intrigue and satisfy the readers. Overall, Green’s work creates a platform that shows uniqueness in concepts, a relatively narrow yet effortless direction, and deep characterization that pushed the story along.
The first thing that I learned from reading this book was incorporating a light hearted tone while also dealing with broad and abstract concepts. Personally, I have struggled with knowing how to set the tone in order to intrigue the reader. I think that in this book John Green did an exceptional job at keeping the reader engaged while referencing a greater issue of purpose apart from the romance in his novel. Throughout the book, the main character Colin has a continuous battle with himself about his purpose, in the sense of what he can become after having graduated high school. This topic relates directly to a lot of people that are moving on to a different point in their lives, but I feel that Green also presented it in a way that connects with anyone who reads it. He creates this underlying unrest in his character which make the reader want to know more, but he doesn’t center the whole story around this one thing (enough that it would become overwhelming). I feel that this a very valuable aspect that I can seek to use in my writing, creating depth in my writing by introducing the topic in a way that relates to the audience. John Green has this knack for being able to effortlessly incorporate the meanings that he wants to without sounding forced.
Green’s seemingly effortless narrow direction is another thing that I can learn from his writing. He finds a way to engage the reader in his story (usually a romance) and moves on from there with the greater meaning to his writing. In this story he uses Colin’s relationship with a girl named Lindsay, where they are both trying to figure out where to go in life, as a sort of path for the greater purpose of the novel. He allows for his words to speak for themselves. This, I think, is a very valuable skill, in the sense of knowing when to add more or take things out. His precise yet understandable diction leads the reader exactly where he wants them to go. I think this idea of setting boundaries of distraction for the overarching purpose is a very smart way to go about writing. Green is able to keep the focus throughout, while simultaneously straying to add depth to the story.
Lastly from this novel, I learned a lot about characterization. Throughout the book, the reader was given just enough to understand the characters presented fully, but were also given room for their own interpretation. It seemed as though any character that was even mentioned served a greater purpose in the end, none were just frivolously thrown in. I think that this is a very valuable lesson in the sense that everything included should either push the story along or give it layers. This aspect also seems helpful setting the point of view and the depth that the person must have to intrigue and satisfy the readers.
Overall, Green’s work creates a platform that shows uniqueness in concepts, a relatively narrow yet effortless direction, and deep characterization that pushed the story along.