I used to just get massages and relax and enjoy them. Now I (and other massage therapists that I have talked to about it) have a hard time shutting my mind off during a massage. I am constantly thinking, "What is she doing? Is that her elbow or her thumb? How is she positioned to do that because it feels really good? I need to remember to try that with my client. Etc..."
Don't get me wrong, I still love getting massages and I relax deeply, but I come at them differently.
Lately I've noticed a similar change happening... I've become a writer. As such, I now no longer read books as a reader, I read them as a writer.
I no longer just read the story and enjoy the plot twists and pretty descriptions. I think to myself, "I like how she used that character's personal dilemma to further the overall problem with the plot." Or "It was really clever how she made Portia be the cook at Mick's house and Portia's brother be the chef at the restaurant, which ties Mick back to the restaurant."
I notice the craft of novels and the devices and techniques. It makes me appreciate the authors and what they do a lot more. However, it does take me out of the moment a little because it makes me think about the author, about the person sitting down and writing rather than getting caught up in the story and forgetting that it is not true and that someone made the whole thing up.
It certainly doesn't ruin novels for me, just changes them. Makes me appreciate them in different ways. And hopefully makes me better, in turn, as a writer myself.
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