Blogging on a train.

I want to start by saying that this blog was written (is being written) on a train heading for buffalo. I have seven hours to spend so here's my stream of conciousness. I was just thinking that to retain the interest of non habitual readers a book needs to use descriptive language and maintain a constantly interesting plot. I think a book filled with various short stories does just that. If the the reader doesn't like the story he's reading he can literally skip it and begin reading the next one which might be written in a more interesting style or by a more preferred author. I happen to own a book just like this, 50 short science fiction stories. I suppose this isn't the best example because all of the included stories fit into the science fiction genre, but that's what I've got. When I pick it up I usually flip to around the center or end of the book and begin reading one of the two-six page long stories, there's no need to remember a long running plot. It's almost like browsing the internet, there's a sense of instant gratification and freedom which many book lovers would probably be opposed to, but who cares. I find it enjoyable. There are some obvious drawbacks however, if I find an excellent story I feel a sense of dissappointment when it ends because I wanted it to continue. On the other hand some of the concepts that the short stories revolve around could probably only be entertaining in a smaller story anyway. The author would probably run out of things to say if asked to continue, but because it is so entertaining to read I almost don't want to believe that. Anyway I think a book filled with short stories has more potential to impact the reader more, because he's most likely going to find one of the stories to be excellent and very enjoyable. Like a mixed bag of jelly beans, the lady next to me woke up, ate some grapes and fell asleep again. I'll edit this later when I get a computer because it's really not convenient to type blogs on a phone, byebye. ----I've got access to a computer now, but I don't think I'll edit any of what I wrote because this blog isn't going to be in essay format and its current state reflects how distracted I was feeling on the train. I kinda like that.