I currently possess "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan. I'm not much of a reader (prime example of my hypocrisy, btw), but I was thinking of reading this in an effort of studying creative writing. I love writing my story and imagining the scenes, but conveying the ideas is, evidently, not my strong suit. I tend to read other fanfiction pieces I seek out, but rarely touch published works. I require visuals to my story and it's probably why I enjoy first-rate CG work, anime, and manga. School has an overwhelming tendency to crush the youthful imagination and that is sad. It's brought on by the lack of enthralling teaching elements, unmotivated/uninspired teachers, and peer pressure. It's hard to dream when others destroy them with their opinions. Being older now, it's pretty easy to see the flaws from the complete perspective of overcoming a lot of this stuff. FiM has inspired me to write, but it wasn't alone.
I think i understand the point your coming from. Most things that people enjoy can be ruined if they are forced to do it, as it becomes work, they no longer wish to do it and instead of seeing fun and escape in their entertainment end up trying to avoid it at all costs. To me, one of the reasons why the education system ends up killing peoples love for reading so much is because of the endless analysis of techniques, plot, etc, and how it will generally only be used to answer a question where, if you try and show the slightest hint of creativity you get marked down. I myself am currently a student, and this term we've had to do an exam on To Kill a Mockingbird, I hated every hour I had to spend going over and over all the quotes and themes inside the book and ended up practically hating it by the point exams had come around. However, after the exams, I sat down and read through the book once again, not bothering to analyse any themes or quotes and, though I didn't enjoy it as such, I found that it interested me a bit. Afterwards I wrote sat down on my computer and spent about two hours writing out a review of what I thought of the book. Despite the hate I had felt towards it the previous weeks, there was something oddly enjoyable about writing that review, and I have come to the conclusion that it is because it was simply what I wanted to do. The only result that comes from all of this is that it makes kids hate what they could have loved otherwise, and can also often cause the conformity which I see a lot in my school. Essay's in particular encourage the students to all do the same thing, and punish straying from the path they are given. There is a structure they must follow, often the argument is already set out for you in the previous lessons or as the question itself, and anything they use that isn't to what has been drilled into their heads during the year often result in a loss of grades. It is my belief that this punishment of creativity is what kills it for kids, as without their freedom to express themselves, the joy of it quickly fades. I'm not sure about everypony here, but If i had a choice between writing an essay on how Racism has been shown in To Kill a Mockingbird, or writing a review of the book, I know i'd chose the latter any time, simply because it lets me voice my own opinions, such as I am now, instead of simply spitting out the same words with a new coat of paint for everything.
