Read to Write

When I give my school presentations to young, aspiring writers I always tell them that in order to write, they must read. In fact, I say the three most important things they need to do to be a better writer is to read, read, read. 🙂

Reading helps you understand the flow and structure of stories. For a story to be successful, it must have structure, and authors who understand story structure gain more readers. The more books you read, the more you can discern what pulls in readers, what makes a page-turner, and what keeps people reading. You will also begin to recognize structure, or the lack of it, in the stories you read.

Books that readers enjoy all share commonalities and as you read these books, especially those that have received awards, you will recognize what those commonalities are.

Practice Writing Skills

Of course, there’s no substitute for actually writing and no matter how many books you read, you won’t improve your writing skills unless you write. But, the best writers are generally those who read and understand what makes a book successful.

You can read books on writing. There’s no lack of books on how to write. You need to be careful, however, to read each one with a discerning eye. Some books will advocate one thing and others will insist you must do something completely different. In the end, you have to decide for yourself what works for your own unique writing style.

Read in Your Genre

It’s extremely valuable to read books in the genre in which you hope to write. The more books you can read, the better. As you read, pay attention to how the author uses plot, characterization, setting, pacing, and description. Ask yourself if you think the author has successfully used different techniques and why, or why not. See if the author shows you the story rather than tells it to you. Watch for voice, style, and word choice.

Different genres have different requirements. For example, in romance there has to be a happily-ever-after. If there isn’t an HEA, and the couple doesn’t end up together, then it isn’t a romance. Nicholas Sparks doesn’t write romance. He writes love stories because often his characters, while in love and very romantic at times, don’t end up together. There’s a difference between romance and a love story, and as you read the books in the genre that interests you, you will see what that genre requires.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can write something different for a specific genre and readers won’t care. Anyone who’s ever tried to market a romance when the characters don’t end up together will attest to angry readers. Angry readers = not good. You don’t want angry readers. Follow your genre requirements and you’ll have much happier readers.

Analyze the Books You Read

To really understand a genre, I recommend you dissect 5-10 books. Use a notebook and detail each entry with title, author, word count, and audience. Next, write a synopsis of the story. Include passages that you found particularly clever, or clumsy, and list reasons why. Keep track of the events and how they lead up to the climax. Examine how long it takes to get to the climax and how quickly the resolution comes.

After you’ve analyzed the books, you’ll find yourself automatically searching published books for these same things. In fact, once you start to examine books in this way, you’ll never read another book the same way again. The more you can understand what’s successful, and what isn’t, in books you read, the easier it will be to apply this knowledge to your own work.

Read books with the purpose of understanding why it was publishable and you’ll soon be on your way to publishing your own book.

Book Recommendations 

I’ve read dozens of books on writing fiction. Some of the books were easier to understand than others and some I enjoyed more than others. Some of the books made more sense to me.

Here are a few books I recommend on the art of writing fiction:
Elements of Writing Fiction – Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)
The Writer’s Guide to Crafting Stories for Children (Write for kids library)
Techniques of the Selling Writer

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