#*ii

There’s a lot of writing advice that should be taken with a pinch of salt, but the one tip that should be taken as gospel is, “You need to read if you want to write.”

You can’t write well if you don’t read. Don’t believe me? Go do some research on On*s*on’s books. A guy who brags about not reading. Trust me, it shows.

Sometimes, it’s hard to find time to read, and when we do, it can be hard to read as a writer. It can both ruin and heighten the reading experience (once I took a writing class and started seeing awkward sentence structures, I couldn’t unsee them).

Here are some things to pay attention to when you’re reading as a writer!

1. Genre - Don’t stick to one place.

You may tend to write in just one genre, but you shouldn’t limit your reading to that area. It’s easy to get stuck in many of the same tropes and writing patterns; filling the well with a diverse variety of literature is really important. 

Every genre has its own lessons to teach. For example, pacing or tension in the horror and thriller genres. Foreshadowing in crime novels. Relationships in contemporary romance. Blending styles and concepts from a variety of genres can really help a writer to grow and develop their skill, and reading a variety of genres can fill the creative well more effectively.

2. Plot and Story Structure.

Reading a lot of stories can help give you a better idea of the traditional story structure. It’s easier to see the pattern and the usual ups and downs of the three-act structure when you get to see it in action multiple times. This can also help you recognise when the structure is played with, and the conventional rules are abandoned. 

 A couple of things to consider when reading for plot and structure are:

-What’s the inciting incident? How far in does it happen? Were you engaged with the story before this? -When do Acts 2 and 3 start? How does the story change? -How long is each act? Does the story drag at all? When/why? -Does the build up to the climax feel authentic? What’s the pacing like?

3. Characters.

When we know our characters so well, sometimes we overthink how well we’re portraying them in our stories. We know what they’re like, but are we showing the reader who they are?

Reading other writers’ work and seeing how their characters are conveyed is good practice for this. Look at the main cast of any given book you’ve read recently. Can you list relevant character traits, and if so, where did you get this information? Did the writer just tell you, or did they show you?

We can take this info for granted when we’re reading, then struggle with it when we’re writing. Thinking about it as you read can make this an easier process.

4. Format, Grammar, and Sentence Structure.

I might just be a bit too tuned into this (like I said, I can’t unsee it), but I often read a sentence in a book and think “That’a an awkward phrase. That’s a weird sentence. This word would be better.” I’m not a perfect writer by any means, not even technically, but seeing these “mistakes” can help you during your line editing process.

Paying attention to a writer’s language can also introduce you to new words, descriptors, verbs and so on. It can help you with your English, or whatever language you write in (but especially English; English is messy).

Format can refer to dialogue, paragraphs and all these technicalities, but also how the writer lays out the story in chapters or other segments. Some stories play with traditional structures, and can introduce you to new ways to break the rules that you may not have considered before.

5. BONUS TIPS!

It’s also important to note what you don’t like. I posted a review not long ago of ‘The Woman in the Window’ which is very similar to ‘The Girl on the Train’. One worked for me and one didn’t, and seeing the positives and negatives of both is a useful way to analyse the two texts.

Having sticky tabs on hand for any passages that stand out to you can be a big help later on. I started marking pages every now and then when I felt something particularly strong (positive or negative).

Reading can help you with motivation. Wow, you're holding a published book in your hands! That used to be a shitty first draft. Some day, someone could hold your book like that! Alternatively: If this piece of trash can get published, I must have a chance!

If a book can teach you just one, tiny lesson to improve your writing, it’s absolutely worthy of your time. Reading is the single most important thing you can do for your writing.

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