Blog
Reading to Improve Your Writing
Reading as a writer is still super important.
For many years, reading was something of a luxury. I loved to do it, but finding the time for it proved increasingly challenging.
Still, I know that reading as a writer is important. Why? Because reading and seeing how others write is just as important to honing your skills as doing your own creating. You learn a lot from other writers. Not to mention that you can also use books on the craft and other nonfiction to improve your own mental health and self-care.
Several years back, circumstances opened the way for me to read more. As I became an early riser, I developed a love for starting my day reading. Now I read for about an hour every morning, every day. I’m usually working on 2 books at a time, one fiction, one nonfiction.
Additionally, I do several drives a week that are more than 30 minutes in each direction. During this time, I frequently listen to audiobooks. Hence, between my morning reading and audiobooks, I’m going through around 60 books a year.
The more I read, the more I learn, no matter the genre. Learning means I gain new insights and find ways to improve myself and my craft.
Learning from the mistakes others make
No matter the genre, indie-author or traditionally published writer, reading the work of others teaches me a lot.
Some of what I’ve learned has led to better structure for my own work. Other bits include clarity, focus, and cleaner narrative.
Another important lesson I’ve learned by reading the works of other authors is how not to make the same mistakes.
I know that there is more that I don’t know than I do know. That written, even when I write things I know, there are elements I’ll get wrong. In sci-fi, you can get away with some credulity issues via sci-fantasy, space magic, and the like. But some things you need to learn for yourself.
Here are three examples of mistakes I’ve learned from. During a combat scene, a character managed to somehow shift their body, avoid punches, and wind up on the other side of a cell from their starting point. How? No clue. And that almost pulled me out of the story. It was a little jarring, and other fights in the same series are also not wholly plausible. Ergo, the combat could have been clearer.
In another instance, the author referenced a character’s hand on the wrong part of their sword, and an increased grip where a more experienced combatant would do the opposite. I’ve been fencing and swordfighting for over 30 years. So, I get super pedantic when it comes to swordfighting because I know swords firsthand.
The biggest mistake was a military element where the author just failed to make it believable. There was a chain of command that made zero sense, a captain who seemed to have no sense of command gravitas, and an utterly absent infrastructure. I have zero military knowledge, but this wasn’t even Star Trek-level chain of command structure.
Learning from reading successes
Not so long ago, I discovered John Scalzi. Since then, I’ve read through at least a half dozen of his books. He is a master at blending story, humor, character, and plot. I’ve learned a lot about both subtle and blatant comedy, as well as building tension and making characters both likeable and loathable.
Likewise, reading several Matt Haig works has shown me how to present tension, heart, and hope in characters and situations. TJ Klune does this too, while also offering great inclusive fantasy that strives to make LGBTQA+ people part of the normal and mundane (by celebrating it).
Reading has taught me better ways to show more and tell less in my own work. I’ve also gained new perspective on plot development, sharing versus oversharing, subtle reveals, and more. Every book I read increases my awareness of my own writing. I learn new ideas to make my work better, stronger, and more enjoyable for my audience.
A great writer can make technical stuff interesting. Take Andy Weir and the science in The Martian and the genetics in Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. They get technical and detailed but keep it interesting.
Making hard sci-fi with faster-than-light travel and keeping it plausible means studying science. Not necessarily in-depth, but sufficient to keep it believable. I’ve done a lot of reading on physics, astrophysics, and other sciences (and mostly avoided breaking my brain).
Reading has helped me improve my writing. And I expect it will continue to do so.
Reading for pleasure still improves writing
The nonfiction I read tends to focus on mindfulness, psychology, science, and self-awareness.
I’m reading for pleasure, no matter what I read. And I find that everything I read helps make me a better writer. Human nature is still important to characters and their motivation. If you don’t understand it or study it, you wind up disconnected. That can find its way into your writing. Along this line, one note from a beta reader for my next series is that my story needs a bit more emotion from the main character.
Reading educates but also opens the mind. It’s a gateway to imagination. If what I write helps encourage reading in others, I feel that I’m doing my part to better this crazy world.
My writing is always evolving. I hope that what I produce now is better than what I wrote before, and each successive work shows growth from what came before. Given that there’s no perfect, there’s always room to grow, get better, and improve.
This is why I love reading as much as I love writing.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you every week, please consider this: How are you inspired and empowered to be your own authentic creator, whatever form that takes?
You must be logged in to post a comment.