I’m sure you’ve often heard the argument that writers need to read if they are to write well, because how can they write if they don’t read? I’ve also occasionally heard the opposing argument, though not often, that the writer doesn’t have the time to read as they are too busy writing.
I come down squarely in the camp of ‘writers need to read’, but it wasn’t until very recently that I fully understood how it was helping me, or I should say, I saw recently how it was helping me.
Dan Brown is an author who divides readers. And writers. His books, though massively popular, which is evidenced by sales figures, are sometimes said to be not as well-written as other books in his genre. I have, in the past, read all of Brown’s books. My favourites were Deception Point and Digital Fortress. I read his books before I started writing myself. Until now.
A couple of days ago I started Inferno, his 2013 offering and when I first started it I could see where the lively discussions about his work might emanate from. I wasn’t feeling the love for the book as I remembered feeling for previous books. I was reading it and looking at the sentences in a critical way as a writer. I was looking at the sentence structure, not the entire book! It’s not to say I know how to construct the perfect sentence, but it did get me thinking about how to construct a sentence. But then something changed. I found myself turning the pages faster and faster and realised I’d stopped examining the words and sentences and was simply engaged with the story. Dan Brown might not have hooked me with his sentences, but he is currently reeling me in with his story.
So, my point with this post is this; we don’t just need to read good books as writers to learn from them, but we can learn from any book we choose to pick up. Be it a good book with stunning sentences and story, bad books that have nothing you like in it at all, or a book that has something in it you can learn from in the good and the bad sections. But really, how do you know how you are doing in your own genre if you’re not reading in it? Or how do you know how you’re doing with your writing if you’re not reading at all? What do you have to compare against? To push yourself harder towards? Because we all want to continually improve don’t we? I know I do.
What books have you picked up and realised you have taken something away from? And what was it?
Dylan Hearn says
I felt the same way about the Stieg Larsson ‘Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ books. I found myself grinding my teeth at the start because of the prose and sometimes stilted dialogue but devoured all three of these large books in just over a week. For the majority of readers, story and plot trumps prose (unless it is truly terrible).
Margot Kinberg says
Oh, I absolutely agree with you, Rebecca, about the need to read if you write. There are two reasons I do it (besides the fact that I love to read). One is that I learn from other authors. I learn how they handle things in the novel, and try to take away something I can do better if that makes sense. The other reason is that it does help me better understand what really works in a novel. Even if I don’t care for a novel, I can learn from thinking about why it’s not working. And that helps me turn that eye on my own writing.
MarinaSofia says
I too find myself more critical (or more in awe of good writing) at the start of a novel and then I usually get swept along by the story and read as a reader rather than a writer…
Very fair point. And I have to admit I dislike both Dan Brown and Stieg Larsson, but they must be doing something right…
Rebecca Bradley says
I think a lot has to be said for variety of taste. It’s what allows us writers to write what we love after all. People read such a variety of work that writers have the freedom to write it.
Alex J. Cavanaugh (@AlexJCavanaugh) says
If we’re only reading what we write, it’s like playing tennis by yourself. You’ll never be forced to stretch and grow through a variety of tennis partners. Same with the reading.
Rebecca Bradley says
I’m finding I’m spending a lot of time reading crime at the minute. I really need to read something in another genre.
poppypeacockpens says
Absolutely agree – since starting to write I now love to read a much wider scope of books which; not just to enjoy the story – which I invariable do – but to discover what I really like or dislike but ultimately dissect and learn from the varying narrative techniques. My trouble at the minute is getting a balance – I’ve very much slipped from mostly writing to mostly reading… it’s getting a good balance that is tricky.