If you aspire to be a blogger, poet, novelist, et cetera, I think it’s important for you to know there is more than one way to become a better writer. For starters, read as much as you can. You need to be a reader to see how sometimes your story may or may not fit.
Also, structure, especially for book writers. Reading demonstrates how to structure a book. Now it is important to read books that are in your genre, but I also advise to read books outside your genre otherwise some things just may not fit. For instance, adding scary scenes to a love story will not feel as exciting as suspenseful scenes. Keywords scary versus suspenseful/tense. The two are different since scary is looked at as something dark while suspense can fall in line anywhere on the spectrum.
What does reading do that can help me become a better writer?
Reading within your genre demonstrates how to execute stories that fit within that particular genre. If your intention is to write a romance story and your story reflects heavily in mystery, it would be categorized as mystery rather than a romance.
In addition to execution, reading can spark ideas of what you don’t want in your novel. Yes, what you don’t want. We’re humans, so we won’t like everything and that includes books we read. With that we learn what we like and don’t like therefore creating a standard for what will and will not be included in our stories.
A lot of people are afraid of reading because they don’t want to accidently copy another author’s work. But what if you read something that inspires you to do the opposite?
“Reading is not only for ideas, it’s fuel for creativity.”
It is simply a nice reference, especially if you are working with editors who are readers. This could possibly point your editor in the direction you are going for or what you are not going for just by being able to reference another piece of work.
Read more books, write better stories
Many insist that to become a better writer, you must read voraciously. However, it’s not about the quantity of books you read, but the quality of your reading. There will be so many stories that we forget we even read if the purpose is to increase the count. When you go into reading with the mind frame of learning, the experience shifts. I suggest rereading books you know you love.
Though it is possible to write a story without the habit of reading, as a new author you may find it a bit more difficult to write a story without reading. Why? Because most stories have basic formulas they follow, and patterns that have touched many shelves. No, I am not encouraging you to write a story similar to the story you read two months ago, but I am encouraging you read more to analyze the structure of stories in order to know how to navigate through your own.
If you fear your story will feel like the others, keep in mind the way a story unfolds is what makes it unique, not the structure.
Write more to write your best
“Writing for an author needs to be a habit and not a hobby.”
The only way to get better is to write more and taking on the task of editing your work. I am not suggesting your edit alone, you need an editing team, but I am highly recommending you play a role. Writing more, and then editing your work, is the secret sauce to becoming a polished writer. When you write you have the opportunity to observe the way your mind works when it creates. And when it comes to editing, you become equip with new patterns of storytelling to help you to get from point A to point B.
The ability to see new patterns comes from stepping into your process with fresh eyes. After you take at least 2 weeks away from your writing project you will reenter the story with a newness because you are now not as inside the story as you were before. Therefore making you able to identify hiccups and new opportunities for story enhancement.
Writing is the chisel, and editing is the sculpting tool that carves your masterpiece.
Read books on writing to write books people want to read
Rather than trying to figure it out on your own, why not get some tips and tricks from seasoned authors? Again, anything that comes from you is what makes it unique and the information you gather prior to is a resource for your creativity to draw from.
These resources are your arsenal, a quiver of arrows for your creative bow.
When I first started my writing journey I was scouring the internet or any and everything I could to help me get on the right path to becoming an author. What I didn’t realize is I needed a mentor and the closest thing I could get to that without spending too much too soon was reading books by authors on writing. That and taking courses. We will talk about that in another blog.
So do yourself a favor and grab a book or two to add to your arsenal. You’ll be happy you did later down the road.
Community makes the experience a lot better
Workshops are so important, especially for new authors. When embarking on any new journey you need a community and a steppingstone. Workshops provide prompts and new ways of thinking through a structured learning environment and to top it off you are literally around people who love the same thing you love. They place you amidst kindred spirits who share your passion, offering invaluable feedback and motivation.
So, while some of these reasons may sound cliché, they are in fact very useful. Reading more because it helps to subconsciously build an avenue for story structure. Write more to turn your hobby into a habit, you’ll quickly find writing full novel is not for the faint of heart. Better start now. Reading books on writing is just as important as reading books to learn structure. It’s the easiest way to learn tips and tricks while being able to apply what you’ve learned immediately. And finally having a community who shares the passion and struggles makes it a lot easier to deal with the struggles.
