do you read other novels while you are writing your own?

[rowriter]

I've heard different opinions on this and wonder how people around here work.

The argument is that if you're reading someone else's work, the influence will show in your own writing. I have noticed this before in my own writing, but I don't know whether I think it's good or bad. As a beginning novelist, I suppose emulation is part of the learning, but are experienced novelists able to keep that influence out of their work if they are reading someone else's novel?

I've read that many people get inspired by picking up a book and reading a few lines/chapter, and I've found that works for me sometimes too. I guess in my mind, it seems impossible that you could not read any novels during the first and however many successive drafts you produce.

So whaddya think?

[Richard White]

Yes I do.

Before I could finish the Star Trek story I am about to turn into the editor, I had to read the 58 novellas that had already been written up to this point. That's the only way to get the characterization right.

Also, if a friend of mine has recently released a new book, I try to read a little of it either before or after BIC time. Others wait, and then I have a little reading orgy before starting a new project. If I could take an e-book reader into work, I'd probably get a lot more reading in during my lunch time, but that's a no-go.

I will admit, my reading has slowed down a lot since I started writing seriously, but that's because I'm spending more time reading reference material for background info or else simply writing. Reading other people's stuff comes later (although I did read 3 novels at SDCC and am finishing Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop here soon.)

[stace001]

I'm never without a book to read. Since i started writing seriously, it hasn't changed. I find i learn quite a bit from established authors and their writing. Not necessarily picking up on their writing style, but just learning to show rather than tell, to make the reader feel the point i'm trying to put across, rather than just putting it across.

I think if you have already established your own style, reading someone else's novel isn't going to change that.

[Coco82]

Defiintely. I'm reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury Now and I've been reading other stuff all summer. I think you may not emulate it, but it inspires you.

[Birol]

Of course I do. Though I may try to avoid reading or writing anything similar to what I am writing. Like someone else mentioned, I have found my reading has slowed down since I started writing more seriously.

[gp101]

Hell yes.

I like to read a few different genres. But when I get the initial kernal of a new idea I want to work on, I start reading more novels similar to the idea I'm mulling over. Mostly this is to ingrain on the brain how these authors handled the topic, the genre, the voice I'm after. A lot of times I actually outline the book I think is most similar to my subject matter or genre (the one I wished I had written), and make note of how the author kept my interest, developed plot and charcter, and how s/he varied the rhythm and dialogue. Sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't.

During the writing of my project, I read considerably less, and usually in a different genre just for a diversion.

After I've finished my first draft, I look over the problems I have with my manuscript. Usually the first chapter is the biggest problem and I'll re-read the first chapters to the books I read leading up to my project and compare what they did to what I didn't do and make corrections accordingly.

Usually some particular author's voice is mimiced heavily in the first draft of my novel. But by the third or fourth revision, my own voice overtakes it.

[zornhau]

Yes. However, if I'm stuck or mulling, I read non fiction or Medieval Literature. Also, if I'm "In the Flow", then I don't want to engage with anything long or complex, so I stick to old pulp such as Edgar Rice Burroughs.

[azbikergirl]

Currently, I'm reading a medieval-type fantasy (Game of Thrones), and writing a SF novel set in the future USA. Often I read fiction similar to my current project because it'll help me "be" in the story more, but I haven't noticed a direct influence of the novel being read on my writing style or stories. I like having at least one fiction (and one to three non-fiction) books bookmarked at any given time. NF books I'm reading now: Writing the Breakout Novel (Donald Maas), Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Nancy Kress), and Logical Chess: Move by Move (Irving Chernev). Oh, and one about the Rodeo-Chedeski fires in Arizona in 2002, but it's slow-going (read: not a very well-written or engaging self-published book by a friend of a friend).

[icerose]

Unfortuantely I can't. Haven't been able to read more than 2 or 3 books in the last 5 years. (I did review about 30 other PA author novels...that was interesting.)

But for the most part I either have time to write, or I have a little time to read. I can't do both with two young kids so I choose to write.

Sara

[scfirenice]

absolutely! It helps break things up a bit. I don't read near as fast as I once did with everything else going on but it is a nice way to relax.

[l.stormgaye]

I do my damnest to read good books that are in the genre in which I'm writing.

[aadams73]

I love books completely and thoroughly. I have books all over the house, so something great to read is never far from my hand. I only write until 3 in the afternoon, so any time after that is free for reading. I also take books to the salon when I get my highlights touched up (like yesterday) and when I get my oil changed (like today). I find there is no negative impact on my own writing--if anything it pushes me to writer better, and enourages me to keep going.

Currently, I am reading "The Historian". It's such a beautiful book that it deserves to be bound in leather, not paper.

[Julie Worth]

When I started a couple of years ago I tried this, but now I have difficulty reading anyone’s work, because I see the gears turning on the page. I see the mechanism, so it’s hard to get lost in the words like I used to. It’s ironic. I’m writing the kind of novels I like to read, but I can no longer read the kind of novels I like to write.

[AprilBoo]

Currently, I am reading "The Historian". It's such a beautiful book that it deserves to be bound in leather, not paper.

I got that book for my birthday, but I haven't started it yet because it is a HUGE commitment - it falls into the category of books I call "Lethal If Thrown." I'm glad to hear a high opinion of it.

[victoriastrauss]

Absolutely. Reading fiction is one of the greatest pleasures of my life, and I couldn't be without it. Plus, reading is one of the best ways--aside from actually writing--to improve and hone your craft. If you're a fiction writer and you don't read novels, you're really handicapping yourself.

I get ideas all the time from other people's novels--just as I do from the news, from dreams, from random thoughts--but I don't worry about influence. By the time an idea has made its way through my brain into fictional form, it doesn't resemble the source.

- Victoria

[Jamesaritchie]

What's wrong with being influenced by the books you're reading? In my opinion, that's a very good thing, not a bad one.

And if you don't read while you're writing, when are you going to read? If you want to write good novels, then reading good novels is mandatory. Reading is at least as important as writing.

I write five hurs per day, six days per week, fortty-eight weeks per year. And the four weeks I don't write I'm studying writing. If I didn't read novels while writing one, I'd never have a chance to read novels at all.

If you don't read while writing, then either you aren't going to be writing enough, or you aren't going to be reading enough. Either is bad.

[aadams73]

I got that book for my birthday, but I haven't started it yet because it is a HUGE commitment - it falls into the category of books I call "Lethal If Thrown." I'm glad to hear a high opinion of it.

Pick it up and read a few pages. It's not one the requires you to read it all at once. I've been reading a passage here and there all week and I'm looking forward to this weekend when I can curl up and read further. The way Ms. Kostova weaves her words--and her world--is truly an art.

[maestrowork]

I read when I have time or feel inclined, whether I'm working on my WIP or not. I read for entertainment and to get informed. When I'm writing, I also tend to read the books that are in the same vein of what I'm writing (mainstream, literary, etc.) I may read something else if a book strikes my fancy (satire, sci-fi, thriller, etc.) The thing is, if my brain is occupied with my WIP, I find it hard to detach from that and enjoy something totally irrelevant or different (such as a mystery novel).

I'm a slow writer. I've been working on my current WIP for over a year now. During this time, I've read quite a number of fiction, and tons of non-fiction. I think reading feeds the writing mind...

[Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse]

I most certainly do read books whilst I write. I try to read a wide and diverse range at the same time, so that I can further understand different techniques and improve my work. Its like a footballer trying to learn how to play with both his feet, rather than just relying on his right and being almost laughingly predictable (sorry, just come back from a game).


Nique

[rowriter]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the input!! I really appreciate everyone's responses.

For me, I don't think I've found quite what my writing voice/style is, so that's where the 'negative' influence might come in - especially this being my first *committed* attempt at completed novel. But I guess it can't really be negative if I'm thinking "Okay, look I'm trying to write like Lewis Sinclair"..I mean, at least I recognize it, lol. And it was only really obvious once, after I had read a couple hundred pages of Main Street and got a little immersed in his world. Let's just hope when I'm done with the first draft and start rewriting, those couple of pages aren't the only good ones, ha!

[Nicholas S.H.J.M Woodhouse]

You could always try reading very different writers at the same time. For example, last year I was reading Egger's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and I noticed a 'light and informal vein' pop out of my work. So I started reading some crime fiction by Paul Auster which raised my 'dark and intertextual' vein. It helps you become more rounded. Give it a go.
Go on, go on, go on.

[hpoppink]

This has definitely been the case with my WIP. I have about five novels that I'm reading right now, each very different in genre, voice, and depth; and depending on what I have just been reading, my writing style changes just a bit in that direction.

I figure I'll smooth out the details in the second draft; for now, I'm indebted to those books because they have kept me coming back to the keyboard to add to my story. If not for reading so much, I doubt I would be writing so much.

Let yourself be inspired, through reading, to write; work out any negative results later.

[sassandgroove]

Okay, when I was in jr. high (6th grade) I read 1-35 of Sweet Valley High, in order. In 7th grade i read up to 40 but ahd moved on to other things. I wrote a short story for a school project, and realized when I read it through that is was a SVH story, only with different names, and the main character was more like a younger sister to a high schooler. My point is, yeah, I regurgitated what I had read. But I don't think that is bad. I learned a lot from writing that story, and was even given an award for it.

I have read such a wide variety of books since then that my writing is rich (if I do say so myself:Thumbs: , and is taking on its own voice. I believe reading is the best way to learn to write, tied of course with actually writing.

The only thing I have noticed lately is that after I read Bridget Jones' Diary, some of my jounal entries have "Ate all the cookies. Bah!" or "Excercised today, very good." (Leaving off the I in both those sentences.) BUt since it is my own jounal, I find it more amusing than alarming.

[Lenora Rose]

I think the fear of having others' influence creep into your work is seriously overrated.

One draft may end up a pastiche or an imitation of somethng you've read, but by the time you've gone through rough draft, edit, new draft, re-edit, beta-readers, rewrite...(Repeat steps as personally inclined), any particular and odd bits that manage to last through all of that are likely to be a part of your own developing voice. (If you have one voice. I've met people, writers and singers both, with several.)

Also, don't be afraid to borrow bits of "style" from other writers anyway. Even if it's recognized, if it's done sincerely and suits the story you're telling, it's more likely to be considered tribute than bad imitation. (It's when you borrow storyline or plot, or structure or characters, or all of the above, that you get in trouble, more than style).

Also, a novel draft will take me several months to work on.

A book will take me a week or two to read, if I'm going about it piecemeal around work and writing and social stuff -- or one day if I have real leisure time. I also frequently end up with two or three books ongoing, depending on where I am. These days, the chance of a book's style influencing more than one scene is pretty remote. Other peoples' books have inspired me, but not in the fashion you're afraid of.

[Jamesaritchie]

I'll read dozens of books by dozens of writers over the course of writing a novel. And even if I didn't, there are many things worse than having your style influenced by a good writer.

The problem I see is how can anyone stand to go very long without reading a book? If I had to give up reading or give up writing, I'd give up writing in a heartbeat. Reading is the lifeblood of writing, and possibly of life. From my experience, writers who don't read regularly may as well forget about writing, as well. It probably isn't going to work.

[Azure Skye]

I have to read. I can't go very long without reading something. I would probably develop a twitch if I didn't have my nose in some book at some point. Writing isn't an interruption to my reading or vice versa.

[alanna]

I wasn't aware that it was possible to not read. If I don't read for an entire day, I get very...disoriented. When I was in eighth grade, I read instead of doing- well, anything. That included my chores. Which earned me the drastic punishment that I was not allowed to read for a week.

Apparently my mother didn't take into account the two six-shelf bookcases in reach of my bed and the flashlight I hid under it. :)

[ANNIE]

I read and read and read and then I write and write and write. I love visiting other people's worlds almost as much as I love creating my own.

[Jamesaritchie]

I wasn't aware that it was possible to not read. If I don't read for an entire day, I get very...disoriented. :)

That's how I feel. How is it possible to not read?

[AdamH]

I read for ideas. I read for inspiration. I read for the craft. I read for just the heck of it all. Meanwhile, I'm regurgitating it upon a page in the form of some story I'm working on.

It's difficult not to be influenced by who you're reading especially if you're really into their style. I think it's true for any novice writer. But that's not a bad thing. Imitation is an effective learning tool as long as you're not afraid to take it to the next plateau and create something to call your own.

And, though I don't have any hard proof to back this up, but I think I would be hard pressed to find any writers out there who haven't been influenced by some author who hasn't walked before them.

[alaskamatt17]

I used to be one of those people who couldn't stop reading novels, but now I see how its possible not to. Sometimes I'm too busy with work and school to read and write in the same day, and for me writing always takes precedence. This sumer, though, I'm picking up the pace with reading again. I've got about thirty books to read before I go back to school, almost all of them being science fiction or fantasy, by far my two favorite genres.

[Mistook]

No I don't. Possibly this will be the reason I'm never published, or can't finish the novel, but no, I don't read much at all lately. I know it's inexcusable, and utterly indefensible... it's even hypocritical, but I haven't read a novel in years.

I don't have anything against reading, or against the authors of the world, but I simply haven't been much of a reader the past eight years or so. Does that mean I can't write? Maybe so.

[Avalon]

I write every morning for 2 hours, and read every night for 1ish. If I'm pressed, I might only get to read for 15 minutes, but that's rare and is balanced out by the times I turn the TV off and go to bed early to read a little extra.

I read little bits and pieces of nonfiction all day (e.g., Archeology magazine, a history of a particular religion), five minutes here and there. At night, I pretty much read sf/f novels (which is what I'm writing). I read things that have won awards or gotten good reviews or that I've heard through word of mouth (keyboard?) are excellent. And as much as I read them to enjoy, I find myself always saying, "Isn't that interesting. How did she make that dialogue do that?" "How did she use such a brief description to give me such a sense of the scariness of that place?"

I stopped writing for about 15 years once. I never stopped reading, and reading voraciously.

[Dhewco]

I read, but it's never a new novel. It's usually one of the thousands I have at the house. I'm in poor straights (or however the phrase is put) right now and can't afford to buy books. The library is there, but I tend to check out books and forget I have them, so I'll only go for hands on research.

I rarely read in the genre I'm writing. But that's okay, I have several genres I like to write in...fantasy, alt. history, scifi, and I've tried writing scary stories. I don't do all of them at once, so if I am writing on the scifi, that means I can read one of the other three genres or the occasion Cussler or Clancy book. Same thing if I am writing my fantasy.

David

[James D. Macdonald]

Sean, I mean this quite seriously: You need to read books and you need to finish them if you're intent on being an author yourself.

It isn't necessary that what you read be novels (though I would urge that you read at least some, and finish them). True crime, history, biography ... the libraries are full of books in an amazing number of categories. But really -- read.

[Jamesaritchie]

Does the fact you don't read very much mean you can't write? I can't personally imagine why that would be.

I can only say I've never, ever known a successful writer who didn''t read voraciously. This doesn't mean it's impossible, but it sure seems highly unlikely.

I think writing and writing and writing is extremely important, but I think reading is where we really learn to write well.

"Read as much as you possibly can" seems to be the one piece of universal advice for writers, though I don't think I've known any who needed to be told to read. Every writer I've ever known loves to read, and does so at every opportunity. As King says, "If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the tools to write."

If you don;t read a LOT, I don't see how you could possibly know what's been done and what hasn't, how it's been done and how it hasn't, what has worked for readers and what has failed. I don't know how you could avoid reinventing the wheel over and over again. It seems to me like trying to learn math without ever reading math books. You may eventually discover pi, but so what? Pi was discovered long ago, and it's something math students should be using, rather than searching for.

Maybe it's just conincidental that reading as much as you can is pretty much universal advice, or that I can't remember ever knowing or reading about a successful writer who didn't love to read, but I doubt it. I firmly believe that reading is where writing is learned, and that writing is largely putting what we learn by reading into practice.

Then again, not reading, not loving to read so much you'd rather tsop breathing than stop reading, is so foreign to me that I really can't relate to it at all.

[Zolah]

I don't read AS MUCH when I'm in the middle of something, but that's only because I have limited time, and when the story's cooking all I want to do is hit the laptop. But I still read. At the very least I have to read in bed, or I lie awake for hours, with my brain still whirring.

I wouldn't pick up that brand new book by my favourite author I've been looking forward to for months though, because 1) I won't be able to do it justice while half my brain is still with my story and 2) I know I won't be able to do anything but read until I get to the end of it.

All this means is that when I get to the end of a ms, I have a pile of books in my TBR pile and I spend a month or two doing nothing but devour them before I get back to work.

[stranger]

I'm a bit shocked that there are writers who don't read much. If you don't enjoy novels and find them things of craftsmanship and joy, why would you pour yourself into creating one. I don't always get joy from writing itself, but the it's the potenial achievement of being able to create a good novel that drives me.

And surely being able to tell the worth of your own work comes from reading. The ear for language, even for the correct grammer comes from all that has been unconciously absorbed over years of reading. When I hear about the slush pile of terrible books I think many of them must be written by people who don't read much.

And I don't think the book you are reading effects the writing at all. Writing style is much more engrained than to be heavily affected by what you are currently reading. It'd be affected by what you've read over the last many years, of course.

[hpoppink]

And I don't think the book you are reading effects the writing at all. Writing style is much more engrained than to be heavily affected by what you are currently reading. It'd be affected by what you've read over the last many years, of course.

I can only speak for myself and say that my writing is affected by what I have just been reading; however, from what I've read in this thread, it sounds as if I will outgrow this as I mature as a writer.

The reality may be that my writing style is still in its infancy; hence the books I am currently reading are contributing to its development.

[Jamesaritchie]

I can only speak for myself and say that my writing is affected by what I have just been reading; however, from what I've read in this thread, it sounds as if I will outgrow this as I mature as a writer.

The reality may be that my writing style is still in its infancy; hence the books I am currently reading are contributing to its development.

My take is that having your work affected by the book you're reading is a very good thing. It isn't someting I want to outgrow.

[jackie106]

My take is that having your work affected by the book you're reading is a very good thing. It isn't someting I want to outgrow.

This is very true as long as you are reading quality. I once read a story so awful that I couldn't write anything for the rest of the day. I didn't want the prose style to infect my work. (If you would like to read the worst story ever written, check out Hapworth 16, 1924 (http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/hapworth.html) by JD Salinger. When Ol' JD wrote it, he was either out of his mind or playing a little joke on the editors of the New Yorker.)

I can't imagine not reading. I read everything: computer manuals, tabloid newspapers, dog-eared 19th-century English novels that are returned to the library long overdue, mysteries printed on cheap paper that will turn yellow by the end of the year, cranky (and occasionally illuminating) op-eds in the NY Times, Spanish poetry written by long-dead noblemen, glossy art books with more illustrations than text and reviews of plays that I will probably never get around to seeing.

Even if reading doesn't improve my prose style, at least I get to become a repository of useless knowledge.

Jackie

[Lenora Rose]

I imagine the result of not reading books to be much like the result you get when a writer (even a good writer) in one genre decides to write in one they don't read.

The most excellent literary authors have, on occasion, provided some of the cruddiest reinventing-the-wheel SF books. I know of one mystery writer who wrote an apparantly terrible rehash of old fantasy plots.

Note that this is a recongizably different type of bad from not being able to write. It can be identified by a genre-savvy reader as "Doesn't know the territory" rather than as "Can't write their way out of a paper bag".


If you don't read novels, but do read a lot of narrative non-fiction, or short stories within your genre, or quirky independant comics, or other forms, you can still gain a lot of insight into writing, plotting, etc. But it does lead to the question - why are you writing a novel if you don't read novels for fun?

[rowriter]

In my original post, what I was trying to get at was whether or not people read other fictional books while they are in the process of the actual writing of their first draft of a book. But I'm really grateful this thread has evolved the way it has. I've really enjoyed reading about your different takes on being influenced by others' work.

Nothing adds to my knowledge like actually reading a novel. (And it makes me want to give people the same pleasurable experience I get from someone else's work; it's one of the main reasons I write). I can see people taking breaks from reading novels specifically (I've done it myself, gone for months without reading one); I can't see a person not reading in general being a very good writer, or as someone else said being a good writer in a certain genre if they don't read books in that genre.

I would be curious to know if there really is anyone out there who reads no novels while they are writing their first draft of a piece, intentionally not reading so they can keep "focus" on their own work (sorry if I missed a post stating that). It sounds like most of you aren't concerned about that happening.

[DragonHeart]

If I didn't read novels while working on my own I'd probably have one of the blandest, most generic works ever. Not to say that I don't, but I think reading other novels gives me more insight to my own. It's a lot easier to look at my work with fresh eyes if I've just been completely immersed in someone else's world for an hour or three, and I might even have new ideas to boot.

I've also never been worried about immitating another author's style in my writing. Even when I get ideas from other novels it all gets filtered through my own perspective and usually ends up as something completely different when I use it later on. I honestly don't think I could change my style/voice if I tried. (Not that I'd want to.) Even if my writing sounds vaguely like something I've recently read, it will be filtered and rewritten in my style in the next draft.

Personally, I think reading other novels actually strengthens my own style. I see how they make things work and how all the elements come together for them. By seeing all this I'm able to see where my own is going, and it's easier to spot the paths I may not want to take. Everything I read goes toward my writing experience, if that makes any sense.

In any case I love reading, and I'm not giving it up for anything. XD My library grows by the month, mostly fantasy novels. So far my only exceptions are writing resources incuding non-fiction, and any book written by Michael Crichton. (The first full novel I ever read was The Lost World...in third grade :P. From there I started buying any book I could find by him, and eventually branched into fantasy after seeing Dragon Heart for the first time.)

~DragonHeart~

[La Reine]

I read less when I'm immersed in a big writing project, but I read nonetheless. I'm always afraid of getting carried away by the book I'm reading and not having enough time and energy to focus on my own writing but it never happens that way. I usually get rejuvenated after reading someone else's work. It inspires me. I wish I could read and write more.:(

[DivaWriter]

Hello All -

I'm brand spankin' new here but I wanted to chime in on this conversation. I'm currently working on my first novel, almost done (fingers crossed) and I guess I'm in the minority because I don't read novels while I'm writing.

Before I began to take this project seriously, I read two books just to get my mind focused on the mission, but since that time I've only picked up a book maybe four times and read a line or two -- just to get inspiration.

I know it sounds strange, but like some others have said, I'm someone who doesn't want to be influenced by another writer. Call it stubborn pride or me being a "know-it-all", (which I'm not), but I tend to have my own ideas and once I've clearly mapped out my mission, distractions aren't welcome.

Maybe once I finish this first draft, I'll sit down with a book, read it and then begin my revisions, just as inspiration and of course formatting/dialogue/scene ideas. Who knows?!

I'm just glad to be here doing this and also glad to be seeing a little light at the end of a long tunnel. :-)

[alanna]

One thing I've noticed about reading while I'm writing is that often something I read will give me an idea for a new twist. The result will be something that bears no resemblance to the original idea, but at the same time something I probably wouldn't have thought of without reading. For instance, the idea of a shapeshifter demon becomes an animal with the ability to cast a glamour, that sort of thing.

[BlueTexas]

I read novels while I'm writing. Aside from the fact that I don't think I could not read, you have to put good stuff in to pull good stuff out.

[ricaykw]

While I'm trying to write a novel I only read other novels from other genres. That way I get inspiration and examples of outstanding writing but I don't spend too long thinking drat, I wish I had thought of that, or being afraid that I will subconsciously pilfer an idea.

[Promoman]

Because I work a full-time job that involves a LOT of writing, I don't have a lot of time to do fiction writing on the side, so there are days when it comes down to either reading someone else's novel or working on mine. On those days, which wins out? Well, when the answer isn't "surfing the internet," it's writing.

But I do try to make time when I can to read other novels. I am also a BIG fan of audiobooks, which I listen to in the car. I almost always have one playing, and my mind is better able to absorb the story when I'm a "captive" audience in the car. When I'm home and trying to read, there is this inner voice that lays a lot of guilt on me about why I'm not trying to work on my WIP. Also, after 14 years in TV, my attention span makes it difficult to sit for long periods of time to read.

I do try to read a lot of non-fiction writing books and I try to visit other writers' blogs and resources like this one to see how other writers do what they do. And I try to read fiction that is within the genre I'm interested in, just to see how my published colleagues handle the genre.

I've never honestly even considered being influenced by another writer's style when reading while I'm writing something of my own. That is an interesting fear that some writers have. For me, if another novelist DID influence me directly, I'd like to think it would be short-term because I think that my own writing style would come back through eventually. That is to say, I don't think I've ever encountered an author whose style overwhelmed me so completely that I would have read his work then suddenly written exactly that way from then on.

If I do pick up rhythm tricks or subtle style techniques from other writers, I don't think that's a bad thing at all. The writers I'm reading are published, after all, so obviously they know what they're doing. (Or at least someone thinks so.)

I don't see any difference between learning to write through reading other novelists' finished products and learning to write through reading a lot of non-fiction books that each promise that their way is the only way to write.

It would be nice to think that some day some struggling writer might pick up a book of mine and see something inspirational on my pages. (I can dream, can't I?)

[stormie]

That would be like not breathing if I didn't read other books while working on my own ms.

I read a variety of genres and have noticed that I actually look for how that certain author constructed a vivid sentence, or how he hooked me at the beginning, or the way POV was used.

As I read for enjoyment, I also learn.

[Mike Martyn]

I didn't learn how to read until I was in Grade Four (The IQ tests back in 1958 diagnosed me as a moron. That's long before dyslexia was ever heard of)
Once I started reading, I never stopped, F, Sf, history, science, you name it, usually 3 or 4 books a week, until recently.

Once I started to write, which came like a bolt from the blue last October, I have read very little. Last saturday I went to the public library, and to my utter amazement I couldn't find anything I wanted to take out.

All I wanted to do was go back home and work on my novel. I am the very opposite of an outliner. I have to keep writing to see how it ends.

Sounds a bit odd, doesn't it.

[stormie]

All I wanted to do was go back home and work on my novel. I am the very opposite of an outliner. I have to keep writing to see how it ends.

Sounds a bit odd, doesn't it.

No, not to me. I cannot outline before I write, or even in the middle. I have to see where my story and my characters are going. They take me wherever. And yeah, even though I still read every book I can get my hands on, there are many times when I'd rather be writing.

[Jewel101]

Yes I do.

Before I could finish the Star Trek story I am about to turn into the editor, I had to read the 58 novellas that had already been written up to this point. That's the only way to get the characterization right.

Also, if a friend of mine has recently released a new book, I try to read a little of it either before or after BIC time. Others wait, and then I have a little reading orgy before starting a new project. If I could take an e-book reader into work, I'd probably get a lot more reading in during my lunch time, but that's a no-go.

I will admit, my reading has slowed down a lot since I started writing seriously, but that's because I'm spending more time reading reference material for background info or else simply writing. Reading other people's stuff comes later (although I did read 3 novels at SDCC and am finishing Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop here soon.)

How is that> I have it on my book shelf but I haven't read it yet

[BlueTexas]

Yes I do.


If I could take an e-book reader into work, I'd probably get a lot more reading in during my lunch time, but that's a no-go.



This is how I get most of my reading done. Not with an e-book reader, though...they give me headaches. I bring a book to work, and also my journal. I can't get into real writing mode with work on the brain, but I can get journal time in.

[brinkett]

I try to read a little during my lunch hour, and on the commute to and from work. If I didn't take public transportation, I'd probably read 20% of what I do now.

[Richard White]

How is that> I have it on my book shelf but I haven't read it yet

So far, so good. I'm only at about chapter 6. Got distracted by the new Glen Cook "Garrett, PI" novel and haven't gotten back to it. Hopefully, I'll finish it here soon.

[Jewel101]

So far, so good. I'm only at about chapter 6. Got distracted by the new Glen Cook "Garrett, PI" novel and haven't gotten back to it. Hopefully, I'll finish it here soon.

Hmm, good, can't wait. Is it really sad in anyway, because it seems like it would be

[Richard White]

Hmm, good, can't wait. Is it really sad in anyway, because it seems like it would be

Not so far. It's not the type of fantasy story that "I" would write, but it's well done and heavy on characterization. I'll let you know more once I finish it.

(Just went out and bought three more books today. . .need to sit down and start reading some of these. http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/images/smilies/smileyflag.gif)

[Ken Schneider]

I do. I like to read all the time, and set aside a few hours in the evening to do so.
I find that reading as many different writers as one can, helps me when I'm stuck in my WIP.

You can learn much from others writing that can be applied to your own work, and these different styles can help you form your style.

[Julie Worth]

Once I started to write, which came like a bolt from the blue last October, I have read very little. Last saturday I went to the public library, and to my utter amazement I couldn't find anything I wanted to take out.

For me it was a little different. I grew up reading all the time, several books a week. I stopped a few years ago, as my brain was full.
Then I started writing.

[SeanDSchaffer]

I said something stupid in a previous post, a post which I have since deleted.

In that post I stated that I couldn't imagine a writer being bad just because he didn't read. This was not exactly the best thing for me to have said, and I feel like I should point that out.

When I started writing, I read constantly. But as I became a better writer, I believed it was okay to slack off and not read. My figuring at the time was "Hey, I'm a Writer! I don't need to read."

But the problem with that attitude was that, as I was continuing to not read, my writing only worsened, and eventually my imagination dried up. Until recently I hadn't touched a real book.

I began reading again a couple months ago, and I'm now about two-thirds of the way through the book I started back then. Since that time, I've come up with the beginnings of a decent manuscript, and my writing has improved quite a lot.

So if anyone remembers that errant post I made, please know that I have changed quite a bit since then, and I find that if I did not read whilst I was writing, I believe I would be, as some say, up the creek without a paddle.


I hope this post finds everyone well and having a good weekend. Talk to you all later.

:)

[matthewdsn]

Yes. Something that will compliment but not overwhelm my story. I also submerge myself in the sort of culture I am writing about. For example, while writing about the 1980's, I would listen to an 80's radio station, watch 80's television and so on. I beleive it all helps. To be honest, I can't put pen to paper without some good music in the background.

[ValenaGraham]

I read a lot, many genres. But when I am writing a certain genre, I don't read any similar books. Just so I don't borrow from what I am reading, unawares. Though there is nothing quite like a good book to curl up with. I always have a book with me.

[Danger Jane]

Absolutely. I won't grow as a writer if I don't read other things for fear the influence will show, and as I grow better, it shows less and less.

[Ebelie]

When I was growing up I was lucky enough to live in a house full of books (my friends called my house a library) and I read anything and everything constantly. Now, sometimes picking up a new book can be intimidating (I think I'm afraid of the emotional commitment :Shrug: ) and I find myself rereading much more.

Rereading seems to influence my writing much more than reading a new book. I suppose it's the familiarity of the style? I wouldn't mind this, however I don't necessarily want my YA fantasy to sound like a police procedural.

Maybe it's time for another trip to the library.

[Danger Jane]

I reread a lot, but still have room for dozens and dozens of new books. It tends to be the same things I read over, to understand it better.