Do you/Can you read books while writing your own?

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FigiChic

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I'm really curious - are you able to read other works WHILE you are writing your own? Or do you have to concentrate on just yours without the influence or distraction of other books?

:)
 

Siri Kirpal

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Depends, but usually, yes, I can read other people's books while working on my own. I find certain voices, certain stories, certain themes help with certain books I'm working on, but don't help with others.

I do try to keep my consumption of fast-paced thrillers down while I'm working.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

ironmikezero

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Yes . . . If I'm currently working on a fiction project, the other books tend to be non-fiction or related research materials. I may have three or four other books under routine perusal at any one time. If the current project is non-fiction, any number of research materials may be read contemporaneously; but, only one fiction book might be in the mix. I don't think this pattern is an anomaly; most authors read a great deal, almost all the time.
 

Maryn

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Sort of. (What a great answer.)

I can read books that are nothing like the one I'm writing. If I'm writing a thriller, for example, I can't read thrillers, suspense, or mystery, but I can read fantasy or romance.

What happens when I read in the same genre or one close to it is that what I'm reading influences what I'm writing. That's no good!

Maryn, easily confused, apparently
 

Donna Marie

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I am working on my first fiction novel and avoiding reading any other fiction. I am too paranoid about getting into the other characters and having it affect my own writing. I'm very much missing reading though. I did try selecting a different genre (Self Help), but my head wasn't in it. So, no extracurricular reading until my manuscript is off to the publisher.
 

Elle.

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For me reading is an integral part of writing so I couldn't do one without the other. I strongly believe one way you become a better writer is by reading lots and large so I read all the time when I'm writing, I read fiction of the same genre, different genres, full-length novels, novella, short story collections. I would go crazy if I couldn't read.
 

Enlightened

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I agree with Donna Marie. I only read snippets of other authors; author works that are comparable to my own. I do this to see how something is done. I try to avoid the specifics of dialogue and what not.

I read anything, like a newspaper, when I do any kind of writing (to help me separate myself from whatever it is I write, fiction or not). As long as it is not fiction, although some reported stories are way out there.
 

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For a long time, I found if I read someone else's work my writing would start echoing their style. At some point, though, that stopped. So yes, at this point I can read while I'm writing, although I tend to gravitate toward genres and styles very different from my own.
 

waylander

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Yes. I write pretty slow so I'd be giving up reading for a couple of years if I didn't read when I'm writing.
 

lonestarlibrarian

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If I'm trying to write in a certain style, I find it very helpful to help me pin my "voice" down-- getting a feel for the rhythms and the vocabulary and things. For example, if I'm trying to write something in a very Victorian style, or whatever, I read a lot of period works.

That said, if I'm just trying to write in a genre that doesn't have a specific "voice", I try to avoid other works in the same genre as long as I'm actively working on something. So if I'm writing fantasy or steampunk or whatever, I'll keep my reading limited to history or biography or something else, where I can feel more free to draw on the elements I absorb, without worrying if I'm cribbing. But it's not good to avoid all-reading-in-your-genre totally--- or else you lose track of the expectations readers have in your genre, kind of like trying to write a Harlequin novel without ever having read a Harlequin novel. :)
 

Aimless Lady

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You betcha. I NEED to read. As much as I love writing, I am lost in this world without having a book on the go. Bedtime and reading for an hour (sometimes even longer) is the best way to end my day. :)
 

shizu

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Yes, as long as it's not in the same genre/style/tone etc. of whatever I'm working on. I'm actually pretty relieved to see several others saying the same thing, because for the longest time I felt irrationally guilty about that.

I don't think I've even been influenced without realizing it (at least no one's ever called me on it!), but it's always been something I worry about. Playing it safe in that regard spares me the paranoia.
 

BethS

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I'm really curious - are you able to read other works WHILE you are writing your own? Or do you have to concentrate on just yours without the influence or distraction of other books?

:)

Reading, for me, helps fill the well. I don't think I could stop. That said, some books seem to dry up the fount of inspiration (no idea why) and others can be "catching" in terms of voice and style. I have to be wary of those. But there are also certain authors who stimulate me to better writing.
 

Lakey

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If anything, I read more since I started writing fiction in earnest. I learn so much from everything I read - I learn about technique, and I get loads of ideas and inspiration.

When reading something with very strong voice or style, I have occasionally found it creeping into what I write during that time. I don’t mind this. It’s easily fixed in revisions. Much more important to me, it means I am learning and absorbing. It means I can recognize what makes a passage sound like a particular writer, and know what levers to pull to change it.

What I have avoided reading while I’m working on my novel is other modern fictional reconstructions of the era I’m writing about. I think someone said this above - I don’t want to absorb someone else’s anachronistic errors and confuse them with my own research. I read loads of fiction writing during the era I’m writing about, however. It’s crucial for getting details of dialogue and quotidian life that you can’t get from reading history alone.
 

DanielSTJ

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I am one of the well ideology.

It fills up when I read and it drains when I write.

If I didn't read, I'd have nothing to write about or any power to write it with.

Just my two cents!
 

Ari Meermans

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I'm of the reading "fills the well" camp and I completely agree with novelist Roz Morris when she says:

Reading—the good and the bad—inspires you. It develops your palate for all the tricks that writers have invented over the years. You can learn from textbooks about the writing craft, but there’s no substitute for discovering for yourself how a writer pulls off a trick. Then that becomes part of your experience.

Writers who read—all genres, nonfiction as well as fiction—have deep wells to draw from . . . yes, even for current works in progress.
 

bearilou

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I tend not to read in my genre while I'm writing said genre. When I'm between projects I will.

Otherwise, I have many varied and diverse tastes. I usually have 2 or 3 books going at one time that I'm reading. :D
 

alkin

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Is not only possible but necessary. It's fuel to elastic creativity.
 

Dona St Columb

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Yes, absolutely. But I try to either stick to the same genre (ish) I'm writing- or non-fiction related to my current WIP, otherwise I find myself going off track (I discovered this when I was writing a contemporary YA but reading a lot of Agatha Christie's Poirot, and my dialogue became this bizarre mash up of the two styles!) I agree that reading is essential to refuel / fill your well :)
 
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