Writers Read

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”― Stephen King

Ah, the intertwining of reading writing. How often have we explored that? One is so completely wrapped up in the other. On this blog I admit, I talk about writing more than I do reading…despite my best intentions. I am, after all, a writer. 

But it’s always worth stepping back and reminding myself just how interdependent they are. How on earth would one expect to write a story, let alone a GOOD story if that writer didn’t read? Where would that writer think he or she would come by the tools necessary to write if not thorough reading and the love of words? Is writing a special talent bestowed by the gods? Does the writer wake up one morning with the amazing ability to create stunning and engrossing tales?

Hardly.

Yes, there is a talent involved just as there is with an artist. But the artist must also love the creation of art and his brushes and color box just as the writer must be forever in love with words and stories. The artist doesn’t simply wake up one morning with the ability to paint simply coursing through his veins any more than the writer wakes up with his ability. 

There is learning, and appreciation and polishing the craft until it shines. Mr. King is quite correct. If the writer doesn’t make time to read, the tools and the time needed to write are lacking.

It’s worth paying attention in those English classes at school. If you’re not getting what you need in said classes it’s worth pursuing proper English through such things as books like Strunk And White’s Elements of Style or Chicago Manual of Style  or Karen Elizabeth Gordon’s Deluxe Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar For the Innocent TheEager And the Doomed  or take some additional classes at your local community college or visit your library and check out some helpful grammar and language books or throw something like “learn english grammar online free” into your search engine and see what you find. 

And for heaven’s sakes, read other books. If you intend to write nonfiction, read it and think about how you can do it better. If you love fiction, read in your genre, read, read, read – and in other genres as well. Don’t just learn story structure, feel it and live it. The same goes for script writing. How can you break the rules if you don’t even know what they are? If you’re into writing scripts, read articles about creating them and read scripts!  Here are some teleplays or read scripts at Drew’s Script-O-Rama.

 

And if you don’t enjoy all this reading, then odds are you really don’t want to be a writer, so don’t, just don’t. 

And if you do enjoy all that reading, you don’t HAVE to be a writer; you can just skip the writing part and have a great time losing yourself in books, scripts, articles, whatever!

But circling back one last time, the writer doesn’t have that luxury. So read.

Good Books-Great Books: Readers and Writers Together

“Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once.”

― Stephen King

Good man, Stephen, and any reader or writer worth his or her salt will agree with him whole-heartedly. 

Readers don’t want a dump of info all at one time. They don’t want to be given every little inside tidbit that would ruin the ending of the story for them. They want to be teased and tricked, drawn into the story, to become a part of it. 

Writers want to provide them with just that. A tease, a hook and some great entertainment. 

So where does that leave everyone? 

In a very good place. How many times do the giver and receiver actually agree on what they’re looking for and trying to do? 

Consider the great books you’ve read.  Even the not so great ones. There are hints and suggestions as you go along and part of the enjoyment of reading is guessing what’s coming next. 

From the writer’s side part of that same enjoyment is hooking the reader, giving that reader just enough to make him or her want to keep reading; need to know how it’s all going to turn out. So how do writers do that? That’s not so easy to explain. You could say they create fascinating, engaging characters against an engrossing setting with an intriguing problem to be overcome. 

I could say that and probably very few people would know what the heck I was talking about really. No, it’s much more complicated than that. Each writer is different in his or her approach. Some create detailed outlines, other fly by the seat of their pants. Some write with words flowing, others have a movie running inside their heads. “Just open a vein” some writers say. Others quip, “stare at the blank screen until blood beads on your forehead.” 

Readers just have to enjoy and maybe leave a favorable or not so favorable review. You guys have it easy. And, when Writers are in reader mode they have it easy to. 

Then there’s writer mode and things change. If you’re a reader aiming at writer status there are a few things you should remember. For starters learn the language you’re writing in. No, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it can’t be sloppy. Read other writers you enjoy. Get hints and tips on style and story crafting, but don’t go the plagiarism route. You’re creative. You don’t even have to consider taking someone else’s work. But reading the work of the others can give you a very good feel for story structure, dialog flow and what genre you feel most comfortable in writing. Get to know your prospective audience. Lots of readers read in many genres, but each genre is a world onto itself. Learn all about that world. 

Readers – well I’d like to urge you to support the writers generally and specifically the ones you really enjoy reading. Think about posting a review somewhere when you really enjoy a book. Talk about what you liked and maybe didn’t like. 

Writers and readers are a team. So come on, tell us what you love about reading, writing and what authors you enjoy reading – and if you have the time, why. The more we share the better we become.

Writers And Readers Symbiotic Relationship

Writers and readers have a symbiotic relationship. Each needs the other. 

So why, really, do people read? Personally I think most people read to escape, to experience things they might not (or plainly could not) experience in everyday life.  They can explore new worlds if science fiction or fantasy, they can feel the adrenaline rush of a car chase, or a race from an exploding volcano or maybe experience a jungle trek astride an elephant in India without actually going there.  Fiction offers the opportunity to live another life while remaining safe on the couch. 

And that’s just for starters. Readers can also experience the wide range of human emotion and deeply moving experience from the safety of a comfortable chair. Or they can relive an event in their lives via the book in their hands. They can do all this while skipping the boring parts, and they have they opportunity to learn from all this without actually suffering through those experiences first hand. 

Think about the emotions you, as a reader, may have experienced. For example, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, confusion, contentment, curiosity, disgust, grief, adrenalin rush – shall I go on? I could. On and on and on.  Those few I mentioned are merely a taste of what a reader can absorb through your written words. Expand your mind and consider the many more emotions such as jealousy, joy, frustration – and bring them to life in your writing. They lend a nuanced richness to any story and hold your reader’s eyes to your page while their palms may sweat or their heart race a bit faster. 

Think about how you can entice your reader. Curiosity is in us all. If you use that to your advantage you have a grip on your reader. If he or she is curious about what’s going to happen next then you have them hooked to the next scene, the next paragraph and perhaps even to your next book or script. 

And what does the reader give the writer in return? Praise, respect, payment for the writer’s labors, perhaps fame and fulfillment. As a writer, you, too, are a reader, probably a voracious one. Pause and think about a book you’ve read recently, or pick it up again and skim it. What does it stir in you? Emotions? Memories? Desires? Whatever it is, presuming it’s a book you enjoyed, it no doubt delivered an experience you enjoyed. 

So, doesn’t that tell you that you, as a writer need to set goals for what you want to stir in your reader? If you want your readers to cry you have to build up to it, prepare them, make the story choices necessary to bring them to that point. There are, of course, the unintended reactions you might stir. Like causing laughter when you’re aiming at solemn. And that might just be okay.  The aim is to take the reader along for the ride, to surprise him, present him with a perspective he might not have entertained before. Veering off your intended course could bring more depth, more richness. It will be up to you to decide if that’s the case. 

It’s truly a dance between writer and reader. So much to share. What was the latest book you read and how did it move you?