The last book recommendation for improving the craft is all of the books.
I'll let that sink in for a moment. . .
All good? Excellent. Because while craft books are admittedly awesome, one of the best ways to improve your craft is simply by reading other books. If they were good enough to get published, you can usually bet they did something right. Even the ones that make you so angry you want to throw them against the wall must have some merit, or they wouldn't have gotten published. Someone out there liked that hateful book, and it's your job as a writer to figure out why. Sure, the plot may be so full of cliches you want to scream, but maybe the author did an exceptional job at building the sexual tension between the hero and love interest.
Reading recently published books can also clue you in to the market. You don't necessarily want to write towards the market, but if you're trying to decide between two ideas you genuinely want to write and you've noticed there seems to be a growing interest in one genre over the other, that might give you the added boost you need to make your choice. Or you might decide that the market is so saturated with X that you don't want your novel, which features X, to get swamped, or declared derivative before you've even had the opportunity to show how original it is. Knowing what's out and seeing how other authors handle similar subjects can direct you not only about what to write, but how to make your idea the best, and most original, it can be.
So your homework is to read books. Books in your genre, books outside your genre, nonfiction, whatever you can get your hands on. Books outside your genre can teach you how to make a truly twisty mystery or develop believable romances, although they may only show up as subplots in your own work. Nonfiction can give you rich settings and high concept situations or show you how to develop characters with depth. Even advertisements can teach you how to write persuasively, a handy trick for when your villain tries to win the hero to his side.
There's more to learning the craft than being told how to do X or Y: you need to see how authors do it. And the only way to do that is by reading. A lot.
Isn't that great?
So true! Reading other books is the best research. And I love books that make me want to throw them against the wall!
ReplyDeleteTotally true. Reading is like teaching yourself how to write effectively. Even the books that you REALLY don't want to read.
ReplyDeleteYep. I'm nodding my head. I've read a lot of craft books, but hands down the best teacher of all was other novels.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely don't mind having to do that...I luuurv reading. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, definitely. Reading in and out of the targeted genre helps so much!
ReplyDeleteReally, this is the best advice. Someone once asked me how I learned to write thrillers. Well, I've read so many, it's really just a matter of paying attention to see how my favorite authors do it. I also read outside my genre, too - I find that just reading other novels is the best learning method there is.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you! I learn so much about writing from the books I read, in and out of my genre.
ReplyDeleteYes yes yes! to this post. All of the books I read--in the genres I write and outside of them--teach me so much about craft. They also inspire me to write and push me to improve in a way that craft books, while great, generally don't.
ReplyDeleteGood point, well made.
ReplyDeletemood
Love this advice! I consider reading (anything!) to be professional development. And you're right: I learn just as much from the books I hate as I do from the books I adore.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, it is great!!! And I'm finding reading all genres, not just one, to be even more helpfull. It gives for expansion that can be limited sometimes within genres. Here's to reading!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE reading as homework! I'm going to go work on that right now. ;-) This was such a great post, Sophia! (And not just because I love to read)
ReplyDeleteI love to hate books that make me angry.
ReplyDeleteEven though I know it's helpful, when I'm reading something that I really don't want to read, it's hard to make myself keep going.
ReplyDeleteYou get to see all those tactics craft books talk about in action in novels. That's when you get your 'of course!' moments.
ReplyDeleteTerrific advice! Love this: "Someone out there liked that hateful book, and it's your job as a writer to figure out why." Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! Totally awesome. What a great challenge to rise out of our dark judgment and contempt and instead find the merit, find the worth in each published work.
ReplyDeleteThere are not many jobs where the homework is as much fun as the work. This is great advice!
ReplyDeleteI love your list of writing books, haven't got to the James Scott Bell books yet but I heard him speak at a conference and he was amazing! Bird by Bird is my favorite, with the Fire in Fiction a close second, but you are right, books on writing only take you so far. Analyzing books you read and your own writing is critcal.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think anyone would mind getting this homework!
ReplyDeleteAnd it's so much fun!
ReplyDeleteLearning by osmosis-- the awesomest way to learn?
ReplyDeleteIt's like trying to be a photographer without looking at photos by others-- you can do it, but you could be doing it *better*.
ReplyDeleteThat's another great point-- reading is usually what inspired us all to be writers, so when we read a great book ('I wish I'd written that!') or a bad book ('if THAT could get published') we're motivated to get back to the page.
ReplyDeleteThank you kindly, Mood.
ReplyDeleteProfessional development and tax deductible!
ReplyDeleteVery true. While reading within your genre lets you see the tropes and staples, reading outside your genre lets you get past those limits and think outside the box.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jennie B.!
ReplyDeleteEven though sometimes it can be so very *hard* to get past the bad points of a book, it's definitely helpful.
ReplyDeleteWriters are lucky types-- apart from the constant rejection, I guess.
ReplyDeleteBy the time I got around to reading Bird by Bird, I'd already heard about the sh*tty first draft, and most of her other points seemed to be covered by a mix of Julia Cameron and Natalie Goldberg. I think I might have appreciated it more if I'd read it first.
ReplyDeleteHave you read any of Donald Maass's other books? I've got Fire in Fiction and the Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook; I'm excited to finally get my hands on them.