Read. Read everything you can. Read the classics. Read bestsellers. Read books in the genre you’re writing. Read popular books that have been panned. Read everything you can.
One of the great things about being a fulltime novelist is having more time to read. I still don’t read as much as I should, but I’m reading a lot more than I did a few years ago. I’m currently reading No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. It’s one of those books where I marvel at the language and the style. It’s very literary, and it reveals a master at work.
Before that, I was reading a novel by a popular suspense author. I didn’t finish it. It didn’t teach me anything. I found it boring and average.
The hope in reading is that you learn things, that you are able to be shown examples of how to do things. If you’re reading a great novel, it’s the equivilant of playing tennis with a great player. It might be overwhelming, but then again, you realize that it takes not only talent but lots and lots of pratice.
And the best practice outside of writing itself is reading.
Definitely! Great post. Did you see this list of 100 novels?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/4248401/100-novels-everyone-should-read.html
My favorites:
Shane, Atonement, Scarlet Letter, The Deerslayer, Good Earth, East of Eden, & more…
My reading list is so long!
I hadn’t seen that so thanks for the link. A great list. I like reading a classic and then reading a current bestseller next. As the saying goes, so many books, so little time . . .
I read to be entertained but in the process I learn quite a bit.
For instance: While reading The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons, which is an epic love story set in WWII Leningrad, I learned how desperate the people became during the seige. To stave off hunger some people would pull the wallpaper off the walls and lick the backing. Apparently,
potato paste was used as an adhesive. Imagine that.
The winter was so cold that the dead could not be buried in a timely fashion because of the frozen ground. Therefore, the dead, in come cases, would stay in one's house for weeks if there wasn't anyone to remove them.
I was definitely educated in the horrors of war through a heartbreaking story. I was entertained, but I also grieved with fictional characters whom I know had real counterparts.
Do you see yourself writing a war story someday?
I can see writing a historical novel one day perhaps. My grandfather served in WW2 under Patton so I've always wanted to write a story about him–perhaps half set in the past and half in present day. But who knows. I don't think my strengths work in a historical novel which is usually rich in detail. The Bronze Horseman sounds like an interesting story–will need to check it out.