Learning To Write Hack #3: Read
Continuing on a theme of borrowing from Mark Lee's excellent Songwriting Hack series. I read his entries, posted from experience. I gain from them what I can that applies to "regular" writing versus songwriting, and regurgitate it back here. Helps me remember it if I read, analyze, and write, but someone else may benefit as well. Plus, it gets me ever closer to those first million words.
The theme of his 3rd hack is Listen. Basically listen to lots of music. He provides a list of some of the best in certain genres. The same thing applies to writing. Read. Read. Read. Read. Read. Get it? READ.
Read all kinds of stuff. Mysteries. Science Fiction. Techno-thrillers. Short stories. Historical novels. History books (not textbooks). Magazine articles. Newspaper articles. As you read these things, analyze them. They will all be different, but have some things in common. Analyze the structure. A newspaper article will have a different structure than a magazine article, which will also differ from a novel. Each is different, but each is important.
While you read newspaper and magazine articles, think about why you read some to the end, and some you stop reading halfway through. Analyze the structure of each and find the differences.
As you start reading a new novel, see how long it takes you to decide if you will keep reading it or put it away. When were you hooked? When did you pass the point of no return - the point at which you must finish the book to see what happens? Did you ever get there? How far did you go before you gave up on it? Now compare the ones where you were hooked early and the ones where you never were hooked, and see what is different about them. Learn from the good as well as the not-so-good.
I do lots of reading. So much, in fact, that it often keeps me from posting here. I fire up the laptop in the morning after the house gets quiet, jump to my Bloglines account, and start reading, just knowing I'll find something to write about there. And I find lots of things to write about. The problem is, I just keep reading and reading. Then suddenly it's time to go to work, and I haven't posted anything.
Besides doing lots of reading, I do a wide variety of reading. I read professional news stuff. I read blogs of some very, very experienced writers that write very well. I read some blogs of some not-very-experienced writers that write very well. I also read some blogs of some not-so-experienced writers that don't write well at all. Why read the stuff that is poorly written? So I can analyze it and think how I would rewrite it to sound better. I learn as much from reading the poorly written stuff as I do from reading the well written stuff.
So, today's lesson? Read!
The theme of his 3rd hack is Listen. Basically listen to lots of music. He provides a list of some of the best in certain genres. The same thing applies to writing. Read. Read. Read. Read. Read. Get it? READ.
Read all kinds of stuff. Mysteries. Science Fiction. Techno-thrillers. Short stories. Historical novels. History books (not textbooks). Magazine articles. Newspaper articles. As you read these things, analyze them. They will all be different, but have some things in common. Analyze the structure. A newspaper article will have a different structure than a magazine article, which will also differ from a novel. Each is different, but each is important.
While you read newspaper and magazine articles, think about why you read some to the end, and some you stop reading halfway through. Analyze the structure of each and find the differences.
As you start reading a new novel, see how long it takes you to decide if you will keep reading it or put it away. When were you hooked? When did you pass the point of no return - the point at which you must finish the book to see what happens? Did you ever get there? How far did you go before you gave up on it? Now compare the ones where you were hooked early and the ones where you never were hooked, and see what is different about them. Learn from the good as well as the not-so-good.
I do lots of reading. So much, in fact, that it often keeps me from posting here. I fire up the laptop in the morning after the house gets quiet, jump to my Bloglines account, and start reading, just knowing I'll find something to write about there. And I find lots of things to write about. The problem is, I just keep reading and reading. Then suddenly it's time to go to work, and I haven't posted anything.
Besides doing lots of reading, I do a wide variety of reading. I read professional news stuff. I read blogs of some very, very experienced writers that write very well. I read some blogs of some not-very-experienced writers that write very well. I also read some blogs of some not-so-experienced writers that don't write well at all. Why read the stuff that is poorly written? So I can analyze it and think how I would rewrite it to sound better. I learn as much from reading the poorly written stuff as I do from reading the well written stuff.
So, today's lesson? Read!
posted by learningtowrite | 7:21 AM
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