When I was young, I read all the time. Percy Jackson, School for Good and Evil, Narnia, and more. My life encompassed fictional worlds before I ever wrote a word. From reader to writer, I took my inspirations from fiction and crafted my own worlds, characters, and plots.
Then life happened. Busy with school, work, and the unexpected, I had to choose what to do and what to forego. Reading got knocked down the priority list. My reading time got reduced to art history homework and psychology books. Boring. Writing became difficult and I feared I’d lost my gift.
We live in a crazy busy world where everything and anything wants our attention. While it’s easy to turn to TV or napping, we can’t sideline reading. Writers should be readers for so many reasons, if only to maintain our sanity.
Immersion in Prose
Whenever I hang out with a certain group of friends, I talk and act a little different. One group defaults to hugs and smiles whereas another resorts to distanced sarcasm. It’s not a drastic change, but being immersed with a certain group in a given space changes how I connect and react to them.
Same thing with reading and writing. If you’re immersing yourself in art history homework (as I was), it’s difficult to then write an epic battle between a sorcerer and a Phoenix. Reading a certain book, or even watching a specific show, will affect how you write and what you write. If all you ever do is schoolwork or the 9-5 job, your writing will reflect that immersion.
Experiencing Different Styles
C. S. Lewis writes very differently from Rick Riordan. Both are incredible wordsmiths, but each has their own style that is uniquely them. When it came to discovering my writing voice, I read lots of different authors and learned from their many individual voices.
I’ve found writers that I love, writers I admire from a distance, and writers I simply don’t like. But each voice revealed another aspect of my own that I wouldn’t have realized without them. Not to mention that by reading other people’s work, I find where my personal voice needs improvement. Reading exposes you to new different personalities, styles, and ideas.
Discovering New Ideas
I’m always fascinated by others’ imaginations. Whether it’s James Dashner’s apocalyptic maze or Lucy Tempest’s incredibly deep cultures, I find myself upping my writing game to compete.
And that’s the beauty of reading: you get to see other people’s ideas and be inspired by them. Inspiration comes from many places, but the best place to look is in a book. If you’re writing a science fiction novel, it’s good to know how science fiction writers describe their technology. If you’re writing nonfiction, it’s beneficial to see how nonfiction writers provide information in an effective way.
Again, I’ve found plots that I love, scenes I admire at a distance, and characters I simply hate. You don’t have to love every book you read, and you don’t have to enjoy every aspect. Learn what clicks, what doesn’t, and go from there.
Fan Fictions: Why Writers Should Write Fandoms
I found out about fan fictions when I was fifteen or so. The idea boggled my mind because you couldn’t publish it as your personal work or parade it around to agents as proof of authorship. So why write fan fictions?
Here’s what I think: they show appreciation to the original creator and they provide an opportunity to increase my writing ability. All of my fan fictions are written so you could read the original work and my piece and everything would lineup. Timelines, character relationships, personalities, settings, etc. I usually add my own characters because I want to experience the novel in my own way, but sometimes I think the idea presented can be done better.
This leads into writing opportunities. While they can’t be traditionally published, fan fictions offer a chance to develop your skills outside your book. The more you write, the more you grow. My fan fictions are a road map of my many transitions, from little description to elaborate worlds and droning prose to quick pace. Fan fictions allow space to learn more about character arcs, developing a world, and crafting intriguing plots without a bunch of leg work.
Final Thoughts: Seek Good Work
There are a PLETHORA of books to read. It can be dizzying. And with self-publishing exploding, anyone and everyone is looking for a review and will pass a free copy and Instagram follow for a cute review. Believe me, I fell into this (mainly because I’m too nice).
But not every book you find will increase your writing ability. Like I mentioned with immersion, whatever you consume will affect how you write. If you read a lot of self-published books that weren’t properly edited or simply got thrown onto Amazon because the author was told they could write, you’ll end up degrading your ability and falling into new bad habits.
Not saying all self-published books are bad; if you haven’t read Lucy Tempest, look her up (she’s incredible). What I’m saying is have a healthy mix of self-published and traditionally published. Look for books where the writer spent a lot of time finessing their craft. If you come across one that’s not so great, offer some encouragement and pick up Agatha Christie or another well-developed writer. Be a beta reader and develop your editing skills.
As important as it is to read, you also need to watch what you read. What you consume will fill your mind and heart, and that will show in your writing.