Serious writers constantly educate themselves. I was talking to a veteran writer--over 60 books to his name, and countless short stories--and he told me that he was always looking for opportunities to improve.
Reading is essential. Not just reading how-to books, but reading books similar to the ones you're writing to remain familiar with the market, and master works and best sellers, interchanging pleasure reading with analysis. A friend of mine with a good number of published books under his belt told me he spent about a year looking just at beginnings and endings of successful books. That's the analysis part. The pleasure reading part is important too, though.
Reading as a reader removes a barrier to the writing and allows you to immerse yourself in the world. When you emerge, then you can think about how you felt when you were reading, and how you feel now that you're done. It may inspire you to try to get your readers to have similar feelings, or make you decide that the writing is ineffective and you won't pick up a book like that again. Then you can take steps to make sure your book evokes the good stuff, or doesn't let down your readers in the same way.
Now, tastes vary wildly. There's room for all kinds of books in the world. But I would not want to write a book that I wouldn't want to read myself just because one just like it sold millions, or the market for paranormal romances is better than it is for epic fantasies. It's taking a big chance to write a book that you wouldn't read. Why? Lots of reasons, but the main one is, if you don't like that kind of book, how could you possibly know what it is about, for example, a romance book, that keeps readers coming back for more if you don't appreciate romances? It's not going to be some element you can guess about and then slap on the page, like sex, or a melodramatic confrontation that leads to a kiss. The entire work has to evoke a feeling that the reader wants, and readers are sensitive to disdain, false intention and insincerity.
My blog entries have been really long lately, so I'll talk about more ways that writers educate themselves in the future. In the meantime, if you're a writer, don't forget to read!
2 comments:
" When you emerge, then you can think about how you felt when you were reading, and how you feel now that you're done. It may inspire you to try to get your readers to have similar feelings, or make you decide that the writing is ineffective and you won't pick up a book like that again."
This statement reminded me of how I felt after reading "Twilight." Yet- I read all 4 books. Sort of like watching bad TV - it's on, it's easy, everyone's talking about it.
Exactly! If you picked apart the book while you read it, you wouldn't have the chance to look at it as a whole, and decide that yes, you do want to read the rest--and then figure out *why* you want to read the rest. Watching bad tv is a perfectly good reason. The Jerry Springer of books can still be a draw, and fun, for an audience. And don't let prejudice get in your way. If you can't stand it or disdain it, don't write it. If it's a guilty pleasure, you can evoke that same feeling of guilty pleasure in others.
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