Stop Reading!
February 17, 2008
Well, don’t stop reading, this, just reading in general if you happen to be writing a book. This advice from an article in The Writer. Before I go any farther, know that I don’t get paid to promote anything. There will be no kickbacks for Kat mentioning any book, magazine, movie, shampoo or lint remover in my blog. Anyway…
The author alleges that reading a published piece while trying to write one interferes with a writer’s voice, can lead to writer’s block and at the very least, inhibit their style. I chair a large writers group and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve admonished them that “writer’s read”. I still believe the best writers are readers, but this article made a lot of sense. How many times have you been half way through a best seller and thought “man, I wish I would have written that”? Worse, how many times have you been curled up with a book and thought “what’s the use, I can never top this”? Have you ever blown out a weekend reading someone else’s book when you should have been writing yours?
Personally, I’ve done all of these things at one time or another, but I also find spending a few hours with a really good book inspiring and motivational. Perhaps the difference for me is that I don’t read in the genre I write for. The article went on to allege that if a writer’s supply of reading material disappears, they will create the stories they seek themselves.
Interesting theory, what do you think?
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1.
damyantig | February 17, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Reading something in another genre seems like a good idea.
I do stop reading fiction books on the same subject that I am doing creative writing in.
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2.
hammer | February 17, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Reading inspires me. Different authors creep in and talk to my imagination from time to time. But that’s just me.
3.
QuillDancer | February 17, 2008 at 7:09 pm
I think I quit even trying to write after I thought, “I can never compete with this!” one too many times.
4.
rel | February 17, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Kat.
Let me give this some thoght…………………………
There. No, for me reading is the stimulus to write. I think things like: yes, I can do that, or so that’s how that’s done. My perspective on pov has changed with broadened readings of heretofore unread genres.
In the end though I believe what S. King and E. Gilbert have said: to be a writer, write!
rel
5.
Icey | February 17, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I think reading while writing also helps you improve your own plots. Like maybe you are stuck on your plot and you read a book – or a see a movie for the matter – and suddenly the picture widens because you are flashed with more ideas, more ways to resolve conflicts,…
However , I do have to agree with you: a writer must be a good reader.
6.
katcampbell | February 17, 2008 at 7:59 pm
damyantig: Thanks for stopping by! I write for children, so reading out of my genre is necessary.
Hammer and Rel – I agree, I find I’m inspired by great writing and I can often see in someone else’s work how to fix something I’m doing incorrectly.
Quilly – You are an excellent example of why this article might actually be true. Stop reading…write your book!
Icey – Thanks for stopping by! You make a good point.
7.
Delmonti (Dave) | February 17, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I’m not a great reader of books…. I maybe get through 2 or 3 a year! (I know, I know….).
Currently tryiong to get into Cloud Atlas…. although, it’s very slow, I may just lob it onto the “too slow” pile yet.
8.
Absolute Vanilla (an | February 17, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I find reading while I’m working on my own manuscripts is very distracting – so what I tend to do is not read while I’m writing and read lots when I’m not – you know those times inbetween editing a manuscript or starting another. I find reading deeply influential, and am a firm believer in read, read, read – but at the appropriate times so that your own voice isn’t hijacked.
And I mostly read in my genre – but not always.
9.
katcampbell | February 18, 2008 at 2:14 am
Dave – You’re just saving up all your reading time for my book. My rule of thumb for books is: if you haven’t grabbed me by page 100 – straight to the yard sale.
AV – Distracting is exactly the right term. Time spent reading is time away from writing in my case.
10.
frothingatlemouse | February 18, 2008 at 4:15 am
At some point I hope I can actually finish something, if only to produce something that even mildly resembles what entertains me. I love good stories, humor, creepiness, whatever. I would love to contribute to the stream, just knowing how much I like to read.
Sorta like having kids. I want them to enjoy the ups and downs and weirdness that is life, which is why I had them. Did that make sense? Of course, it’s deeper than that, but, you know. Now I’m blathering.
11.
Hayden | February 18, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I agree. The need to write is fed, (although poorly) by reading in the same genre. I adore Tolstoy, Gabriell Garcia Marquez, Salmon Rushdie, Milan Kundera. I know I will never write anything to compare. Still, the pleasure of reading is less OVER ALL, than the pleasure of writing. When I read, though, it lessons the hunger to write, and overall, reading is so much easier.
I stopped reading novels – with exceptions for a few I consider masters – years ago. Instead I read books on science, on critters. Somehow understanding the amazing secrets of “how things work” feeds my need to write – perhaps because my writing tends to be about “how things work” from the perspective of human emotions.
Perhaps those who have never read voraciously are best served by reading – it was so much a part of my daily routine from the time I was tiny that I do recognize the cadence of language, the power of spare line, the word-webs that suck you in, unawares, to a central point of inevitable action -
12.
colleen | February 20, 2008 at 9:31 am
Reading inspires me to write. Sometimes it feels like too much second hand information when I’m avoiding first hand accounts.
13.
Jamaican Dawta | February 20, 2008 at 6:48 pm
“I still believe the best writers are readers”.
Oh yes, I agree, which means I need to read more.
“How many times have you been half way through a best seller and thought “man, I wish I would have written that”? Worse, how many times have you been curled up with a book and thought “what’s the use, I can never top this”? Have you ever blown out a weekend reading someone else’s book when you should have been writing yours?”
You’ve just described me to a T. But I think, finding one’s own unique voice should be every writer’s focus. After all, it would be so boring if everyone’s writings sounded the same. I like to read other writers’ works so that I can learn the various writing styles and increase my vocabulary.
Thanks for sharing the points in that article.