How Reading Leads to Better Writing

Reading is equally as important as writing. I’m not exaggerating. And I can’t tell you how many people I know who expect to become published, or who write regularly, but rarely or (gasp) never read. Well, why is it so important?

Let’s face it: You are not the first person to try and write a novel or book. (I hope that revelation was not a shock to you.) Others have done it, and very likely, others have done it better, some even better than you ever will, but that doesn’t mean your book can’t still be good or contribute something different. It is to say, however, that there is something to be learned from reading other writers’ work. What can you learn?

There’s loads to learn, and not just from the best books written. You’ll learn just as much from reading the toilet paper of the literary world as well. You can read the bad books to discover what not to do. And you’ll be able to pick up on it pretty easily. There are some books where you just know that you can do better, where the author decided to use passive voice, absurd dialogue denotations, and drew similes so disgusting you nearly hurled. But seeing these bad things teaches us something: the next time we do something one of these bad authors did, we’ll recognize it more readily and won’t be as likely to make that mistake again.

But the good books help, too. Of course you’ll learn loads from reading Charles Dickens and Earnest Hemingway, but it’s not all about literary fiction. In fact, it doesn’t have to be about literary fiction at all. Literary fiction is not the best, even if the critics might think so. You should read the best authors in the genre where you want your book published. Don’t let someone else tell you which types of books are better. You can’t write without reading, and if you don’t have time to read, don’t bother writing. You need to be able to compare your work to something, and your writing will never improve unless you read lots, at least (and I mean a minimum) of fifty books per year.

Reading is your most important tool when it comes to improving your writing. Someone who writes without reading is no better than someone who performs open heart surgery without going to school. Trust me, that’s not a hyperbolic comparison. Please read.

Don’t agree with me? Have something to contribute? Let me know in the comments.

Dialogue Tips: Part I

Certainly one of the most difficult parts of writing fiction is the dialogue. How do we speak? And how do we make sure our characters sound realistic? Well, here is Part I of Dialogue Tips:

The first thing is, how do we denote our dialogue? You might not think the denotation of who says what is all that important, but it is extremely important. In pretty much every case, you should use “said” to denote your dialogue, or perhaps the equally plain “ask” if it was a question. Perhaps you were taught to use words like “exclaim”, “squealed”, or “screeched”. You should never use these words. Why?

The answer is pretty simple. If the reader cannot tell that the character is screaming, exclaiming, or “insert absurd dialogue denotation here”-ing from the dialogue itself, then the dialogue is not good enough. There should be no need to use any other word aside from “said”. Your dialogue should convey whatever emotion the character is experiencing. If the character is yelling, it should be apparent simply from reading his quote.

Now there are exceptions, of course. Some of the best writers have used an occasional “squeal” or “bark”, but if you want to make your chances of being a successful writer as high as possible, you should steer away from these words (except on rare occasions when they are necessary).

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Jack screamed.

“We need to leave, now,” Jack said. “They’re right behind us.”

Perhaps not a world class example, but you get the point. Be more specific in your dialogue, and the reader should know that Jack is concerned and yelling. You should not need to tell them Jack is yelling.

Keep checking back and I will post Dialogue Tips: Part II soon.