Reading While Writing Books
For many years, I have typically read five books at once, which is not so much a sign of my compulsion to read, but of a tendency to start a book and then not finish it. No more! Now I read one book at a time, and try my best to finish it. Perhaps I owe my new, more disciplined style of reading – and my more organised bedside table – to the advent of writing my own books.
When penning my memoir over several years, especially latterly, I decided I did not read books by other authors. Somehow, they were a distraction. And although I could have done with some of those, even so, I found that the bulk of my usual reading – which I have always enjoyed for itself and found helpful as research – about buxom, winsome wenches and Colonel Brandon-style heroes, was too far from what I was doing then, to feel as if it contributed in any way to my main obsession with getting my own book finished. Even for comfort and light relief, I felt disinclined to take up reading matter, except for a very few, reliably amusing authors.
One I recall is Marian Keyes, who though writing women’s fiction with an eye for the happy ending, does so with clarity, wit and humour that I relate to, reminding me of the values in everyday, human contact. There is a human quality of pathos underneath her writing which feels tangibly real and very funny.
And now, after a stint at MBS – writing books which I have used to try and teach me more about the realities of life – I am firmly enjoying writing women’s fiction, which I enjoy and find rewarding. The genre contains disciplines all its own, and encourages me to creative attempts which I have previously assumed were the privilege of better writers than me.
I am delighted to notice that in the context of creating women’s fiction, reading any books helps with the challenges of writing. Both to discover what I like, and what does not work for me, every book is instructive, and every hero and heroine teaches me a bit more about the crafting delights of fiction. And if I chance upon a truly awful book – rarely – this is a most useful spur to get my own writing.
Can you suggest any authors I might try?
Please share:
August 24, 2016 @ 9:32 am
I can’t imagine not reading, it has been such a normal state of events for so many years now that when someone (and I have met them) who say – No, I don’t read much, it’s as if I am speaking to someone from another species, I just can’t understand it. Mind you I have never read more than one book at once – for my leisure reading that is. I have enjoyed all of Lisa Jewell,s books, though my usual reading does tend to be crime fiction the odd Women’s Literature book is a nice change, mind you the last one of Ms Jewell’s that I read sort of spanned the two genres I thought and did it extremely well I thought .
August 24, 2016 @ 9:40 am
Ah, thank you, Diane! I shall look her up. I think I may have read some of hers in the past, but I shall be delighted to revisit.
I love reading cross-genre books, which seem to be meatier, somehow – and, in a way, more representative of life. Like you, I am stumped when I come across someone who doesn’t read, can’t understand it. But then, I suppose it is a relatively recent invention in human terms. Thanks for your comments!
September 2, 2016 @ 9:11 pm
Hi Fran,
I feel reading others books help us write, even thought reading takes time that we could spend writing. However when we read we pick up tips on how to write and how not to write. The latter being the most important.
September 3, 2016 @ 4:16 pm
Hi Julie!
Thanks so much for visiting! I read books for about forty years, which definitely teaches us about writing. Even the poor stuff teaches us how to do better, doesn’t it?! Perhaps my insistence with splitting into either ‘reading’ or ‘writing’ comes from the depth of my involvement with writing memoir, which was taxing… glad to say I now enjoy running both together. ((xx))