Read Like a Writer

Fact: quality writing comes from extensive reading.

In order to appreciate the possibilities of language, the rules of creation, the ways they can be broken and break out of the rut of your own expression, reading is possibly the most instructive channel for writers. As much as a well-written book can teach you what works for it, a badly written book can teach you what to avoid. Reading exposes a writer to different styles of expression, sharpens their craft and develops their understanding of what makes for excellent writing. The truth is: reading nourishes writing.

Even while reading for pleasure, I am automatically scanning for the hidden seams in the author’s work, the devices that make the prose or verse effective. It can take several readings of a written piece to fully comprehend and appreciate a writer’s craft.

Here are some basic guidelines on how to read like a writer:

1) Impression
As a reader, my first impression of a written work is how it makes me feel. As a writer I want to know WHAT about it makes me feel a particular way. What makes it enjoyable or not? Why couldn’t I stop turning the page? Why did I put it away after the first chapter? When I read as a writer, I become sensitive to how content is received by a reader.

2) Words and Language
The lifeblood of any written work is, of course, the words. I like to examine word choices: how creatively have they been strung together. The images they create. Their specificity. How they contribute or take away from the content and the author’s intent. For example:
“Sam could be downright ornery, but he was still my boy.”
From this bit of dialogue, the reader gets a sense of dialect, the speaker’s background, and emotion. When reading like a writer I am alive to how words and sentences convey information.

3) Structure
I take time to appreciate how the written material is organized and presented. Clarity and transitions of paragraphs, chapters, stanzas. Why a writer chooses a particular structure for their work can yield insights into the story or poem and our understanding of it. It could be constructed as a mise en abyme or told from different points of view by multiple narrators. How do structural choices contribute to the work?

4) Substance
When I read as a writer, I look for patterns, unexpected details and connections that bring out the complexity or simplicity of plot, character, idea. How has the story or poem been layered? Is it heavy in symbolism? Does that enrich or dilute the narrative? Does the story or poem have substance?

Well, that wraps up this post. Give me your thoughts. Until next week!