Reading, Writing, and Reading

When I first started my novel I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. We're talking zip, zero, NOTHING. Late one evening I sat down at my computer and began writing a story about four best friends who'd grown up together in a small Virginia town. I knew I wanted the story to be about witches and magic but that was the extent of my knowledge. I didn't have an outline, which would have been fine if I had thought the story through and had some understanding of where I wanted it to go.  I hadn't done the first bit of research on Virginia or the occult and wasn't sure what kind of witches my girls were going to be. In short, it was a train wreck waiting to happen.

It became clear to me within the first six months that what I was doing wasn't working. The story was too complex, the characters too numerous, and the back-story encapsulating too much history for such an inexperienced writer to keep control of. Stephen King could have done it. Anne Rice could have molested it into a masterpiece. But I was drowning in fluff and inconsistencies, bored with some of my own characters, and on the verge of giving up.

Determined to finish what I'd started I began reading books about the craft of writing, notably Stephen King's On Writing. I also searched the internet for advice, finding several helpful sites for writers, one worthy of mentioning is Holly Lisle's website: http://hollylisle.com/

What I learned was that there was no method to my madness: I wrote at various times of the day, I wrote without a plan- mental or otherwise, I breezed in and out of tenses, I was writing from a POV I wasn't comfortable with, and I was writing far more than I was reading.
Any writer worth their ink will tell you to READ, READ, READ. It's one of the most valuable tips I've ever received. On average I read three to four books a month- I'm a fairly slow reader anyway but because I'm studying the writing as I read, it takes me a bit longer to finish.  This is excluding my Christine Feehan marathon months where I'll start and finish four or five of her books. :)

Stephen King tells a story in On Writing about running into a man who said he was a writer. "So what are you reading right now?" Stephen asked the man.  "I don't have time to read," the man answered.  "Then you're not a writer," Stephen replied. --I'm sure the guy was pissed off and problem thought Stephen was a pompous ass but who can argue with the King??? Certainly not I, especially when, through my own experience, I know he's right.

When I read I write better. It's that simple.

Though I'm a sucker for YA and paranormal romance I try to keep a plethora of genres and writers stocked on my imaginary Kindle bookshelves. I wish I could say that I've learned something from every book I've read but that is simply not true. I love, love, love The Twilight Saga but did I actually learn anything from Stephenie Meyers writing style? Sadly, no. That's not to knock her writing, Stephenie's talents rest within her imagination; she creates characters her readers fall head over heels in love with- from Edward and Bella to, my personal favorite, Emmet, and that is nothing to sneeze at!

Here are a few writers whose books have taught me a thing or two. Remember that I am not a literary genius with a BA in English, I just call 'em like I see 'em.

The  classics are important, two examples are Hemingway and Steinbeck. Hemingway teaches us to do away with unnecessary adjectives- snuff the fluff and get to the heart of the matter. Steinbeck- one of my favorites- paints beautiful, lively worlds with every word- greatly feeding the imagination with very little.

Amid today's published writers no one can move time like J.K. Rowling. She is, in my opinion, the master of moving forward. Harry Potter seamlessly goes from day to day, month to month, year to year in a fashion that I am far from understanding let alone utilizing.

Then there are the writers whose books have inspired me whether by style or story.
The Fallen Series by Lauren Kate is certainly not a literary work of art but the story is rich and lovely. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice draws you in with her unparallelled ability to set the scene. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is dreadfully boring and depressing but her use of proper grammar is infectious. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is one of my all time favorite books; riddled with inequality and sadness, yet it's inspiring and hopeful. Lastly, The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. As I said before her style may not be the best, but no one can make me love and hurt the way Stephenie Meyer did. I knew Bella; when she loved I loved and when she cried I cried. That my friends, is good storytelling no matter its simplicity.

Today I have a much more structured approach to writing. I still fly by the seat of my pants as far as plotting goes, I rarely use an outline but I do have one. I write in the mornings, usually between eight and eleven, trying for at least 1,200 words a day. I research ever facet of the story, from location and architecture to weather, religion, and statistical data. I've claimed past tense, third person point of view as my own- though I know I share them with many other writers. Most importantly, I will not pick up a pen or open my laptop until I've sufficiently read.

Reading is the most important thing a writer can do, it opens up our imaginations and helps us adequately express our thoughts and words. "Well-read" should always be the sharpest tool in a writer's toolbox.