How reading can make you a better writer

All good writers are readers, so how are we to understand the consequences of influence in our work? Influence plays a significant role in how we fashion ourselves and our creative outputs. That is not a bad thing, but an important and necessary part of learning. We are always learning from the stories we consume, whether we are conscious of it or not. Reading the work of others helps you develop a range of technical skills and aesthetic ideas that will support the expression of your own voice. Imitating others is just part of the process and, in the end, you will find your own voice, informed, as it inevitably will be, by the voices of others.

Rather than being ‘critical’ in terms of judging something as faulty or flawed, critical reading is about being attentive and bringing a level of awareness into the reading experience to sharpen your focus on the craft. I read with curiosity and an open mind. As I read I look out for things that surprise me, that move me, that bore me, that intrigue me. What is it about the chapter endings that makes me keep reading late into the night? Why does the dialogue feel so rich even though not much is being said? Why don’t I find this character convincing? What is it about the rhythm of the words that makes the sentences sing? Why is my attention flagging?

Reading in this way can provide insight into the intricacies of the craft of writing and can be a valuable problem-solving tool. I worked with a memoir writer who was struggling with what to put in chapter one and, more importantly, what to leave out. So she went away and read the first chapter of half a dozen memoirs noting how the writers engaged the reader and set up the story. This helped her enormously in determining how she would go about that all-important first chapter.

There is another benefit to critical reading that is often overlooked. To develop your work to a publishable standard, at some stage you will need to stand back from the work as much as you can in order to evaluate what is and isn’t working. This isn’t easy, as the overall effect of a work, the structure in particular, can be hidden by a focus on events, characters, style and other specific story elements. You need to look hard, and you need to practice looking. Reading the works of others gives you the necessary practice to sharpen your critical reading abilities so that you can apply this type of lens to your own work and improve your draft.

As Stephen King says in On Writing (Hodder & Stoughton, 2000), ‘If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.’ 

LAUREL COHN is a developmental book editor passionate about communication and the power of stories in our lives. She has been helping writers prepare their work for publication since the mid 1980s, and is a popular workshop presenter. She has a PhD in literary and cultural studies. www.laurelcohn.com.au