Reading to Become a Better Writer

You are what you write through your life experiences and how you feel, because it affects how you write. When you’re happy, you naturally choose words that reflect your state of mind. The same goes for when you feel upset, worried, anxious or scared.

Did you know that what you read can have an impact on your writing?

Through reading we learn how published writers use pacing, tone, point of view and tension, and so much more about narrative style and diction. It’s intrinsic in their writing but you must read lots of different books to discover it.

What better way to learn the craft of writing than from those who have mastered the skills before us?

Have you read any of the great classic writers from our past like Homer who wrote the Iliad and The Odyssey? Or the Greek dramatist, Sophocles who influenced both classical and modern theater? Maybe you’ve heard of the Roman poet Virgil, who influenced Roman storytelling.

English author, Charles Dickens known for his many books like Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Dickens was a social critic and known for highlighting English Victorian society.

Jane Austen is celebrated for her novels like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. Her social commentary and character development techniques are used in almost every school today.

Have you read Shakespeare and noticed how the use of language is conveyed in his Sonnets and his many other masterpieces? His writing is the foundation of the high school curriculum.

What about Russian author Tolstoy? He wrote War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He is known for his epic narratives and philosophical perspective.

Another famous Russian author, such as Dostoevsky, who wrote Crime and Punishment where he explored human psychology, and Anton Chekhov, author, playwright and physician is an incredible writer known for his short stories and works like The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, and Three Sisters.

Chekhov pioneered a ‘theatre of mood’ and narratives rich in subtext. He wasn’t a fan of neat plots, but portrayed ordinary lives with nuance, influencing writers and dramatists worldwide.

Ernest Hemingway — An American novelist known for his incredible short stories and minimalist style. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature 1954 for his mastery of narrative through “The Old Man and the Sea.” He also indirectly won the Pulitzer price for fiction the year before. Hemingway has influenced many 20th century writers.

English writers include J.R.R Tolkien — the Fantasy pioneer who wrote The Lord of The Rings, or George Orwell, the political writer famous for his 1984 novel.

How about Edgar Allen Poe, the Gothic master and writer of many genres like horror, adventure, science fiction and poetry.

Victor Hugo, The French Romantic writer, poet and Dramatist who wrote Les Miserables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Mark Twain — the American humor writer famous for Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Hans Christian Andersen, the Danish writer who wrote fairy tales that are still read today.

I could go on and list many more Great writers from the past whose work is still admired today. All of them are great writing teachers.

Don’t ignore books because they’re old.

The way I see it is that if they’re still in print, it means people are buying and reading them years after publication. Old books that are still in print must have something, or people wouldn’t want to read them.

These writers have entertained us throughout history, and they each have something to offer us on the subject of how to write well.

Their writing span eras and genres and each author brings a different theme and writing style.

Modern and Contemporary best-selling authors like Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Agatha Christie, Silvia Plath and Roald Dahl and many more, have influenced our world and reached a global audience.

How do your favorite writers speak to you? What makes their books special?

We can learn so much about our own writing through reading books.

I read because I love books and devour everything I come across. I also go back and read analytically where I turn to certain books to look at style, diction and how an author tackles certain elements of storytelling and description.

Do you notice how different writers create characters and build tension through dialogue and scenes?

The way authors structure their work can tell you a lot about them as writers, and can help your writing. Reading is also seeing the meaning in between the lines, and understanding what isn’t there, because those subtle omissions carry meaning too.

Imagine if you were asked to rewrite “Pride and Prejudice.” (Impossible, right?) How would you handle it?

What if you were tasked with rewriting “The Lord of the Rings”? Would you tell the story from the same point of view, or choose a different character?

When you read many books from voices all over the world, you will see the differences between narrative style, nuances in the expression of feeling, descriptions, settings and events. Each author has their own way of making the language vivid and unique in their chosen genre of writing.

Each book can become your own private writing lesson

Sometimes you pick up a book, and the words resonate way after you’ve stopped reading. That’s writing talent right there. When you feel hooked hours and days after reading a story. You think, “wow, I felt that moment. I was with the character the whole way.”

Think about what it was that made you feel that way. If you’re not sure, pick up the book again and reread some of your favorite sections. Then ask yourself the question again. What is it about this book that makes me feel the way it does?

Harness that feeling and use it in your own writing.

What kind of books are you drawn to when you read? Do you always read the same genre or do you read different types of stories? Do you always read US / Canadian and English speaking writers? Or do you read authors from around the world?

Your reading habit can help you more than you ever thought possible if you are open to it.

When you’re an avid reader, your writing improves

When you begin to learn to read and write, you are already familiar with the concept of reading. You will have heard stories being read to you and picked up on how the words are combined into phrases to create meaning.

Those experiences carry on when you read as an adult, and you pick up details from the nuances in the writing style and diction. You notice the words that the author chose in favor of others. The more you read, the more you comprehend and discover.

Writers learn to write by practicing, and through determination. We experiment with our work like kids do when they begin to learn. Through trial and error, we pick up what works and what doesn’t work, through successes and failures.

Writers get rejected a lot, and yet we keep going because we love to write.

Line editing is important — to look at your sentences and see what needs to be changed, expanded and cut for the writing to become clear, concise and the best it can be.

This is a skill that you can learn by practicing with your own writing.

Writing can be a lonely craft

Having a real audience to critique your work through reading and being given feedback is important during any project. The right writing environment can be everything you need to support your writing journey.

Who do you give access to your writing? Do you ever get feedback from them?

Have someone read your work and tell you what they think is important before you publish. Don’t just trust that your writing is fantastic from the first draft. Most of the times it takes many drafts and edits to hone your writing skills before it gets published.

When someone reads your writing, you open yourself up to feedback. It’s good to have people read from different backgrounds and age groups. They can be your pre-publication audience.

My writing journey

I recently decided to put my writing skills to the test and got accepted into an MFA program. It was an incredible experience, and I’ve become a better writer after completing it.

During an MFA, your writing is analyzed and critiqued. How you write and its effect on readers are the focus in every class. The professors are usually published writers who have been through working with editors and agents. They know what works in the industry and what doesn’t.

During an MFA degree, you learn from reading theory and craft books of different writing techniques. You learn how, and why, these techniques work through prolific authors. You understand writing in a way that you may not even have thought about before.

The MFA classes include intense workshops where other students read your writing and feedback to you. At the same time, you read other students’ writing and feedback your thoughts to them.

I had two classes a week. We had a reading list of books with 1–4 books which we had to read, and another ten or so as secondary reading. We also had a writing task. The books and writing were examined in every class and we used the writing task as a starting point to develop.

When the workshops began, we were working in groups of five, which changed every semester. For each workshop we had to turn in 2000 words and read the rest of the group’s writing. This meant I wrote 2000 words for each class and then comment on up to 10,000 words of my peers’ writing. (I had two classes per week)

The program was intense, but I loved every minute of it. I made my writing a priority even though I worked full time and I have kids too. I made it through the MFA, and my kids learned that when mommy did her homework, they did theirs too.

The next time you pick up a book, think about what it can teach you as a writer.

My name is Lizzy. I’m a trauma survivor, a wife, a mom, a teacher, and an author.

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For more about me: www.elizabethwoodsauthor.com

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