I don’t have time to read…

I hear this ALL of the time but if you want to write you MUST read. Don’t take my word for it…

Stephen King says if you don’t have time to read, then you don’t have the time or the tools to write.

Why is it so important to read if you want to write? There are so many reasons that I can’t possibly cover in this blog but let’s deal with some of the most important.

1.We learn to write by reading.

We learn what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes seeing something done badly is incredibly important for our books.

Recently I read a fantastic story with a really interesting premise. The writer had clearly run out of steam by the time they’d reached the end so the finale was dissatisfying, didn’t make sense, wasn’t credible and would’ve been better with almost any of the other suspects and their much more credible motivations.

What did I learn from this? A satisfying ending is at least as important as the beginning. If your objectives are for readers to come back for more and to enjoy your story then it’s a breach of trust not to finish your book as strongly as you start it. I won’t read this author again because I don’t trust them to put the work in. If their objective was simply to get me to ‘buy their book’ they’ve succeeded but I won’t buy another one.

Why is this important for me? I have a plot hole in my next crime novel. Its of my own making. I changed the plot. It’s become important to me to make this plot change work. It contains a message about women saving themselves. However, none of my ideas are working to resolve it. I can chance it; I can fudge it but then the last impression of my story will be disappointment so I will stick it out as long as it takes and find a solution that will work. Or I will go back to the original plot. I don’t want to read a fudged ending so I definitely do not want to write one.

We learn about developing characters, world building (which to us straight talkers just means describing the location our story is set in), developing plot, using language and how to craft a great story by reading stories.

One of my favourite authors is Marion Todd – a crime writer whose stories are based in St Andrews. Her main character is unexpected and definitely not a run of the mill detective. She is older, got a full, life that doesn’t include marriage and children and is a joy to read. She’s not a raving alcoholic, she doesn’t have a gambling or drug addiction, she has a very normal capacity for self-sabotage and seeing the world through her eyes is a great experience. So, her main character and her very simple way of weaving police procedure through her stories has shown me what I need to be able to achieve.

Others I love are Anne Cleeves, Ian Rankin, Donna Leon and Andrea Camilleri who love the locations and cultures their stories are set in. They show the beautiful alongside the ugly underbellies of Shetland Isles, Edinburgh, Venice and Vigata (Ragusa), respectively. They give us a sense that we are there and gaining an understanding of the people and their place that usually only comes from travelling extensively. What a gift!

We learn the good, the bad and the ugly. We subliminally absorb information about writing, telling stories and how to do it better. Reading is our research!

2. It gets our creative juices flowing.

Last week I spent a blissful week in East Sussex reading crime novels overlooking a lake. I don’t so much read as absorb fiction. I read every day but on holidays my husband’s major complaint is that I take 9 novels with me. This week I managed to read 7. Reading good stories, with excellent coffee overlooking a peaceful lake surrounded by ducks, geese and ponies was just perfect.

Why did I spend my very rare week off reading? Because it relaxes me. I can be anywhere in the world in those books – this week I spent a lot of time in York, the Shetland Isles and St Andrews. In one week!

I forced myself not to work this week and my fingers are itching with the need to get words down. My plot and character ideas are overflowing. I can see my MC in my head investigating her next case. My creative brain is on fire. I write every day and I don’t see any alternative to that if we are serious about writing. If you are meeting every single one of your word count goals and deadlines then feel free to ignore me. If, however you are one of the 99% of us who are very serious about our writing and have not yet achieved what we aspire to, then the fact is that we must write every single day.

So, why on earth did I force myself not to write? Because my brain is tired, it needed a rest and it’s been heavily dominated by writing over reading since lockdown began. I’ve written a LOT of books since March 2020 and read less than is ideal. By forcing myself to stop for a week I have built up an appetite to dive back into it with a vengeance. This works for me because I have read a lot and because for 50 weeks of the year, I write every single day.

Reading gets us excited about writing. It the literary version of freshly ground coffee beans brewing or baking bread. It’s the anticipation of the joy to come.

3. Learning about our chosen genre.

We’ve all heard it said that we need to write what we know. It definitely helps although I am of the opinion that fiction writers are meant to ‘make stuff up’. However, one thing we must know is our genre. There’s nothing technical or mysterious about this statement. If you want to write crime, romance, horror, fantasy – then you need to know what readers are looking for. If you read that type of book then the chances are that you already know.

Many writers choose to write in different genres – I’ve written political fiction, non-fiction, contemporary women’s fiction and crime – and that’s just my books. I’ve ghostwritten memoirs, business and self-help/personal development books as well.

I read contemporary women’s and crime fiction. I read other books but I don’t know enough about those genres to write in them. I have genuinely tried romance and it’s fair to say that I am rubbish at it. That follows because while I don’t mind there being a romance in a book I prefer when it’s a subplot, so it makes sense that I would struggle to write readable romances.

The good news is that your research as a reader is to read as much as you can in your chosen genre/s. How exciting is that? I love that that’s part of my job.

I understand what readers are looking for and where my writing broadly fits into that. I don’t have to be an expert but I know enough to know that I write ‘whydunnits’ rather than ‘whodunnits’. My readers already know ‘whodunnit’. I am very character driven and my sense of location/setting and plot are all about revealing more about her – her strengths, weaknesses and growth, alongside what I hope is a pacey plot.

There are so many reasons. We know it increases our empathy and capacity to understand ourselves and others. It provides an escape when we feel ‘stuck’ in a situation we feel unable to change. It uses our vastly underutilised creativity which helps us in every area of our lives. It helps us to understand and resonate with others. Its cheap and easy to do – we can get free books at our local libraries and long may that continue.

These are only 3 of the many, many reasons reading is absolutely critical for writers.

Before I finish, I want to say – if you don’t enjoy reading then the chances are you are reading the wrong books. Don’t stick with a book you hate unless its required reading for work or study. I give every book 30 – 40 pages and if I’m not interested by then I give it to a charity shop. I am incredibly unlikely to read any book that has won a prize for the writing, I am simply not interested in great writing – I want a damn good story. I particularly love crime novels based in the UK, Scandinavia or Europe. That’s not to say that others aren’t good – that’s just what works for me. Find what works for you! Don’t listen to other people’s advice about what you should read. Nothing puts me off more than something ‘I should read’. Reading is a joy so I’m sticking to what fits my ‘joyful’ category.

If you have a block to reading – audio books are an excellent way to listen to stories. I coach people who have a block to putting words on paper, so they record themselves telling their stories and transcribe and edit them. How you get your reading/listening in is up to you. An audio book is going to take you on a journey and teach you how to tell a story as well.

I’d love to hear what you’re reading right now!