As writers, we often have too many things pulling us in too many directions, and it’s easy to let some things slide to the back. One of those things often forgotten is reading, but it’s essential to improving as an author. If you never read, you can’t be a good writer. But at the same time, reading to just read doesn’t make you a better writer. Instead, authors must take time to read with purpose. Let’s look at what that means and how you can take even just fifteen minutes a day to read with purpose and improve your writing.
Reading With Purpose
Reading with purpose means that instead of mindlessly reading or reading for fun, we read to understand. When we read, writers should examine not just what is happening in the story, but why and how it works. Just like how surgeons must observe surgeries to improve, we must observe other writing masters and learn from their skills. By reading with purpose, we can learn new concepts for telling stories and practice it in our own writing, improving our novels.
Before we get too deep into this topic, I want to point out that I am not encouraging you to plagiarize other authors. What reading with purpose does is make you figure out what works so you can take the concepts and apply them to your own books. Don’t copy a character or plot point or description. Instead, emulate the mechanics that made it have such a big impact. We are trying to gather skills, not story ideas.
Selecting Books To Read
Reading with purpose isn’t just about being strategic when reading but also when picking books to read. There are three categories to consider when picking books to read with purpose: comparisons, mentors, and recents.
Comparison Books
Comparison books, also called comps, are stories in your genre that are similar to your novel in some way. These are the books that would sit in the same bookstore section as your novel. They may share a similar writing style, plot, setting, or tone. Ideally, these novels have a fanbase that will also like your story.
When you read comparison books, ask yourself questions about the story’s mechanics. What is working? What isn’t? If the book is giving off the vibes you want your readers to feel, how it is done and how can you replicate it? If the plot feels it falls short somewhere, why and how can you avoid doing the same? What questions you ask is up to you, but make sure you stop and think about the why and how of the story.
Mentor Books
Mentor books are books you read to learn a specific skill. What do you struggle to master in your own writing? It could be tone, plot, tension, descriptions, action scenes, etc. Pick where you want to improve, and then find texts that do it well. By reading mentor books with purpose, writers can learn by example and practice it in their own books.
When picking mentor books, you’ll probably end up reading outside your genre. For instance, if you struggle with creating good tension in your book, read some best-selling thrillers. Even if you write historical fiction, you can apply what concepts you learn to your own novel. If you struggle with prose, you may need to pick up some literary fiction books that are renowned for it. If you aren’t good with interpersonal moments between characters, read romance novels. That genre is built on character interaction. Don’t worry about duplicating the romance relationships, but focus on how the characters speak and act with each other. Each genre has its strengths and weaknesses so, by reading across the genres, you increase your chance of learning a wide range of skills at their best level.
Recent Books
Lastly, every writer should read recently released books in their genre. It’s important to know what is trending and what readers are talking about. As much as we want art to exist in its own bubble, it doesn’t. We need consumers for art to exist, which means you need to understand what the world is hungry for right now.
Find the bestsellers for the year and read a few. As yourself what the common threads are between the books. Is it tone? Plot twists? The type of love interest? Once you know what’s common through them all, you’ll understand where your novel will sit in the industry. I’m not saying you have to change your story to match the newly released books, but be aware what readers want and why. It will help inform the marketing for your novel and may influence what book you write next.
Reverse Engineering Books
Once you know which books you want to read, it’s time to start reading with purpose. If you have a specific question in mind (like how to write breathtaking descriptions), then you can read through the novel and pause on any sections that showcase that skill. Analyze what the author did, then why and how. Then ask yourself if it worked or if it’s a lesson in how not to do it.
If you are just analyzing the text overall, you can read one chapter at a time and look at the major aspects of story: plot arc, character arc, descriptions, tone, and prose. Once the book is finished, it’s good to look at these on a book-level and not just a scene level too. Did the protagonist grow as a person? Were there any plot holes or dropped threads? How did the theme develop and appear throughout the book? Reading with this broad purpose can be overwhelming though so pace yourself. Maybe just read fifteen minutes and then look back at that section to see what sticks out to you. It may take months to read one book, but hopefully you’ll get more out of it.
If you’d like to read a book with purpose but not so much intensity, I recommend reading with one question in mind: When do I feel something strongly? Instead of paying attention closely to the text, you must pay close attention to yourself. When do you lean forward over the book? When are your shoulders tense? When are you shocked or curious or frustrated? When do you laugh out loud or cry? By paying attention to yourself, you will know when the author it doing something right. If the book can get a reaction from you, then it’s doing its job. When you feel yourself responding to the story emotionally, stop and think about why. What made you react? Then stop and look back to see how the author did it. Take notes and see if you can apply the same concept to your own novels.
Reading Books For Pleasure
Even though this post is about reading with purpose, I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that nobody can read this way all the time. If you are doing it right, reading with purpose takes a lot of concentration and energy. Don’t wear yourself out with it. When you feel tired, take a break and return to it later. I read multiple books at once, and usually one is a novel I’m reading with purpose and the others are just for fun.
We are writers because we love stories. Don’t kill that love by making it all about work. Give yourself permission to read something just because you want to experience it. In order to be a creative, we must refill our creative juices. Reading for fun does that. It helps us stay excited about story and can energize us to write more. So read with purpose, but also make time to read for the pleasure.
Final Thoughts
I know this was a different type of topic today, but I hoped you got some good pointers for improving your writing craft. Reading is important. Writers can’t just bury themselves in their own stories and ignore the world. We need to know both sides of art: creating and consuming. Take time to experience the art of others, give it the time its due to really understand it, then see how it can impact your own art.
Thanks for reading!
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