One of my favourite things about writing is you get two hobbies for the price of one, so to speak. In order to write well, you must read well, ideally in and outside of your genre. I would also add read non-fiction widely too. Ideas spark from all over the place so cast your net widely and you will spark a greater number of ideas you can develop for your fiction.
I can't think of any writer I know or who I have read about who doesn't love their books and reading their favourite authors. The other great thing is you learn a lot from absorbing story whether you read directly or whether you take the story in via another format.
I'm going to a local theatre this weekend to see All My Sons by Arthur Miller. I haven't seen any of his work before and am looking forward to this and finding out more. I am certain I will learn something from the way he presents his story and that the actors will bring it to life wonderfully. That in itself tells me about how to use dialogue to great effect and reminds me to read my work out loud. There is nothing to beat that for hearing how your dialogue sounds. If you trip over your own words, so will any potential reader.
So if you're not writing, read! Take stories in wherever and whenever you can - audio books, short stories, flash fiction and listening to/watching plays, whatever takes your fancy here! (Radio plays can teach a lot about how to really make dialogue work given you can't see actors' facial expressions and so on, everything must come through the words as spoken. I suspect this is a really interesting challenge for an actor.). I've found it especially useful to enjoy stories in genres and forms I don't write in myself, partly I think because I come to these with no expectations.
I can't think of any writer I know or who I have read about who doesn't love their books and reading their favourite authors. The other great thing is you learn a lot from absorbing story whether you read directly or whether you take the story in via another format.
I'm going to a local theatre this weekend to see All My Sons by Arthur Miller. I haven't seen any of his work before and am looking forward to this and finding out more. I am certain I will learn something from the way he presents his story and that the actors will bring it to life wonderfully. That in itself tells me about how to use dialogue to great effect and reminds me to read my work out loud. There is nothing to beat that for hearing how your dialogue sounds. If you trip over your own words, so will any potential reader.
So if you're not writing, read! Take stories in wherever and whenever you can - audio books, short stories, flash fiction and listening to/watching plays, whatever takes your fancy here! (Radio plays can teach a lot about how to really make dialogue work given you can't see actors' facial expressions and so on, everything must come through the words as spoken. I suspect this is a really interesting challenge for an actor.). I've found it especially useful to enjoy stories in genres and forms I don't write in myself, partly I think because I come to these with no expectations.
RSS Feed
