Alice Kuipers's Blog: Book Club, page 56

"So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who..."

“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.”

- Roald Dahl, Matilda (via observando)

hccfrenzy:Like many of you, I read compulsively. I love books,...

hccfrenzy:

Like many of you, I read compulsively. I love books, paper books, ebooks, picture books, any books. I read a lot for pleasure. But I also read like a writer. This means that I notice things that other authors are doing so that I can improve my own writing.

Every book is full of possible lessons for writers. Each time I learn something new from someone else on the page, I feel my storytelling possibilities growing.

Here are five useful tips for reading like a writer yourself:

1. Make notes and highlights. Some eReaders have seriously useful highlight and clipping capabilities. Use these when an author does something dazzling. Otherwise, good old pen and paper are just fine.

2. Read certain paragraphs aloud. When you hear how your favourite author uses language it’ll help you transform your own writing.

3. Notice technical skills on the page. If you don’t know how to punctuate speech, or if you struggle with how to use flashbacks, or if you wonder about sentence length or how to end chapters, take novels you adore and see how those authors managed these aspects of their writing. To paraphrase Stephen King, add to your writer toolbox. Think of each skill you pick up as another tool in your writing toolbox and notice tools that you’re missing. For example, it took me years to try writing in third person. Every time I see another writer doing it well, I make notes and appreciate their skill. Another technical aspect I note is good dialogue – when I see an author using great dialogue, believe me, I make notes. 

4. Pay attention to writing that doesn’t work for you. It sounds contrary, but actually it’s really helpful for you to notice what type of writing fails and why. What is the author doing that makes the story clunky or makes the dialogue flat? You can learn lots from what is unsuccessful. Also, with writing that doesn’t work for you but that everybody else just LOVES, try to figure out why. Make notes, read it aloud, think about how each sentence is formed and what the author is trying to achieve. 

5. Finally, and maybe this should have been first: read widely. Read lots of things you never normally read – broaden out to sci-fi, romance, poetry, plays, shampoo bottles, everything. Notice how every author uses words, not just authors you go back to time and again. In this way, you’ll broaden your own writing capabilities.

Reading like a writer helps me appreciate the written word – but I also remind myself to read for pleasure too. If I’m getting too writerly and forgetting the fun, I take a breath, turn the page of another book, and dive in.

Let me know how reading like a writer works out for you. Leave me a note on my site or on Facebook. Now, where did I put my book?

ALICE KUIPERS is the bestselling, award-winning author of Life on the Refrigerator Door, The Worst Thing She Ever Did, 40 Things I Want To Tell You, and most recently, The Death of Us. She lives in Saskatoon. Find her at alicekuipers.com and alicekuipersauthor. 

Emilie's Book World: Blog Tour - The Death of Us by Alice Kuipers

Emilie's Book World: Blog Tour - The Death of Us by Alice Kuipers:

This makes me very happy

bookpatrol:Have Book Will TravelPatrick Girouard was assigned...

bookpatrol:

Have Book Will Travel

Patrick Girouard was assigned the task of creating the visuals for the 2013 Illinois Library Association’s iREAD® Summer reading project. The theme was “Have Book Will Travel” and here is his journey around the world. 

What a trip!

Girouard’s blog post on the project 

I’m going to read it again…

I’m going to read it again…

{Blog Tour} The Death Of Us: Review and Author Interview

{Blog Tour} The Death Of Us: Review and Author Interview:

Release Date: August 2nd 2014 *THAT’S TODAY GUYS!* Genres: YA, Mystery, Publisher: Harper Collins Series: Standalone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars Goodreads Twitter Summary: A recovered friendship, a da…

Out to a restaurant - entertainment!

Out to a restaurant - entertainment!

rhmimages:Explored on Flickr yesterdayWriting prompt - use...

rhmimages:

Explored on Flickr yesterday

Writing prompt - use this image to write 1000 words about a journey that leads to an unexpected destination

vincentvangogh-art:Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a...

vincentvangogh-art:

Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book, 1888

Vincent van Gogh

Thanks for this start to the day, Renata

hccfrenzy:Meet Alice Kuipers (alicekuipersauthor), author...

hccfrenzy:

Meet Alice Kuipers (alicekuipersauthor), author of 40 Things I Want To Tell You and The Death of Us! 

City of Birth: London, England – in a hospital by the river called St. Thomas. If any of you have been on the London Eye, you can see it well from there.

City of Residence: I lived in London until I was eighteen, then I moved to Manchester, also in the UK. When I was 24, I moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in Canada, where I’ve lived for the last eleven years. 

Favourite Book Of All Time: That’s the hardest question ever. If any of you have read other interviews with me, forgive me if I give a different answer today. My favourite book of all time changes depending on the day of the week. Right now, the book I most love is The Bees, a debut novel by Laline Paull. It’s described as The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Hunger Games. I found it moving, disturbing and beautiful.

Your Favourite Place To Read: I love reading in the bath or at cafes or in bed or on the sofa in my living room or in the car when stuck at traffic lights. Anywhere really. I have a great office with a strange, circular couch where I sit and read and dream. In the photo, I’m sitting in my living room. I carefully chose the artwork on the walls and tried to arrange it in a way that felt pleasing and relaxing. I love reading there.

Favourite Snack: Spoonfuls of Nutella, or chocolate chips on yoghurt with maple syrup. While running around after my three kids, I can often sneak in a handful of chocolate chips, although if they notice then they all want chocolate chips too!

Signature Dish: I cook a lot. I find cooking creative and relaxing. I make Toad in the Hole for my family – it’s sausages in a pancake batter. What’s not to love?

Favourite Subject In School: I liked Maths (in the Uk we say Maths but in Canada, I’ve noticed kids say Math.) Finding the right answer in an equation was satisfying – almost magical.

Favourite Movie: Cool Hand Luke. I’m totally in love with Paul Newman in that movie. Those eyes…

Favourite Show To Binge Watch: I’m a binge TV addict. Right now I’m finishing up Season Two of House of Cards. I don’t love it as much as Season One. And I’m watching Orange is the New Black. My boyfriend and I watched all of Game of Thrones and we loved it. We’d put the kids to bed and race for the next episode. 

Favourite Album From Your Childhood: My dad listened to Fine Young Cannibals and anytime I hear any song from The Raw and The Cooked, I feel like a kid again.

Words To Live By: “Only boring people get bored.” My dad said this all the time and now I say this to my kids and teenager loads. It drives my teenager CRAZY, just as it used to drive me up the wall. But it actually means a lot to me now.

Song that makes you want to burst out into a solo dance party: I Wanna See You Bellydance by The Red Elvises. You gotta hear it. I challenge anyone not to start dancing (and laughing).

If you could pull a Freaky Friday with anyone who would it be?: I’m sure I’m supposed to chose someone famous, but that doesn’t really interest me. I’m much more interested in how other people really live. I’d love to be a police officer for a day, or an ER worker, or someone who flies a rescue helicopter. The sort of life I’m never going to live.

Thanks, Alice! 

The Death of Us is available on September 2nd. You can get a head start reading it here.