Read What You Want to Write

I recently spoke to a high school career class about writing. One of the questions I received was, "How do I get better?"

One way is to study the type of writing you want to pursue. I write fiction. I have always loved to read, but now as an author, I also pay attention to how my favorite authors write. What is it that makes me want to read and reread certain authors' works?

There have even been times lately when I find myself wanting to treat a particularly well-written novel much like a text book...get out my highlighter and mark away with notes in the margins to help me in my own quest to find the perfect word or phrase or even twists for my own works. Now, please hear me say, I'm not suggesting copying someone else's words. We all know where that can lead. But studying the way they put words together, their use of vocabulary, the way they write dialogue, can all help you in your own writing.

Allow me to give a personal example:

I once read a post suggesting new writers tend to overuse dialogue tags. The writer gave several reasons why that was a bad idea; one of the main ones being that dialogue should be strong enough in itself so readers don't need to be told "how" it was said.

I wasn't convinced. So I picked up a couple of my favorite books and browsed through some of their dialogue. Guess what? The author of the post was correct! There weren't an abundance of "she said joyfully" or "he whispered softly" tags.

But don't take my word for it. Start purposefully reading your own favorites. How do they describe the setting? What words do they use to show emotion? How do they handle dialogue? You may just find for yourself another reason why you love that particular author...and can take those characteristics and practice them yourself.

Happy writing,

Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com