Reading and Writing with Surf and Turf

“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King




Reading - in essences that's what we do. We write to read and read to write. Just as King said, you have to make time to read if you want the time and tools to write. Is this true? I believe it is. I believe we learn a lot about our own style by reading. In my opinion we grow by reading the works of others. Here is a twist I recently added to this line of thought, it is very important to read but it is critical to read good, well written books. Why is that? Before we get to that let's look at the opposite side of this spectrum. We can learn from poorly written books too. We can learn what not to do, what to watch out for such as plot holes or dead-end story lines. We see first hand the grammatical problems we should avoid. Yes, we can learn a great deal from poorly written books but there is danger in that line of teaching. We run the risk of falling into the trap of repeating what we are trying to avoid as we grow accustomed to seeing them. Errors such as these and more slip through our editing nets not because we lack focus but instead we simply overlook them. However, when we read well written, well formed, and complete books we see the high standard of where our writing should be. After reading these books we now make the effort to match the level of quality in our own style. The crisp flow, strong characters, twisting plot, and sharp prose will imprint on our minds so long as we read those things. Really, the mind works in wondrous ways.




You know what I'm talking about, you've read a book and picked it apart when you found an error or two. Soon you spend more time looking for errors than you do following the story. On the flip side of this, you read a really good book and you're swept away, pulled in and carried on a journey. As writers we do not want to be in the first group but strive to be in the second.


“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.” ― Stephen King, On Writing



No short cuts....I don't think people like that. We love short cuts! If it will save time we will do it. If it will make the job easier we're there. This is not true for writing. Short cuts kill in writing. We see it everyday in the writing world...I'm sure you've heard it - "the story was great but the writing was poor." Sadder still is the thinking behind it, the "I don't care if the writing is poor as long as I'm entertained" mentality. I have to be honest with you, I don't like this line of thinking. We as authors should want to put the best product we can out there for the world to read. It is a piece of ourselves, it is the only thing a reader will use to formulate a first impression of us. Read a lot, write a lot - it's the only way to reach that standard.



Here is something to keep in mind while thinking about the topic of the "I don't care if the writing is poor as long as I'm entertained" mentality. Imagine, for a moment, your favorite dinner. Mine is surf and turf, shrimp and steak with a baked potato. You see the shrimp seasoned and peeled with a small bowl of melted butter? The New York Strip cooked medium rare resting beside it? The baked potato with all the toppings between the shrimp and steak? The smells mingle as your mouth waters....you want to dig in, you can't wait to eat....until you notice it's served on the bottom side of a trash can lid. Would you want to eat it? Would you want to pay for it?