“Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
— Stephen King
Every writer knows that there are two surefire ways to improve: write every day and read all the time. They’re both excellent pieces of advice that will do wonders for anyone. As you can see by that big quote up there, even Stephen King thinks you should read if you want to write.
Reading improves your writing in a variety of ways.
- It widens your vocabulary, which is excellent for both fiction and nonfiction purposes.
- It’ll teach you just as much about grammar as any teacher.
- Reading has been shown to increase intelligence, which will certainly help because writing a 300-page novel makes you question it a lot.
- It’ll help you understand more about the world and people. Even fictional novels do this well.
The bottom line is that reading will expand your horizons. Especially if you read like you’re studying for a book test. Sorry to take you back to grade school, but that’s essentially what I’m asking all writers to do.
Reading like a writer is like casual reading taken to the next level. There’s so much more to take in and process when you’re trying to apply what you see to your own writing.
That’s why I’d like to talk about what it means when you read to improve. I’ll be talking about fictional books specifically, but if you replace a few words, it could apply to nonfiction as well.
Let’s jump into everything a writer should do when they read a novel.
Study How the Sentences Flow
Sentence structure is everything. Arranging a sentence in a certain way can turn a nonsensical statement into a quote from Albert Einstein. That’s why you need to pay attention to the way things are said in the novel you’re reading.
If you can read the novel without trouble, it’s safe to assume that it’s written well. That’s a sign that you should pay attention to the way the author arranges their sentences. Study the way they put words together and figure out how you can do it just as well. Don’t read the novel like you’re trying to follow the plot (even though you still need to do that). Read it like you’re taking notes for a school assignment.
“Mr Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. It didn’t so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when two owls swooped overhead. In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.”
— Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
You can learn a lot just from looking at this paragraph from the first Harry Potter novel. It perfectly details an encounter between Mr. Dursley and a strange cat. You can see that despite using long sentences, J.K. Rowling makes the passage easy to read by using commas to break up certain sections. It’s important to avoid writing sentences that would leave someone breathless if they read it out loud.
Dissect the Plot
Every novel has a story to tell. That story is delivered through the plot, which is a sequence of events that lead to each other. Everyone’s plot is different, but it’s easy to tell a good one from a bad one.
It’d be difficult to dissect a plot until you finish the book, but honestly, I’d suggest doing it as you go. Take note of how the events are laid out. Does the author sandwich a conversation between two actions? Do they write three different conversations back to back? How often does the story feed you information and how does it do it?
It’s important to expose yourself to different styles and voices. Even a bad book has at least one good scene. Anytime you fall in love with a scene or a plot, take note of what you like about it. Don’t copy it, but do keep the elements of the scene in mind. Did it excite you? Terrify you? Why?
Everything that happens in a book is noteworthy. If you write down every event that happens in a book, you have a template for a story. You can then mix and match events to set your own tale apart. Just make sure that you don’t mess around too much and ruin your template.
Analyze Those Characters
Characters can either make or break a story. Popular films like Avengers: Endgame wouldn’t be as fun to watch without fan-favorite characters like Iron Man to root for. Whenever I plot out a novel, I always start with its characters. Not only do I let them drive the story, but I also let them form it.
Pay close attention to the characters in whatever book you’re reading. Don’t let the book tell you who they are, figure it out yourself based on what they do and say. Like the section heading suggests, analyze them.
When you finish the novel, think about the characters. Go over their respective journeys in your head and decide if their development was satisfying or not. Consider how much you know about each one. Consider what you don’t know. What do you want to know?
There are many resources online that allow you to write down all of your characters’ information on template sheets. You could also do a little reverse engineering and fill out the sheets with the characters you just read about instead. That way you know what information your own characters need to be compelling.
Learn from the Worldbuilding
Every novel takes place in a unique world. Even if it’s a contemporary novel set on Earth. When you read, take note of how the author fleshes out their world.
Do they describe every little thing? How green is the grass? How tall are the buildings? Are there any?
Worldbuilding isn’t easy to do. Every author tends to tackle it in their own way. Some novels are dedicated more to the world than to the characters. That’s fine as long as it serves the story. If you came up with an interesting world detail that doesn’t serve the plot, hold off on it. Don’t say too much about it until it’s relevant. There’s nothing more annoying than a story making a big deal out of something only for it to never come into play.
Are you invested in your author’s world? Did they do a good job building it? Write down every detail of it that fascinates you. Then write down questions. What else would you like to know about it? Ask yourself what information you should hold onto in order to make your readers curious about your world.
See How It Ends
A book can be great 90% of the time and still fail when it comes to providing a satisfying ending. How exactly did the book you’re reading end? Was it good or bad? Due to the hundreds of details that make up a book, it’s actually pretty easy to screw up the ending. Don’t be afraid to admit that you wished the book ended differently. It happens.
If a character was built up an entire novel only to die in the end, it can lead to some polarizing opinions. Some will say that it served the story while others will claim that it was just for shock value. Details like these can ruin endings, but they also get people talking. Do you want your ending to be satisfying or leave room for discussion? Honestly, it should do both.
Endings are hard. They ask you to slow a rollercoaster to a halt in a way that fulfills all of your readers’ expectations. Even I haven’t mastered doing that yet. Read lots of endings and learn from all of them. How did the fans of those books feel about those endings? You get the gist of it by now.
Never underestimate everything that a book can teach you. Don’t just view a novel as a fun way to pass time, view it as a teacher too. Keep an eye out for interesting aspects that make up the world, the characters, and even the plot. Then keep them in mind when you’re outlining your own novel.
Inspiration isn’t just a feeling. It’s an idea that you got from watching a pro at work. Don’t be afraid to take inspiration from your favorite authors. I guarantee that they had help from the stories they liked too.
Kesten E. Harris is a self-published author and writer who won’t stop begging people to read. It can’t hurt. Check out his YA box set and sign up to get 6 ingredients for an interesting novel.