Ways to develop your craft and enrich your life through reading
I'm always telling the university students that I work with that the very best way to develop our writing skills is to read, read and read some more.
Reading the work of other writers helps us to understand more about our own work. But this doesn't necessarily happen automatically.
Here are three ideas that will help you to read like a writer.
1. Become an active reader. Make notes. Annotate. If you can't bear the thought of writing your notes in the book itself, use highlighter stickers or home-made bookmarks. If you read e-books, use the note feature or keep a notebook of your favourite quotes. Ask yourself questions: Why did the writer use these words here in this order? What would have happened if she had done this instead?
2. Keep a reading log.
It's so easy to forget what you read and how it made you feel. Taking the time to keep a simple list of author, title and a few brief reflections can be helpful when you want to go back and research a technique: for example, how a certain novel that you loved handled structure or voice or narrative point of view.
3. Talk about your reading with like-minded people.
Join or start a book group. Get together and share. You don't need to meet regularly. You could throw a reading party or arrange a reading holiday or retreat.
Being asked to share your favourites, to describe why you love a particular writer and their work or why you feel a particular book is effective – or not – can really help you to hone your writing and editing skills and it can give you insights into the qualities that other readers enjoy.
Over time, reading like a writer, reading slowly and with careful attention, will strengthen your writing.
