William Faulkner, Ray Bradbury, and Stephen King.
What do they have in common besides being successful, world-famous writers with dozens of bestselling books and literary awards?
We know them as writing gurus who’ve mastered creating new worlds, senses, and experiences through words. As well as many other savvy authors, they inspire newbies and make them dream of having the same respect and love from the audience. But one more thing:
They all promote reading as a mandatory instrument for those willing to write well.
Look:
Reading uncovers your inspiration for writing, boosts creativity and focus, and broadens your mind for new viewpoints and perspectives. The trick is to not merely read for pleasure and win all those challenges a la “100 books a year;” the trick is to read as a curious writer.
More on that below.
Learning from Writing Gurus
William Faulkner encourages us to read everything we can to uncover inspiration and learn the craft:
“Read, read, read. Read everything – trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”
Professional writers from a thesis writing service slightly disagree with such statements. While some can learn intuitively by absorbing hundreds of books and thus understanding their structures, it doesn’t happen to everyone.
In plain English, “the more you read, the better you write” formula doesn’t work.
Unless you read as a researcher analyzing what you read.
Take Ray Bradbury, for example:
He came from a modest family and didn’t have an opportunity to study at university. Instead, Ray spent three days a week in a public library for ten years to later admit that it was “better than college.”
“People should educate themselves – you can get a complete education for no money. At the end of 10 years, I had read every book in the library and written a thousand stories.”
So:
Make it a habit to read with more intent, focus, and awareness than an average reader. Learn to read for more than just enjoying a story. Dig a little deeper to make your reading efficient:
- Identify a genre, a topic, and the tone of the piece you read.
- When reading, try to analyze how the author writes: lexical items, sentence length, text structure, etc.
- Consider writing techniques and format tricks the author uses to tell a story. Do they work? What makes them actionable?
- Analyze your response to a story. Does it inspire? Is it predictable? Try to understand why it is so.
- While writing, take notes of everything you like or dislike about the story. Try to come up with the reason for this.
It doesn’t mean you should give up reading for pleasure. Don’t aim at reading everything, and don’t force yourself to research topics you don’t like. Read what you find inspiring; focus on great writers.
By “great,” we don’t mean just literary classics like Bradbury or Faulkner. Feel free to read and analyze the works of essayists, copywriters, or bloggers who are great storytellers from whom to learn and “steal” some writing tricks.
As Stephen King writes in his On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft,
“The real importance of reading is that it creates an ease and intimacy with the process of writing… Constant reading will pull you into a place… where you can write eagerly and without self-consciousness.”
New Ideas and Topics for Your Writing
Reading and researching different content assets, whether fiction or nonfiction, can easily generate original topics and fresh writing ideas for your future texts.
If you want to boost inspiration for writing, please don’t hesitate to read different genres:
Leave your comfort zone for a while and try reading texts that you wouldn’t ordinarily read. If you’re a big fan of mysteries, try some classic novels or nonfiction history books. If you prefer romance or young adult literature, try thrillers or memoirs.
It will broaden your reading horizons and give you new viewpoints; it can also enable you to change perspectives on some ideas and bring alternative angles to your writing topics.
For example, The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb may inspire you to write an article on How to Apply The Black Swan Theory to Your Content Strategy.
Or, you can use your favorite book’s table of contents (it works best with non-fiction stories) and redesign it in a series of blog posts on a corresponding topic.
Vocabulary Boost
Regular reading enhances vocabulary and helps understand language structures better. As a result, your texts become more engaging, in-depth, and professional.
You use more synonyms, stronger verbs, and sensory words to evoke emotions, enhance readability, and immerse the audience.
Beautifully written texts inspire and motivate newbie authors to polish their writing craft, craving the same level of excellence.
To uncover your inspiration for writing, consider mindful reading:
- Pay attention to the words a writer uses; “steal” those most interesting for your future texts.
- Don’t scan the words you don’t know, but learn their definitions and write them down if you plan to use them in your works.
- Note idioms and any other catchy expressions from writings you read.
Creative Writing Techniques to Use in Texts
Writing techniques authors use in texts are tools to create a specific effect and convey desired meanings. As an avid reader, you could notice various literary devices in fiction and non-fiction books, making those texts more engaging and persuasive.
Metaphors, similes, analogies, repetitions, and paradoxes are just a few. Plot twists, symbols, cliffhangers – they wow readers and make them remember your texts.
Different writing techniques serve various purposes. Some work on an intellectual level, while others are more about emotions; some operate at a sentence level, while others influence a whole writing piece.
Reading educates us about what we already have in the writing world. It allows us to understand how storytelling works and how different writing genres and styles operate.
Analyze a story’s plot and characters while reading. Examine an author’s language and ask yourself why it works (or doesn’t). Your writing will flourish when you can distinguish literary devices and techniques that make the text so exciting and inspiring to read.
Last but Not Least
Develop a reading habit. Spend one hour a day reading before you go to bed or organize a reading party on weekends. This will help you eliminate the “I have no time for reading” mantra.
You have time! It’s just a matter of priorities. As Stephen King says, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Always carry a book with you, especially when on the road, and choose texts you’ll enjoy to read.
After all, reading is not about pure research and analyzing but pleasure. If a story is boring, don’t force yourself to read it. If you read for fun, you’ll unlock inspiration for writing and learn something anyway.
