# To read or not to read...that is the question......



## InfAMY at my fingertips (Jul 21, 2010)

Well, sort of. I'm having someone of a debate with myself. Although, I'm pretty sure that I know what the majority of responses will be...I'd like to throw this out there for anyone to comment on.

Ok, so here's the deal...I don't read a lot. Everytime I do a little research on writing and possibly having a writing career I always see some variation of this phrase "...if you read a lot, which if you're considering a career as a writer I'm assuming you do..." But I don't. 

And the truth is, I've always been good at writing letters (serious or silly) or technical material, but I don't do much story writing. But I would really like to. I don't know, I guess I'm just worried that my lack of practice and lack of reading will be a major hinderance.

I know practice makes perfect...so I need to get my butt, or rather brain, in gear and start writing. But do you think the fact that I don't do much reading will be a big obstacle?

-Amy


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## Sam (Jul 21, 2010)

"If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the tools to write" ~ Stephen King.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 21, 2010)

If you don't read, why the hell would you want to write?  Because the money's so good?


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## InfAMY at my fingertips (Jul 21, 2010)

Yowza....chill out a little. I didn't mean I don't ever read. I just don't read tons.


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## J.E. Blackworth (Jul 21, 2010)

Well. By reading you get your tools for story writing. Also, you get to see what kind of ideas have already being used. You don't want to come up with a plot, write about it and then find out that it's the plot of a rather popular novel, right? And it's easier to develop and recognize your own style after some reading and researching. At least it works that way for myself.

It's no absolute rule. But reading is always _good_. You can always read more. Well not if you have problems with time, but then again if you don't have time to read you don't have time to write either...


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## InfAMY at my fingertips (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks, J.E.! I figured that reading would probably be an important part of the puzzle. Maybe it's just that I'm a little out of practice. I have one series of books that I read recently (which I'll not divulge for fear of being lynched LOL), it was the first time I'd read in quite some time. But it was a great experience. And watching an interview with the author opened my eyes to the fact that you can write a story anyway you want. I always thought (and I don't know why, because now it seems really silly) that you _had_ to start at the beginning and work your way forward to the end. I never consider the idea that you could start in the middle and work your way out. But I digress. 

So, does anyone have any book suggestions? I generally like mystery novels, or dramatic stories. I'm not into science fiction or fantasy...at least not for books (movies are another story!) I've been known to enjoy a romance novel or two in my time as well.


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## Sam (Jul 21, 2010)

If you want mystery novels, you can't go far wrong with any of Jeffery Deaver's Lincoln Rhyme series. Michael Connelly is also one of the best mystery writers going, but he generally does it via cops and that kind of thing.


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## InfAMY at my fingertips (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks, Sam! That's a great idea.  The Bone Collector is one of my favorite movies.  I've start developing an interest in reading the books that movies are based on.  Although that can ruin the movie for me sometimes. LOL Once I read Misery (one of the few Stephen King novels I've read) I couldn't watch the movie. There was just no comparison.


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## RM Americano (Jul 21, 2010)

I could not write if I never read.


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## Sam (Jul 21, 2010)

A movie very seldom compares to the novel. _The Bone Collector _(novel) is a million times better than its movie adaptation. I'd advise starting with that one. Riveting, page-turning stuff. Be forewarned: There's a lot of forensic techniques and prose, but don't let that put you off. If you can get past those, the story is a cracking read. 

One of the best mystery/thriller/action-adventure books I've ever read, though, was Allan Folsom's _The Day after Tomorrow. _No, not that crap about the weather. This is as page-turning a book as you will ever pick up. There's only one other book which I've read in the last decade which even comes close to it: _Blackout _by John J. Nance. Both are must-buys if you're into that kind of thing. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 21, 2010)

InfAMY at my fingertips said:


> Yowza....chill out a little. I didn't mean I don't ever read. I just don't read tons.



Third post is telling people what to do.  This should be fun.

I'm blind but want to be a painter, deaf but want to be a musician.

Sure, that works.
I mean, sorry to respond to your question and all.


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## RM Americano (Jul 21, 2010)

Mozart went deaf.


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## J.E. Blackworth (Jul 21, 2010)

Mozart too? I thought it was Beethoven.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 21, 2010)

It was Beethoven.  
And he went deaf after a career.  He didn't start out deaf and try to be a musician.


Duh.

There is another thread for pointless posts.


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## Like a Fox (Jul 21, 2010)

Oh be nice, Lin.

Infamy, I don't read anywhere near as much as I should or would like to. But I endeavour to try.

Making the time is really important, and if you're coming off a reading high having read the series, then don't let that go.
You'll learn a lot, even on a subconscious level, from reading.

I could never write a short story before I started loitering around here, reading short work, getting into the short fiction greats.
Now I'm trying to write a novel so I'm reading novels.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 21, 2010)

Nice?  Moi?


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## The Backward OX (Jul 21, 2010)

J.E. Blackworth said:


> You don't want to come up with a plot, write about it and then find out that it's the plot of a rather popular novel, right?


 
This has to be the biggest single load of codswallop around the writing scene. Why people are always trotting it out is beyond me.

Think West Side Story, think Romeo and Juliet, think Troilus and Cressida.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 21, 2010)

Not the problem.
The problem would be working on something that ends up sounding exactly like the latest Twilight sequel or Steven King or whatever.
It's a valid problem.  I recently went to see a movie "The Island" and immediately shit-canned a story I'd been setting down.
When I read "Virtual Reality" by William Gibson, there went another one.  Not so much the plat as the situation and ambience.  I am actually working on that one now,  but with an uncomfortable awareness of how many people would say "oh you stole that".


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## RM Americano (Jul 21, 2010)

I don't think you should be reading to get an idea of what not to write to be honest.


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## The Backward OX (Jul 21, 2010)

If you want to know what not to write, I suggest reading How Not To Write A Novel, by Howard Mittelmark & Sandra Newman, ISBN 978-0-141-03854-4.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 21, 2010)

You're kidding, right, americano?

Tell me you'e kidding.

Or are going to thing that over.


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## RM Americano (Jul 21, 2010)

I've never written anything and then found a book or a story or a song that was the same thing.

You can learn a lot about style and vocabulary and thematics and imagery and what sells and what sounds overbearing from reading authors that write like you do.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

Yep


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## RM Americano (Jul 22, 2010)

So you shouldn't go about reading to discover what you aren't going to write.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

Okay, since you're going to push this, is it okay if I'm not nice?

Look nobody said you read in order to find out what not to write.


DUH

But you DO find that out.  If you read more and write more, maybe you'll run across that.  Or maybe not, because the stuff you read in books is like, good ideas that got bought.  See what I'm saying?

This is like a coach saying "You learn as much from losses as you do from wins" and you're going, "Don't play to lose"

Does that make it clear?  If not, ask for an explanation.  If so, can we move on.  This is a pain in the ass.


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## RM Americano (Jul 22, 2010)

What you learn from losing is that you weren't good enough to win.

What you learn from reading other books is the way those books were written.

Vampires were marketable before and after Twilight, magic wielding teens not so much outside of the Harry Potter world.

Many vampire novels feature improvements on ideas introduced by previous ones.

If you want to write about vampires, reading vampire novels would certainly help.

I'm just an asshole with an opinion though, feel free to disagree.


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## Like a Fox (Jul 22, 2010)

Oh come on boys. Can't we all just get along?

Welcome to the forum RM. 
Haha, coming in guns blazing I see.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

Opinions are like assholes.  Everybody has one and nobody likes the other guy's rubbed into his face.

Gee, have fun here, kid.  And learn just oodles.


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## caelum (Jul 22, 2010)

The volume level is a little much, peeps.

If you want to be a writer, Infamy, reading is one of your greatest educations.  It shows you what kinds of plots are out there, demonstrates literary techniques in action, and improves your vocabulary by seeing words used in context.  Depending on the quality of the books you're reading, I think you can learn a lot by osmosis.

My suggestion is that you investigate the genre you're interested in and see what other writers have done there. Read their novels.  I've learned a lot of fantasy vocabulary—kinds of armors, medieval related words, and whatnot—through reading fantasy novels.


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## ash somers (Jul 22, 2010)

yes, reading is good, reading is fun, i love to read!

because? ... well, i can't hear very well - ha ha haaaar

*winks at InfAMY* and just ignore the chest beating gorillas 

as Caleum has already said, reading will expand your vocabulary 

and that can't be a bad thing


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## RM Americano (Jul 22, 2010)

I came out of the cigar store today and walked into the street.  I looked both ways before I crossed but I was outside of the crosswalk.  While I was walking I was sucking in on my cigar and I heard someone yell "Not safe!  Not safe mister!"  I looked across the street and there was a skinny little boy with his shorts pulled up and his t-shirt tucked in and he was scolding me from his grandfather's hip.  

A lot of people know what they are talking about, that doesn't mean they give good advice.


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## TruthSeeker (Jul 22, 2010)

I am not sure if this is the best advise, but, maybe it could help.

Supposing that finding time to read more is not the big issue here.
Why you don't read much, well, that can be because you still didn't find/ or searched enough for _That_ best story or writer that thrills you. That can be because -lets say you like Fantasy-, you're tired from the redundant plots/characters/sets or the cause that the current stories are serving, so you stopped searching and reading more.
Now, this can be a big plus point here - I think - because, you might have that amazing story that no one had heard of before, certainly not you -unless you have one already in your mind. You never know, you might have what takes to write an engaging, unusual, and charismatic story. If you think you have that, please start writing, I want to read. 

As mentioned by others, the tool in writing is in reading, and also in reading different and other styles, not just few. One of the major reasons is that you will be able to think as a reader, realize what grabs/inspires them, and what to avoid. Thus, you will know how to write better. Plus, from reading, you will indirectly learn the many simple yet most important things that keeps the readers read on. Often -to such things- we say: "But I know that already", and almost every time we are mistaken.

So, in order to know the mechanics of writing, you need to read more, and you need to do the hard work of writing, and rewriting before it becomes enjoyable. 
Apart from reading the educational books, you will need to explore the work of other writers and genres in order to avoid turning people away from your amazing story, because of bad writing.

Honestly...its worth it to force yourself to read more if you have that desperate drive to write.

Hope this helps in anyway.
Cheers!


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 22, 2010)

> force yourself to read more if you have that desperate drive to write



You really think people who have to "force themselves" to read are going to be drawn to writing?

Have you ever heard a successful writer say that they don't read?


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## alanmt (Jul 22, 2010)

RM Americano said:


> I came out of the cigar store today and walked into the street. I looked both ways before I crossed but I was outside of the crosswalk. While I was walking I was sucking in on my cigar and I heard someone yell "Not safe! Not safe mister!" I looked across the street and there was a skinny little boy with his shorts pulled up and his t-shirt tucked in and he was scolding me from his grandfather's hip.
> 
> A lot of people know what they are talking about, that doesn't mean they give good advice.


 
Was he scolding for the smoking or the jaywalking?


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## RM Americano (Jul 22, 2010)

Pretty sure the jaywalking.


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## TruthSeeker (Jul 23, 2010)

> You really think people who have to "force themselves" to read are going to be drawn to writing?


Yes, I do think its possible. It works with some people, especially who are hardly pleased by the works of others, and also, most important, are impatient to search into the other vast selection. Such people do exist, they also want to write. To them, I think, first write and get thrilled with your own material, then leave it aside while forcing to read the work of others. Get back to it, and now, write it better.

Somehow like, finding a way to willingly force one's self to read.



> Have you ever heard a successful writer say that they don't read?


Nope, I heard they all read.
I also know of many who write, and are also up-to-date readers, yet they still struggle to engage the reader to read on.

Bottom line, Reading is a must, and it will happen eventually. It's one of the best ways to learn how to write better.


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## Linton Robinson (Jul 23, 2010)

Wow.

Think this could work an a purely outpatient basis?


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## TruthSeeker (Jul 24, 2010)

Methinks it could. 
lol, typo fixed. Ty


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