In 2018 I read 138 books. I published two. They say that reading is inhaling and writing is exhaling but obviously you can do the first much faster than the second. Stephen King says that if you want to be a writer you must do two things: you must read a lot and write a lot. There are writers who don’t read while they are working on a book in case it somehow influences or taints their work. Unless you set out to write fan fiction or pastiche you must set out to develop your own style.
I don’t believe reading influences writing other than to give you a taste of good vocabulary and sentence construction. This, of course, means you need to read good writing. After a while you become more discriminating and I no longer try to persist in reading a book that’s clumsily written or with incorrect word choices. I love most of the books I read because I don’t finish those I don’t love. I think you can tell when a writer isn’t a great reader.
I’ve discovered some fantastic authors new to me this year. I shan’t list them because you’d nod off reading the list. I have a few authors whose new work I jump on as soon as I can, but I also love to find new favourites. Some are traditionally published but some are self-published. Many writers get hung-up on whether self published authors are real authors. In my experience the readers don’t notice who the publisher is for the most part. A good read is a good read.
I wish you many good reads for 2019.
Kath x
I don’t believe reading influences writing other than to give you a taste of good vocabulary and sentence construction. This, of course, means you need to read good writing. After a while you become more discriminating and I no longer try to persist in reading a book that’s clumsily written or with incorrect word choices. I love most of the books I read because I don’t finish those I don’t love. I think you can tell when a writer isn’t a great reader.
I’ve discovered some fantastic authors new to me this year. I shan’t list them because you’d nod off reading the list. I have a few authors whose new work I jump on as soon as I can, but I also love to find new favourites. Some are traditionally published but some are self-published. Many writers get hung-up on whether self published authors are real authors. In my experience the readers don’t notice who the publisher is for the most part. A good read is a good read.
I wish you many good reads for 2019.
Kath x
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