What Books to Read as a Writer

Last time we talked about books, we talked about how to read like a writer. Today, I want to talk about what books to read, as a writer.

First off, you need to know what kind of writer you are. Are you a literary writer, a genre writer, do you write middle grade, or young adult? If you aren’t sure yet, then the answer is to read as much good writing as you can. If you know, then see below.

Photo by Susanne Jutzeler

Genre

An author who is looking to get traditionally published in any genre, will need to have comp (comparable) titles for their work. These titles need to have been published recently (in the last two or so years), and exhibit something that is similar to your own work.

It could be that a story about a girl who learns about herself, in a young adult work, or maybe the tone and narrative voice are really similar to your own, even if the plot and characters are different. You need two of these when you are at the query stage.

With this in mind, as a genre author, you will need to read books within your genre. You need to read enough genre books that you have a good idea what the regular tropes and clichés are that regularly show up. In short, what do writers of the genre expect?

Sometimes, you will be told to stay away from your own genre while you are writing it. I think this really depends on the author. If you find that your work is becoming derivative as you are writing, simply because you are reading things that are similar to what you are writing; then see my next suggestion.

Photo by: Ksenia Chernaya

Literary/Classics

Any writer worth their salt should be able to discuss many classic novels. You don’t have to have read everything, but you should be well-versed in the classics (or canon) and you should understand the forerunners of your own genre and why those books are considered the first. For a horror author, you will want to read Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, H.P Lovecraft, and Edgar Allen Poe, among others. A mystery writer will need to read Agatha Christy, and Arthur Conan Doyle, among others.

You can always look up a list of classic authors, and start reading. You can find authors that you like their writing style and read those.

If you are a literary author, you will want to look to your contemporary peers and read their work. There are lists of award winners in the literary world, and that would be where you would want to start looking for books that will work for you. This also works for genre authors. All genres have their own awards that celebrate great writers. These lists are easy to find:

Here is a Wikipedia page with that shows all the awards. The list is lengthy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_awards

The answer to what to read, is read a lot, read good writers and find award-winning writing. But, if you are looking for those tricky comps, look in your genre!

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you want more of this kind of stuff, or something different.

How to Read like a Writer

As a starting out writer, an aspiring writer, I was constantly told to read. It wasn’t a hard thing for me, and it isn’t to this day. I’ve always been a reader, as are most people who are or want to be writers. The hard part, for most writers’ comes with the other half of well-meant, often repeated advice. Read like a writer. What exactly does that mean? Let’s explore.

Reading like a writer purple picture
Photo by Nick Collins

Before you can read like a writer, you need to start thinking of yourself as a writer. It’s a bit more complicated than that. You can’t just say that you’re a writer now, so anytime you are reading, you are reading like a writer. Some tips to mastering this kind of reading are listed below:

Tips for reading like a writer

When reading like a writer, you will want to focus on an element in the text that you want to figure out or learn how to write well. Maybe you’ve been struggling with structure. You can go to a book that does it well. Then read with that thing in mind. How did they structure their story? What made the structure special in that book? You can take tips on how to structure yours from reading with focus. For example: The Way of Kings begins with a fight scene, and then jumps in time. Every other book in that series has looked at the same night through a different character’s eyes.

Common things to focus on while reading are:

  • Plot
  • Point of View
  • Narration
  • Atmosphere
  • Tone
  • Setting
  • Characterization
  • Sentence Structure
  • Chronography

What is important is that, while reading, you read closely. Reading closely means paying attention to sentence length, word choice, paragraph length. It’s important to take notes. You are not just reading the words and letting them play inside your head, you are not just enjoying the movie that your imagination is lighting up for you. You are dissecting the work, you are learning its secrets.

Reading like a writer books
Photo by Ksenia Chernaya

Another tip is to write out sentences you love. Those amazing pieces of prose from the authors you can’t get enough of, go ahead and copy them down as if you are in grade school again. This will help you to understand their word choices, their sentence structures, and it will give you a better understanding of why the work is so good.

In summary, you will want to pick an element of the text to focus on, then you will want to read closely and take notes so that you can pick apart the text. If there is a particular passage that you love, go ahead and copy it down. Once you have mastered the art of reading like a writer, you will find that your own writing will improve.

Thank you for reading! Are there any other tips for reading like a writer that I’ve forgotten?