BETWEEN THE LINES

Book Talk by Joe


If You Want to Write, Read

There are a great many writers in Sedona and the Verde Valley. Some are well known; most are relatively anonymous, writing for their own individual needs. Some are published authors; many aspire to the publication of their first work.

Writers have an almost single-minded determination to learn the craft of writing. They gather in critique groups, they attend writing workshops and they buy “how-to” books - everything from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way to Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones to Donald Maass's Writing the Breakout Novel.

But many writers, in my opinion, don't do the obvious, the one thing that is the common denominator of virtually all successful authors of all genres - READ.
During her recent appearance at our bookstore, Diana Gabaldon, author of the bestselling Outlander saga, was asked how one becomes a writer. Her response was brief and immediate: First - Read; Second - Write; and, Third - Don't Stop.

And Gabaldon is not unique with her advice.

We've had almost 100 author appearances at our bookstore since we opened in April 2005, and most have conducted some kind of writing workshop. Their almost unanimous answer to the inevitable question - how does one become a writer? - is the same: READ.

Interestingly, many of the female authors told us they first learned to love reading at a very young age with the Nancy Drew Mysteries. In fact, some were inspired to become writers by these wonderful books.

Early in their careers, great musicians, from Yo-Yo Ma to Eric Clapton, exposed themselves to the work of the many other musicians who came before them, in order to learn and understand the art and craft of making music before forging their own compositions and style.

The same is true of authors, from Diana Gabaldon to J. A. Jance to Stephen King. There is so much to learn about the craft of writing from reading the books of others who have come before you, both fiction and nonfiction, both classic and contemporary.

So, if you want to be a writer, go read a book, one that doesn't have your own name on the first page. Read everything you can get your hands on, in every genre. Stretch your reading interests and you will stretch your creativity. And, you just might be surprised by how much your writing will improve.