How Becoming a Writer Changes the Way You Read
Reading with a writer’s eye means instinctively analysing everything.
Many people have preached the benefits of reading. I’m sure that as a writer, you’ll have heard the same advice over and over: “Read more!”
That advice is widespread for good reason. It’s essential for a writer to read frequently and widely. In his memoir “On Writing”, Stephen King even said:
If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.
But while reading can change the way you write, the opposite is also true. Writing, if you do it often enough, will change how you read.
As I got into the habit of writing regularly, I began to notice something. I would pick up a book and read, just like I’d always done. But while I read, thoughts would pop into my head. They were often thoughts like:
- I love how they’ve used that metaphor. It makes the scene much more vivid. I wish I could write descriptions like that!
- What happened to that subplot? It seemed to disappear… did the author forget about it? I need to avoid that in my writing.
- The way they’re showing the characters’ conflicting personalities in this conversation is interesting. I should try to write dialogue like this.
- The author’s trying too hard in this paragraph. It’s full of unnecessary descriptions and flowery language. Now I’ve been pulled out of the story!
Since I primarily write fiction, these particular observations were directed towards novels. But this way of picking up on the details of what you’re reading applies to anyone who writes, from novelists to bloggers and everyone in between.
If you don’t recognise these sorts of thoughts, don’t worry! It’ll come with experience. But if this seems all too familiar, it’s likely that your writing has changed the way you read. Since you intimately know the process of writing, you can recognise the signs of excellent (or not so excellent) work, almost automatically.
Is this instinctive analysis helpful or a hinderance? Well, it can be both.
Advantages
There are two main benefits that reading critically can have on your writing.
1. Recognise what works
It’s easy to know that you love a book. But when people are asked to pinpoint exactly why, they’ll often struggle to come up with an answer.
Thankfully, being an experienced writer means you can take note of why something works really well. Then, you can take the things you love to read and incorporate them into your own work. Of course, I’m not talking about plagiarism — stealing someone’s content is never okay. But being inspired by someone’s use of language, and then using that to improve your own, is an excellent way to hone your writing skills.
2. Recognise what doesn’t
A writer who is also an avid reader has the invaluable ability to avoid mistakes before they even make them. When you understand the process of writing because you’ve practiced it, flaws in other people’s writing will stand out. Noticing these is incredibly helpful — you’ll know what not to do without having to make the mistake yourself and waste time fixing it.
Whether it’s a particular line of dialogue that sounds clunky or unrealistic, a character that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever except to make snide remarks, or even the entire plot of a novel, paying close attention to the things that make you cringe while reading makes you much less likely to unwittingly make those same mistakes.
However, it’s important to remember that simply scoffing at another person’s writing is useless. Don’t feel that you’re superior to another writer because you’ve spotted something in their writing that you don’t like. To reap the benefits, you’ve got to take what you’ve learned and apply it to your own writing. The more you read with a writer’s eye, the higher the quality of your own work will be.
Disadvantages
There is one inevitable drawback that comes with all of this. As soon as you make an observation about the writing, you’re abruptly pulled out of the story you were wonderfully immersed in. This can lead to you enjoying the book (or article, or blog post, or whatever else) less.
Noticing details about the writing while you read won’t ruin the experience, but it may mean that you feel slightly disconnected to the story itself. Instead, you’re more aware of how it’s being told.
Still, as writers, this just the price we have to pay. For me, the benefits of reading like a writer far outweigh the small disappointment of occasionally being woken from the blissful illusion of a story.
Once you learn to see the world through a writer’s lens, you’ll spot inspiration everywhere. But you might also find that you’re more aware of how a piece of writing is constructed, which can prevent you from getting truly involved in the story it’s telling.
Next time you pick up a book, mentally take note of what you notice about the writing. Then, when it comes time to sit down and write, you can take those observations and apply them to your own work.
Reading like a writer really is a beautifully simple way to learn. All it takes is patience and attentiveness, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a better writer.
