Comments on: Reading with Intent: Becoming a Better Writer

By: Maureen Kay Lynch

Maureen Kay Lynch — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 13:59:04 +0000

Thank you for this. I am going to resurrect my spreadsheet and transfer my iPhone notes into it. As soon as I finish this chapter…

By: Karen L Lowe

Karen L Lowe — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 16:07:31 +0000

So many people say to me (after they find out I write novels), “I have a good idea for a story, you should write blah, blah, blah” but the worst is “where is it published?” This points to the split-personality of writing: crafting a good story is one side; the other is the business of writing/publishing. Both are hard. Both are different beasts. But I agree with you 100% – if you don’t read, how can you write what someone else wants to read? You won’t know what’s already been written; you won’t get how to nuance your writing. You won’t know a lot of things! Reading arms me with all sorts of facts (some entertaining, others are what I call ‘useless facts’ that come in handy at dull parties when I say “Did you know…” 🙂 I should blog about some of the random facts that stick in my weird writer’s mind….

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 14:10:02 +0000

In reply to realnerdworms.

Depends on what genre you write. A good way to get in the habit, if you can do it, is hop in over at WANATribe. We run writing sprints every day, M-F, all year long and have for going on 9 years. You can hop in for a sprint and see how much you can accomplish with that focused time. We set the timer for about 50 minutes, then GO. Report back waht you managed to do. You wouldn’t be alone and you’d have peer pressure.

NaNoWriMo is good if you want to jump all in.

I always recommend a blog (yes, even if no one reads it), because it trains self-discipline and trains OUT perfectionism.

By: Barbara Meyers

Barbara Meyers — Wed, 18 Oct 2023 11:09:34 +0000

I am always slightly appalled by people who tell me they don’t read. I can’t think of any writers who’ve said they don’t read, but I’m sure what I’d think is, how is that possible?

By: realnerdworms

realnerdworms — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 20:38:16 +0000

This may sound totally old by now but… how does someone retrain their writing skills after a very long hiatus? (Think major life changes over about 7 years.)

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 17:42:06 +0000

In reply to Tom Crepeau. LOL, duly noted on the NF (non-fiction). As for the cartoon, it is courtesy of Hyperbole and a Half. When I found it, it wasn't cited and had to dig. It is in the meta-data for the image. But now you have the proper credit. Thanks for the thoughtful comment and YEP! You definitely have Writer Brain, LOL. I hope you enjoy the other posts. I'm going to compile the best into a book(s) for easier reference.

By: Tom Crepeau

Tom Crepeau — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 14:04:37 +0000

Please don’t use NF without defining it. Not everyone at 9:00 in the morning is going to translate it into non-fiction as if it’s a genre they should have heard of.
I’m stealing the “When do we want it-Squirrel” cartoon and putting it on Facebook. I’m crediting you since you didn’t cite a reference to a creator. If you get tons of email demanding who did it for you, blame your lack of a citation.
And please use a salt circle around your spreadsheet computer. Otherwise, I’m going to have to make a mint buying future Nevada oceanfront and blame you for my wealth!
My technique to learn from reading is to keep rereading it. Anything I want to learn from is worth rereading. Even Austin Camacho’s submarine novel where they enter a torpedo tube and shoot themselves out of the tube FROM THE INSIDE. (For the record, there are CONTACTS to program your loaded torpedo inside a torpedo tube and links to spool out the communications wire carried within the torpedo on wire-guided torpedoes, but NOTHING for the torpedo to use to open the outer door and fire compressed air behind the torpedo to pop it out the tube. And the back end of a torpedo tube SEALS TIGHTLY so the very high pressure seawater from outside the sub can’t come in: you CAN’T close it from inside the tube. The sealing handle is on the outside on the back of the torpedo loading door.) Also, the only place high-pressure steam lines run inside a submarine are FROM THE REACTOR TO THE STEAM TURBINE. NOT up front to the control room. And also for the record, you can’t shoot a high pressure steam line with a pistol bullet and get it to do anything. It’s designed to hold high-pressure steam holding enough energy to blast the submarine forward at speeds few surface ships can manage, no puny little handgun bullet is even going to dent it. Go ask a steamfitter about high pressure steam lines in power plants. Those lines aren’t going to fail in decades of use. If they did, they’d put power plants far away because of the danger of their spontaneously exploding and leveling multiple blocks of the city they’re in. Not to mention torpedo outer doors don’t look like Venetian blinds, and if they did, the first torpedo fired through them is either going to stop right there or remove them so they no longer work.
Thank you, Kristen. Now I have to go find that POV article cited in another comment.
-tc

By: Harshi S

Harshi S — Mon, 16 Oct 2023 11:03:11 +0000

I loved this article and your article on POV, especially the point on “You” using the second person to make readers uncomfortable. I started reading The Time Machine this weekend and love all the new words and the nameless characters. Also I live on a street named Richmond just like the time traveller; I also plan on reading broadly because of this article and because I do not know which genre I will write.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 13:41:40 +0000

I’ve always been a reader. When I started writing, I found I was dissecting every book I read, doing exactly what you said you do. I thought about what worked, what didn’t, what descriptions grabbed me and what parts I skimmed over. I love literary fiction but doubt my own writing will ever meet that level of perfectly drawing the reader into the scene through the protagonist’s eyes.

By: Jana Keir

Jana Keir — Sun, 15 Oct 2023 07:34:47 +0000

Thank you for this article, brilliant as always. I find reading a book more than once (and especially at different times throughout life) a good way to get really close to a book. I try to think about books like I’m back in my undergrad English lit degree; trying to think critically about the plot, the characters and themes; and how it all hangs together. And I also enjoy writing a quick review on Goodreads to wrap up my reading of a book, and seeing how I can sum it up in a paragraph or two.