What Do You Read– And Write About?

Sometimes, there are days when you wonder: what am I reading, and how does it affect my writing?  After all, you are a writer, and you look to other writers as an inspiration to improve, or build upon your writing.  You want to publish a better book so that you can follow your dreams, but you have to get to know your readers, and you have to convince them to care about your writing.

On the surface it sounds easy; it seems like a natural thing for a writer to do. Read more books.

The problem? The statement is not as true as you think.

What do you read?  Fantasy, history, biography, business? Books or Graphic novels? Do you read in the evening before bed or do you read whenever you have time?

There is that magic word: time.  Your readers buy your book and take the time to read it and then, hopefully, they like it enough that when you publish another one, they will take the time to read that one, too.  If you want this to happen, you have to spend time writing your next book.

You have to reach out to people — they are your stars, and you have to write to them. You can make some educated guesses regarding what your readers will love after you have published a book, but you might be surprised that what you read influences your writing.

If this is the case, then have no fear — you can use generalized techniques and still enjoy reading for pleasure even if what you end up publishing isn’t what you would normally read in the evening.  Reading books is only the beginning. You can learn a lot about your readers by looking carefully at what you normally read yourself.

Having your nose in a book is a good thing, as long as you learn from what you find makes a good book for you as a reader and as a writer.