Being a writer means our brains work a little differently from non-writers. Most of us are avid readers from the start. Some of us read a lot while we work. Others can’t or won’t read anything while working on their next manuscript. But neither of those two parameters helps the writer become a better writer. Reading can do that if we read with intention.
First, I’ve got to say, there’s nothing wrong with reading for pleasure. Go for it. Read for pleasure as much as you can. But there is also value to reading with a toolkit that allows you to read with intention and recognize ways you can strengthen or improve your own writing.
Change Your Mindset
When you read, are you a passive consumer or a student? To learn from another author’s work, choose to be a student. What you select to read can help writer-you or hurt writer-you. It’s kind of like the saying, “you are what you eat.” But in this case it’s, you’ll write what you read. Choose to read quality fiction. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, if the book you’re reading isn’t at least a little above your level of competence, stop reading it. Move on to a book that you can learn new ways to use your writing and storytelling skills.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy what you read. Far from it. Read things you love. I’m also not saying never read something at a level below your competence. There’s value in that kind of reading—sometimes. But don’t make a regular meal of that kind of reading. Make your regular reading, your TBR list, a list that excites you for the story and for the learning opportunities.
Develop Your Analytical Vocabulary
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one becomes a master.” Ernest Hemingway
You cannot analyze something you’ve read if you don’t understand story structure. It is like describing a house without knowing the words support beams, load-bearing wall, and foundation (among others).
Self-Assessment
Are you an intuitive learner or a learner through study? We all start as intuitive learners. But there is power in intentional learning as well. Don’t shun analysis for learning without at least trying it. B flexible enough in your thinking to learn from your reading.
Have you taken How-to-write classes? Do you have a solid understanding of genre and story structure?
Are you willing to invest in the time and effort to learn from reading? Realize that this may mean your ability to read simply for pleasure may be affected.
Investment
It takes time to learn the “rules” of storytelling. Consider this time an investment in your future writer self.
It takes resources. You can buy a lot of how-to books, but I recommend you read the resource first, then decide if it’s one you want to purchase and keep. It’s likely your public library has an entire section of books on how-to-write. Read as many as you can. There will be some writers whose style of explaining the basics of storytelling will resonate with you. There will also be some explanations that you do not get. That’s okay. You are looking for a strong enough understanding of story structure so you can recognize it in other people’s writing. Once you see it there, you’ll be better able to see it in your own writing, whether you are a panster, plotter, or planster.
Where to Start?
Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” Sir Francis Bacon
It can be overwhelming. And, if you’re like me, reading a book that totally engages me means I’m not analyzing. So start by re-reading books you’ve already read. Books that made a deep impression upon you, even if you read it as a kid.
For me, the easiest place to start was with story structure. I used the arbitrary structure of dividing the physical book into its parts. In the story structure I’m most familiar with, the first “structure” I look for is the inciting incident which is supposed to be at around the 10-15% of the story. Take the total pages of the book and divide by ten. If you have a 100 page story, that would mean the inciting incident should fall between pages 10-15 (give or take a few pages). Focusing on those pages, find the story’s inciting incident. Remember, the inciting incident is the moment that disrupts the protagonist’s normal life and forces them to take action.
Record Your Results
Make a note in a notebook or on the book page or use a sticky note to mark that spot. Then look for the end of the first act, which should fall at about the 25% mark, or around page 25 in our 100 page book. Once you find that, make your notation and move on to the next structure and the next.
You may choose to analyze the story completely differently. I showed another way in my blog post, Create a Compelling Plot with What-But-Therefore. Choose to start your writer’s reading toolkit where it makes sense to you.
What Did You Learn?
When you’ve finished your analysis. Write a summary of what you’ve learned from examining the story.
Ask Yourself:
- What followed the structure I used?
- What was missing?
- What can I learn from this?
Sometimes I have learned that my favorite stories do not follow this kind of story structure. That information tells me I need to look at the story again. Examine what I loved and how the author made that happen on the page. Does it match another type of structure? Which “rules” of writing does this story follow and which rules does it break?
What To Analyze?
It may take analyzing many books before you can expand your Reader’s Toolkit, but when you’re comfortable studying one aspect, it’s time to move on to another.
There are almost as many “ways” to analyze in your reading are there are writers. I mentioned the study of the structure above.
Other things you can look at include:
- A numerical analysis of how many scenes were in each chapter or act.
- How many themes were in the story? Note how the author wove the theme through the scenes, chapters, and acts of the story.
- A study of beginnings and endings of multiple books that you love. Note what the similarities and differences are.
- Study the way the author begins and ends each chapter. Note which chapter beginnings or endings effectively motivate you to turn the page.
- Analyze the flow of tension and conflict in your favorite books. Note when, where, and how the author builds the tension and how the tension eases, then increases again.
- Identify the turning points in the stories you read. Note how the turning points force the protagonist into her next move.
- Break the most emotionally moving scenes down. Note the author’s use of emotional reactions, the sentence structures, word choices, and rhythm of the sentences and paragraphs.
- Reverse engineer the character’s arc or the plot twist or some other feature of the story that you admired. Note which feature gives you the strongest positive and negative reactions.
- Study transitions from one setting to another. Note how the author uses and conveys the passage of time or travel or effort to get from one to the next.
The nine ways to analyze a story I’ve listed above aren’t the only ways. As you become more comfortable with analysis of stories, you can expand your studied even more.
Applying What You Learn
Journaling your analysis of books you read, summarizing those other authors’ techniques is only part of this process. Look at your analyses and consider what might help strengthen your writing and storytelling skills.
Practice
If there’s a skill you’d like to develop, practice it. For example: If I wanted to improve how I use point of view, I would schedule a time to review and practice. Personally, I find children’s classics the easiest text to use for this kind of practice. I copy a paragraph or two from the classic onto the top of my practice page. Beneath it, I write subheadings for each type of POV: first person, second person, close third person, limited third person, omniscient, and objective. Beneath each subheading, I re-write the text from the classic to fit the parameters of each type of POV.
Why practice? Because it allows your editor-brain to sit back and let you write. Through the process of rewriting the classic text, you will probably recognize which POV the author used in the original version. As both an intuitive and study-style learner, I then do the same practice exercise with other text. I show my work to a trusted and skillful writer friend and learn what works and what doesn’t work. And I get more and more skilled at writing in all the different POVs.
Experiment
The next level of learning is to experiment with your own manuscripts. If it’s not flowing the way you’d like, try changing the POV or the structure or the character arc in a way you’ve practiced. Some things won’t work at all. Other things will amaze and excite you.
Supersize Your Writer’s Reading Toolbox
Know your literary tradition, savor it, steal from it, but when you sit down to write, forget about worshiping greatness and fetishizing masterpieces.” Allegra Goodman
The more you analyze what you read, the sharper you’ll see those parts of writing in everything you read and, perhaps more importantly, everything you write. Develop your reading toolbox by reading fiction and nonfiction, genres you love and genres you like. Supersize your toolbox by reading things you wouldn’t normally read. Love mysteries but never read romance? Try reading and analyzing a romance or two. It’s surprising how skills from genres you rarely read can make your stories not in that genre more engaging.
What is the number one thing you’ve learned from someone else’s writing?
Image credits:
Top image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Second image by Martine from Pixabay with quote added by Lynette M. Burrows