Books are The Way

I’ve been in crisis this year. I’ve had a hard time focusing on novels. I’ve read [number redacted] like seriously I’m too embarrassed to say. On the other hand, I’ve read a shit-ton of short stories, but those aren’t novels and I’m a novel writer.

How can I get better, I asked my friend Susan Dennard, if I’m not reading what I write? (She’s the author of Truthwitch and The Luminaries, fabulous fantasies for the YA audience, so I bother her for her opinion a lot.) I’ve always been told that reading books is the only way to get better at writing books.

She laughed.

Or are they?

First she told me to chill out (kindly), then she assured me that (1) none of the full time writers she knows read voraciously anymore and (2) there are lots of ways to get better at storytelling that aren’t related to reading novels.

This is important because, as a traditional writer, sometimes on deadline, sometimes writing full time, the well you have for creativity is limited, and sometimes your brain just can’t focus on reading in your genre.

So, what else is there?

Other methods of storytelling

Susan mentioned to me and I realized as she was talking that there are lots of other ways humans tell stories. A few are, for example:

• Nonfiction

• Memoir

• Video games

• TV shows

• Movies

• Telling each other stories

• Table-top roleplaying games

• Or, if you’re reading, reading outside your genre, reading short stories, reading anything with a pulse, just reading

All forms of storytelling, some of which predate the written word. All ways to learn how stories are told and enjoyed.

The caveat

Yes, you do at some point need to read novels if you’re going to be a novelist. But, as Susan said, once you develop a certain reservoir of skills, you can grow that reservoir with other media.

Does it mean you should stop reading novels? Of course not! It just means that, if the well is run dry and the thought of sitting down with a novel makes you sick, it doesn’t make you a bad writer, and it doesn’t mean you can’t still learn.

The kicker

So go out there and find new ways to imbibe stories! See what you can learn from other forms of media! And for a better discussion of this, read Susan’s recent newsletter, Books I Can’t Wait to Read, which she reminded me she’d recently posted after I asked this question.