How much should you read before you start writing?

Alias Black

Alias Black

Aspiring Liar
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There's a general consensus that reading makes you a better writer. That is, without a doubt, completely true. I'm not well-read by any measure - I enjoy reading fantasy but I am a slow reader, typically taking about a month to finish a good book (I keep reading and re-reading paragraphs I like, indulging in the imaginary escapades they offer). As such, I haven't been able to finish as many books as I'd like.

I guess my dilemma is, I really want to write this story that's in my head for the last decade or so, but I'm afraid I won't be informed enough to make good writing decisions due to my shortcomings as a reader.

Wonder if there are any thoughts regarding this?
 
You say that one of the reasons you are so slow is because you read and reread the paragraphs you like—presumably because they move you in some way, perhaps stir up your emotions—which is one way that writers, once they start paying attention, learn what works and what doesn't work in a story, how words fit together to create a specific effect.

So I think that is a good sign. Perhaps in the process you have been preparing yourself to write your story. Ultimately, as important as reading is—reading widely as well as in your chosen genre—the only way to learn how to make good writing decisions is to do a lot of writing, make a lot of bad decisions and learn from them, then write some more, make new mistakes, etc.

Books about writing, writing classes, the advice of friends who are also writers, reading as much as we can, these can all play a part in helping us grow as writers, but even with all those resources so much of learning to write is a matter of trial and error.

So I agree with Hope: start writing and see what develops.
 
I find reading helps kindle my imagination, but it's more critiquing other people's work, and receiving critiques in return, that makes me a better writer. I wouldn't hold off writing until I had read a certain number of books, I'd read them alongside my writing.

The best way to learn is just to start and then get feedback from impartial people as you go, that means not your family or close friends. The critiques forum here is the perfect place to get some good feedback.
 
Until recently I was very poorly read, (I'd wager far more so than you) but that didn't stop me writing. As Teresa said, you've probably been unconsciously preparing yourself to write as you've been reading these passages, but more than that you've been learning the basics of sentence and paragraph when reading newspapers, blogs, emails, posters and pamphlets, anything and everything.
But as the others have said, there is only so much you can learn from other people. I cant really pin down exact things or reasons why I like certain books, so I don't consciously get the same (writerly) experience from reading books, at least not consciously. As Warren says, critiquing has really helped me in this. Forcing myself to focus solely on the elements rather then the story. But in the end I had to learn by writing something that I was enjoying (I don't think i'm weird enough that no one will ever share my tastes, so if I like it, someone else can) and then getting other lovely people to read it.

So some of the technical things I have learnt from reasing/listening/joining in/critiquing here and in life, a few 'how to' books that I've read, but almost everything has come from writing the stories in my head. Make your own mistakes and learn from them, then make new ones. Even if they turn out bad, just write. You can fix them as you learn:)
 
Wow, I didn't expect to get so much incredible advice, thanks everyone! :) I've already built up a nice list of books I'm going to read this summer thanks to all the recommendations I received on the forums. I'm humbled, to say the least, by the hospitality I've received as a newbie to this community.
 
I think it varies a lot. I also agree with Brian. I read quite a bit of history (mostly classical, but more recently some medieval). I think that's useful, and Joe Abercrombie's blending of styles (most obviously Westerns with Red Country) works well.
 
Read everything. Don't bother with TV & Cinema any more, it distorts your writing style as what works visually and what works in print are different. Spend the time reading instead.
Can't sleep or think what to do, or on bus / plane / train? Read.
 
I have always been in awe of the voice Joe Abercrombie used in Red Country. It's one of those books where you just look at the authentic writing and wish you could write that well. While I support learning from other author's works, I would also advise caution as well. One problem I do see is trying to become what we read and end up making ourselves sound like somebody else. Joe Abercrombie is fantastic, but his writing style is unique to himself. If I was to try imitate it, I wouldn't be me anymore, I'd be a copycat. And probably a bad one at that...
 
Hi Alias Black! I think (for what it's worth) that it's less about quantity and more about paying attention. You clearly know your way around a comma so now it's a matter of writing and working out if you know how to tell a story (it took me ages to get to the stage where I had a vague idea what I was doing storywise, and now I muddle along with my vague idea, edit furiously, panic, and then my lovely CPs beat me into shape).

There are all sorts of reasons not to write, and there's always something else to learn, but I think it's best done in parallel. For example, some writing books make a lot more sense once you've written something. Some techniques are only things you know you'll want when you reach that bit in your story. And however much one reads, learning to write is a different exercise.

So, if I were you, I'd go for it.

EDIT: I also agree with Warren (which is why it's a good idea to read widely -- so you're not overly influenced by one author). I tried to write a whole book in the style of Holly Black. It didn't really work.
 
I'd like to give paradoxical advice, because we humans are paradoxical by nature.

So on one hand I'd say read, read, read. And not just your genre, everything: booker prize winners, pulp SF, doorstop Fantasy, the Classics, history books, autobiographies, cornflakes packets etc... And when you get to the point with your fiction reading when you start to say to yourself 'I know what's going to happen, it's so obvious' and it happens, or you get a better idea than the author on how the story should go or you tell yourself 'hey, a lot of my diverse reading is stale and similar to me now', then you're definitely ready to get writing. It took me probably a good few years of feverish reading to get to this state.

On the other hand, I do think the earlier you start writing, the better you will be. So just scrub my top advice and get cracking with that story.

Or you could try and do both at the same time. More reading will always help your writing, and actually writing yourself...well to be frank it's taken the edge a bit off my reading pleasure, as I seem to stuck a little in editing mode even when reading for fun, but I believe there are thousands of unread books out there that I know will inspire and delight me (and fingers crossed will make my inner editor go down the pub for a while and leave me alone to enjoy the book.)
 
I think it sounds like you'te reading is working for you as it us. Writing is an arena of shoulds and that's dangerous. I can't read anything new when I'm writing something new but that doesn't mean no one else should, either..
 
Ray McCarthy said:
When doing that, I try to read something different to my favourites, and in a different genre.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I do - although I tend to switch to things like non-fiction and topics way off what the writing project is about* when I'm writing primary, first draft stuff.


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*so no science books when doing hard-ish SF, for example
 
Reading a lot, and reading widely, will give you an ear for language. Or rather, it may help develop any natural ear for language that you have. Because even many people who read books by the dozen don't have an ear for language.

And I wouldn't worry about reading slowly. That may very well be a good sign - that you are reading deliberately, and hearing the words in your head. That's exactly the kind of reading that will help your writing, rather than the breezy skimming that a lot of high-volume readers employ. For my part, I read much slower than I did when I was younger, and I'm certain that I'm better equipped to write now than I was in my youth.
 
Ive read many books all the genres , seen a variety of different styles of writing . While I can appreciate good writing, I find I just cannot write fiction, Ive tried. The frustrating part is, that I have a good imagination .
 
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