Image Credit: Most images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos though one is directly from Pixabay. One photo of me signing at Swanwick was taken by a Swanwick colleague on my phone.
It is lovely when themes flow well together! Purposes of Reading was a natural follow on topic from Purposes of Creative Writing last week.
Writers and Reading
I’ve long thought writers have two powerful interests. To write well, you need to read well. This is partly because you are inspired by what you yourself have read (so the wider you read, the wider the inspiration pool you have, it is as simple as that!).
The other major thing to consider here is reading is such a wonderful way of studying how stories work. We all have our likes and dislikes here but we also know what stories should be like given our experience of reading over the years. We know what works for us as readers. We can use our experience of being readers to strengthen our stories and make it more likely other people will like what we do.
Readers expect a proper beginning, middle, and ending, regardless of how long the story itself is – even in my fifty word “dribbles”, this has to be the case. We see this all the time in what we read.
We also know how dialogue, internal thoughts, and narrative etc are set out in a story. We seek to copy the “template” here. It is highly unlikely a new author will reinvent the wheel here and while there are alternative forms of writing (stream of consciousness being one), it is expected writers will stick to the rules.
If you’re seeking to be published, you definitely will. You are wanting a publisher to buy your work. Fine, give them something they’ll want. Even if you want to self publish, you should still be thinking of your intended audience. What will they get from your story? How can your story work for them?
Also, as a writer, why wouldn’t you want to support the industry you’re in by reading books?
Purposes of Reading
But beyond that, what would I say the purposes of reading are? Again, as for last week’s post, there are a fair few answers to this one.
- Entertainment across a wide range of genres.
- Escapism across a wide range of genres. Not quite the same thing as above as some books make me want to laugh or just follow the plot. I don’t necessarily need to feel the need to escape with those. This is especially true for sci-fi and fantasy reading when you may well not want to escape to the world you’re reading about! You may well be glad to not be there. I have no wish to go to Mordor any time soon. Ever, come to that. The Shire, however, is a different matter – could see myself at home there!
- Education – you can learn from fiction too, especially about what not to do when a character gets things horribly wrong. That can be eye opening. One of the early lessons I learned from fairytales was never to underestimate the older character in these. They’re usually a witch or wizard in disguise and only too ready to punish the arrogant for being arrogant. See Beauty and the Beast here. The Beast didn’t get that way by chance you know!
- Empathy development – with characters for fiction. For real people you’re reading about in non-fiction pieces.
- Developing vocabulary. I first came across the word soporific in Beatrix Potter! Ironically now it would be considered to not be a good idea to interrupt your reading to look up a word in the dictionary but how many of us have done precisely that, gone on to enjoy the rest of the tale, and had our vocabulary enhanced all at the same time?
- And, as mentioned above, learning about story structure if you’re a writer. For non-fiction you will take in how articles are put together.
Discovering the World
As well as enjoying geographically based non-fiction, there is another element to this. In reading books, you can “live” the lives as shown in those books. You can follow the explorer on their journeys and not have to put up with any of the discomforts. You can follow the fictional character and be glad it isn’t you facing Sauron.
You can also read about other cultures and about places you may or may not have time to explore in person. So you get to “experience” more aspects to life without even having to leave your armchair. The world can come to you through books.
This is where fantasy and sci-fi also have a specific purpose, I think, and that is to show you what life could be like on alternative planets. Those kind of stories can hold up a mirror to what we know for real here. It won’t always be a flattering reflection.
And a major part of reading is to make us think, even if we’re not conscious of it. This can be done through characters in fiction as well as directly. Think about Scrooge. His own harsh words were thrown back at him by the visiting spectres. He was made to think.
Character Development
One thing you pick up from stories is how characters change over the course of a story. You also see how the decisions they make affect outcomes and relationships with other characters. Again this can reflect back on us and what we know of the world around us. And in understanding why the characters are being the way they are, maybe we understand a little bit more about ourselves too.
But the great thing about reading is we can do this in an entertaining way. We’re not preached at. Different readers can pick up different things from the same stories. They can also show you what matters to you. For me, character is the most important thing about a story.
A character makes or breaks a story for me. But I also feel someone’s character really is the most important thing about them. Do their actions and attitudes back up what they come up with? That doesn’t just apply to fiction!
Conclusion
Reading is a fabulous way to relax and enter another world. It is relatively cheap to do too. (And don’t forget the libraries – you can support local authors this way too). A book you can get to keep. A night out at the cinema you don’t (though it can be a wonderful thing to do).
Wanting to find out what happens is key to a good read and I love the way non-fiction has developed some fictional techniques to keep people reading. I’ve read some wonderfully entertaining non-fiction books which read like novels. One of the great “traps” of a good book is how you can find yourself immersed before you know it. The writer has done their job well there!
Related Posts:-
Read interviews with Chandler’s Ford writer Allison Symes: Part 1 and Part 2.
Read blog posts by Allison Symes published on Chandler’s Ford Today.
Never miss out on another blog post. Subscribe here:
I read a criticism of Michael Ondaatje. The critic said, ‘do not try to write like this at home – you will fail.’
Bad advice. I’m going to try to write like him and fail, then tweak it, change it, and then try again. Maybe I can get close, eventually.
I read a criticism of Michael Ondaatje. The critic said, ‘do not try to write like this at home – you will fail.’
Bad advice. I’m going to try to write like him and fail, then tweak it, change it, and then try again. Maybe I can get close, eventually.
Many thanks, Mike. We all learn from other writers but in doing that we also learn to develop our own voice. That’s a good thing. It is what WE can bring to the table here which is what readers are after. You learn from Author X, then realise you could do this or that because it is more you and off you go.