Architects see houses differently, chefs see food differently, and writers should see books differently too.
Let’s practice “reading like a writer” together with excerpts from three awesome books!
During the last stream, a subscriber requested that we go over how to read like a writer.
You can watch the full video here to or scroll down to for tips.
How to Read Like a Writer
- When you’re reading normally, it’s easy to get lost in the story and devour it as quickly as possible, anxious to see what happens next
- And that’s fine! When that happens, it’s the sign than the author has done their job well
- But, if you want to get better at writing, it’s important to take a step back and focus on other things while you’re reading
Steps to Read Like a Writer
#1. Focus on the words on the page, not the story as a whole
- Slow down, look at the trees instead of the forest
- Don’t be afraid to go back, re-read, skip sections, etc.
- Don’t let your imagination get transported away, keep it focused on the words the page, and one easy way to do that is by…
#2. Always asking yourself “why?”
- Every single word was a choice made by the writer
- Prose why’s: Why did they describe something a certain way? Why did they use long/short sentences? Why did they use this specific word over another? How long is this scene and what are the beats that make it up? Etc.
- Emotional why’s: Why is this section suspenseful? Why do I hate this character? Why am I getting sucked into this story? Etc.
- The best way to answer those why’s and use them in your own writing is by…
#3. Writing down EVERYTHING that stick out to you
- Not just cool words/sentences, but summaries of scenes too, the individual beats that make them up, so you can use the same skeletons for writing your own similar scenes
- The best way to learn is through reinforcement
- If you just read, then it will disappear from your mind
- But if you write it down, then that reinforces what you’ve learned, even better if you read over your notes!
Be sure to check out the video so you can see how we applied these three steps to excerpts from three different books: Severance by Ling Ma, 11/22/63 by Stephen King, and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
If you want to join us and help write a story by trolling in chat, or share your own writing for feedback, then we’d love to have you join us on Twitch.
And you missed the stream, you can still watch them on the YouTube channel or watch the full stream reruns.
Hope to see you next time, friend!
Featured image: PAKUTASO