Writing Research – reading various genres and styles of writing
I love reading. I have enjoyed reading and stories as long as I can remember. However I, like many people, have my favourite genre, authors and style of writing which I prefer. Historical fiction, a simple mystery or a bit of romance and a big easy chair to curl up in gives me enjoyment. This enjoyable, light reading does not preclude deeper reading during study times whether this entails Bible reading, study books and articles.
My husband challenged me – seems to be a lot of challenging me happening these days – to read other styles of writing, other genres and authors as a way of doing research to help me in my own writing. What works in the book? How does the author add twists to the plot? Does the book flow and keep my attention and how did they accomplish this task? How about the characters in the book? Were they believable?
The first book he handed me to read – purely for the research aspect of it and not whether I might enjoy it, happened to have made it to the New York Times Best Seller list. I only needed to take a small step out of my comfort zone since this book was historical fiction. I found I actually enjoyed the story and probably will read more by this author.
The next few books, also on the New York Times Best Seller list over the years proved vastly different than what I normally pick up for easy reading and yet I learned from each one I read. There were ideas to jot down about what I liked, what I wished had not been in the book – often language – and lessons I gleaned from the exercise. Now I just need to make sure I don’t lose the scraps of paper I wrote notes on – time to start a commonplace book – reference in a previous blog.
Research for writing involves a variety of things. One of them is reading widely and often. Sometimes this means taking up a challenge and stepping out of your comfort zone which may end up pleasantly surprising you.
What is your favourite genre to read? Have any writers taken on a challenge of reading outside their comfort zone as a way to research? No matter what, why or where you read – just read and enjoy.
Posted: February 10th, 2017 under Storytelling.