Letter From the Editor: topic - Reading
Read to Fuel Your Passion to Write
Are you a reader? It should be understood that successful writers are readers first, but it isn't. I see posts around that say the poster doesn’t really like to read, and I wonder, why then are they interested in writing? No one can hope to write if they don’t read. You have to read many books to have any idea what makes one interesting.
I’ve also seen posts where writers whine that they’re tired of hearing ‘Write What You Know’, because they feel it limits their topics. It does, but there are books out there on every subject imaginable. I believe they misunderstand what it means. It doesn't mean you must have the personal experience before you can convince your readers they are in a submarine, deep below the ocean.
Reading greatly increases your ability to write what you know. Read all genres, whether you like them or not. Be sure to make half your reading nonfiction. Don’t leave out quantum physics and science. You’ll need to know about ecosystems if you create new worlds. Quantum physics will have your readers believing in magic.
Do you think knowing how silkworms make silk would ever be useful to you? Did you know they are raised in sheds, and their silk harvested by silkworm farmers? What if your new world was on another planet, and there wasn’t a department store nearby? Where would clothes come from? Learn how silk was turned into cloth way back before machines did it. Would your character be wise enough to think of future needs before the journey, and take some breeding stock along? What about useful plants, both for food and medicinal. Do you know how to propagate them to keep them productive year after year? Remember that you can’t go to the store.
What about drinking water? Could you find water in the desert?
How would the hero save his partner if they were caught in a blizzard?
Flying dragons are used in fantasy, do you know how they fly? Read about birds. What is the implication of buzzards flying in a circle?
Learn how animals avoid detection as they hunt each other. It could come in handy in a story. A main character can use the same strategy and save the town from the bad bikers. Believable tactics make the best stories.
Read to get ideas, learn different cultures, to know something about unusual jobs. Even those everyday jobs that everyone does, must be logical. If you get something wrong, readers will jump all over you.
Write what you know, and know as much as you can - by reading about it. There is no such thing as useless knowledge. This is called research, and it’s the only way to nourish your hunger to write well. Never give up on your dreams.
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