In enjoy reading. That shouldn’t really come as a big surprise to anyone. I am a writer after all. I’ve never really been structured about my reading, though.
When it comes to writing, I strive to apply the principles of deliberate practice: praticing with a specific goal in mind, doing target exercises, getting feedback, trying to implement specific skills in a given story. I’ve been doing that for a while, but reading… that has always just been a thing I’ve done for the sake of pleasure.
All right, that’s not entirely true. I have, in a few instances re-read short stories in an attempt to learn why a story worked particularly well or elicited a particular emotion. I haven’t really been consistent about it, though, and I haven’t done it with novels.
I don’t think that will ever change completely. Reading will always be something I do to relax and settle down after a long day. I need that, and trying to force all my reading to become an active learning experience will probably only lead to burnout. However, some of my reading time can definitely be turned into a more active learning experience.
When I look back on the steps I’ve taken as a writer throughout the years and the ways in which my writing has improved, a lot of seems to come from reading as much as, if not more than, from writing: analyzing short stories, reading stories for my writing group with a focus on what works well and what needs to improve.
My hope for the new year (which we’re already well into, I know; better late than never), is that I’ll be able turn at least some of what was previously leisure time into more time spend on deliberate practice, through reading. With that in mind, I’ve created a reading list for the year.
Hopefully, it’s not an exhaustive list. Though, I’m not sure that I will get around to reading every book on the list either. It’s a source of inspiration. And what I hope to get out of it is:
- To read more broadly, because I think there are definitely things to learn from various genres and their tropes. Probably a lot of inspirations for novel fantasy or science fiction ideas, too.
- Read more non-fiction books. I read very little non-fiction. But I’ve realized lately that though I have many ideas for stories, most of them end up feeling derivative, and often I drop a story in the outlining process. I need stronger ideas, more original ideas, and reading non-fiction books might help in that regard.
- Read with intend. As mentioned above, that’s the big change I want to make in regards to my reading this year. And, no, having a list won’t make that happen, but I hope that having the list will remind me why I’m reading. Also, the list will include, at least for some books, what I hope to take away from a given book.
Right. No more delaying. Here’s The List:
Fantasy:
– Deathless (Catherynne M. Valente)
Sufice to say, there will be more fantasy books read throughout the year, but this is one genre where I don’ need to set up a goal to read more. I chose a Valente book, because I like those of her short stories I’ve read. They are wonderfully weird and well-written. So I’m reading this one to improve my prose and to learn how to create those weird, strange settings in a way that makes them interesting rather than off-putting.
Science Fiction:
– Amal El-Mothar / Max Gladstone, This is How You Lose the Time War. (this also belongs in the re-read section.)
I remember this one as having very poetic prose and a really great twist at the end, so I’ll be reading it with that in mind, seeing what I can learn from it.
Biographies:
– Terry Pratchett, A life with Footnotes.
– B.S Christiansen, Et liv på kanten (A Life On the Edge.)
The Pratchett book, well… that’s just because I’m a massive Discworld fan. I’m not sure how much is to be gained from biographies, but I guess people who have lived extraordinary life and/or are a bit odd themselves may prove useful inspiration for stories.
Non-fiction :
– Medawar and Pyke, Hitler’s Gift.
Hopefully, there will be a lot more non-fiction on the list at the end of the year, but this is the one from our bookshelves I want to read. The rest will have to come from the library. As mentioned above, the non-fiction will, hopefully, deliver some inspiration for settings and characters.
Thriller:
– John Grisham, The Associate and/or The Rainmaker.
Thrillers are one of the most popular genres out there, and I hope to learn how to create great hooks and keep readers turning the pages.
Mystery:
– Richard Osman, The Thursday Murder Club (this goes into the Modern category as well).
I love a good mystery, and I’ve been wanting to learn how write one of my own for a while, so… yeah. Maybe seeing how Osman pulled it off in his bestseller debut will teach me a thing or two.
Romance:
– Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.
– Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Thorns and Roses.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a big romance fan. I have nothing against the genre, but it’s just not for me. I’ll force myself to read some, though, because it is a big genre, and many stories feature some romance element, so I should definitely learn how to write that kind of story. Also, it might be that I actually find some romance I enjoy reading.
Myths/legends/fairy tales:
– Madame de Villeneuve, The Beauty and the Beast.
– A.W. Reed, Maori Myths and Legendary Tales.
As with the non-fiction, I’m hoping these will serve as inspiration for stories, because many of my favorite short stories, at least, are based on fairy tales and myths.
Classics:
– George Orwell, 1984.
– Barrie, Peter Pan.
– Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
I guess adding a few classics is mostly just to inform my writing in general, make sure I have a broad cultural background that overlap with that of potential readers.
New/modern:
–
It feels like even when I pick up what I think is a new book, it turns out to be a decade old. So, I want to force myself to read one or two books publish within the last year just to make sure I don’t lose touch with what is being published at the moment. These will probably be SF&F books.
Craft books:
– Hague and Hunter, The Self-Coached Climber.
There might fall a writing book or two onto this part of the list later on. However, as is, I’ve chosen a book that might teach me a thing or two about practice in general. Deliberate practice isn’t really a thing in the writing community as far as I’m aware, but studying how other experts learn could yield some techniques I could implement in my writing. And, well… we used to do bouldering and wall climbing, so we have a climbing book on the shelves.
Re-read:
– Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451.
This is one of my all time favorite books. Bradbury did everything so well in this book that I can’t really point to any specifics. Hopefully, a second read-through will make it clearer to me what he did and how he did it.
Poetry:
–
I don’t have anything planned here, but I definitely want to read some poetry to help improve my descriptions and how I show emotions on the page.
Short stories:
– Chuck Palahniuk, Make something up.
Short stories are their own medium, and I’ve negleted reading them during the last year or so, even though that’s what I’m writing mostly. So, yeah. This one is to sharping my short fiction skills further.
Magical realism:
– Murakami, Kafka på stranden (Kafka on the Beach).
I love settings where the magical and the mundane blend seamlessly with one another. I’ve been focusing more on those kind of stories that move towards the fantasy side of the spectrum and less on those on the “litterary” (gods I hate the way that word is used) side. I’ve only read one Murakami book before, so I want to read more of his stories to see how he pull of the fantasy-mundanity mix.
Childrens/YA:
– Dianna Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle.
I’m really not a big fan of most childrens or YA stories. But again, they are big genres, and I should definitely familirize myself with their plot beats and tropes. And also, see what makes the good books stand out from the masses.
Random books / Potential nuggets of gold:
– Serioiusly Funny – The Endlesly Quotable Terry Pratchett
Again, I’m a Pratchett fan. But this one might potentially also have worth because of Pratchett’s observation skills and skills at phrasing those observations.
– Kristian Bang Foss, Kaptajn Haddocks Ordbog (Captain Haddock’s Dictionary)
This one could have potential insights into creating original curse words.
Comics:
– Cyril Liéron, I hovedet på Sherlock Holmes (Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes) 1 & 2
All right. I’m not really sure what I hope to take away from reading these, but I’ve heard they use the comics medium really well so maybe that is it: seeing what originality within a given medium looks like/how one uses a given medium’s specific strengths.
Right. That was the list (so far). If you have any comments or suggestions for books I should read, don’t hold back on commenting.
Toby Backman 