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Fiction Debut Author Roundtable
5.
AOTW: In Stephen King's On Writing, he prescribed two things, which every aspiring writer must do: 1) read a lot and 2) write a lot. Do you agree with him? And if so, how do you balance reading and writing?
Ad Hudler: I agree that reading is essential. I think of reading as eating - the words being food --- and if I don't replenish myself with nourishment I will dry up and be unable to function as a writer. I am an insomniac; often I read in the wee hours of the morning or on weekend days when my wife has our daughter out on a girly activity of sorts.
Jill Bialosky: I read constantly. I always have. Like most writers, I came to reading first. My passion for writing grew out of my love affair with books. I like reading poetry and fiction, classics and contemporary works. Whatever I'm in the mood for. I don't get spooked by reading while I'm writing. When I'm writing I get inside the trance of my characters. I don't think it's a bad thing to not be influenced. I'd rather be influenced by Shakespeare or Henry James or Ovid, then not be influenced at all.
Kate Manning: When you're not writing, read, and when not reading, write. Books I love, like Edna O'Brien's Down by the River, or Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, or Peter Carey's The True History of the Kelly Gang, or Sapphire's novel, Push, I keep on my desk near me at all times and leaf through them for courage. I learn a lot from good writers with strong voices, and am always looking for captivating language and characters, and trying to see how various writers solve problems of plot and structure and pacing.
Masha Hamilton: I do think you need to read a lot, and read in the same way that an architect might look at a house: examining the foundation and the beams and the angles and the flourishes. I read at night when I'm too tired for writing, and often reread during the afternoon to focus on a particular aspect of storytelling.
Gary Shteyngart: Of course. I read incessantly, dividing myself between Russian classics (including my favorite Nabokov) and more contemporary novels from around the world, in particular Eastern Europe and the developing world. I probably read more than I write.
David Benioff: Yes. I don't know any writers who did not begin as voracious readers. Unfortunately, I was a much better reader before I made my living as a writer --- these days I have a harder time losing myself in the fictive world of a novel. I find myself daydreaming about whatever stories I'm working on instead of concentrating on the story at hand. Also, I'm always looking for things to steal.
Jay Nussbaum: I think it's true but inverted. If you haven't been reading a lot and writing a lot all your life, why be a writer in the first place? How else does someone become a writer other than to begin with a profound love of books? People tend to excel at what they love. So if you love to read and write, you'll do so naturally. When tomorrow comes, you'll do it again, because you want to, not because Stephen King said to. That said, although I read constantly, I do have to be very careful about what I read and during which times of the day, so that another author's voice doesn't seep into my writing.
Michael Redhill: I do agree. And there should be no balance between reading and writing. The writer who doesn't spend the lion's share of his or her time reading is not really doing the work of a writer, I think.
Ali Smith: I agree absolutely. I write, and then when I stop I read.
Stella Pope Duarte: Absolutely, I agree. I love writing and lament not having enough time. I read at airports, on trips, at coffee shops, anywhere I can. I write into the early morning hours, and often on weekends, summer vacations, etc.
David Rosenfelt: I'm sure he's right, because he's Stephen King and I'm David Rosenfelt, but I don't think it has much meaning for me. Were I to give similar advice, I would say "experience a lot." One thing I cannot do is read while I'm in the middle of writing a book. I find that I start to write in the style of the person I'm reading. In most cases that's an improvement, but still out of place with the rest of my
book.
Arthur Phillips: I have never heard a single "rule on writing" that really, truly applies to everybody, or that hasn't been broken to brilliant effect by an original writer…EXCEPT THIS ONE. I don't know how you can aspire to write anything-genres, "high-art tradition" literature, anything --- without reading what has come before and what's coming out now. That's the fertilizer that makes your taste, style, and technique grow. And, no matter what you write, you have to write enough to see your own writing get better, by whatever standard you hold it to. I found a balance of hours a day and days a week for both reading and writing, and for right now, those numbers are working pretty well. I just try not to read anything that has a direct, potentially too-influential bearing on what I'm trying to write right now.
Jill A. Davis: Those are great tips. I'd add one more 'must' to round out the list: 3) go to water slide parks a lot.
Terrence Cheng: Absolutely agree on both points. You HAVE to read if you are going to write, and you HAVE to write if you are going to call yourself a writer. I think beginning writers who are still finding a unique voice, style, or subject matter should read all the time. Find writers you love and emulate them. I don't mean copy their styles, and don't plagiarize for God's sake, but DO tap into their sensibilities. Learn from not only what they do well, but what they might not do so well. You can learn something from everyone and everything you read, whether it's good or bad. I think once you feel comfortable with your own voice, style, subject matter, and feel confident in your ability to write what you want, then your reading will automatically become more selective. Because you will be writing much more, and you'll have less time to read. So what you read will actually become pickier, more selective. But still, I think writers read those books and authors with whom they share a similar sensibility, so they are constantly learning something new.
Steve Almond: He's absolutely right. If I'm not reading enough, I feel undernourished. I tend to write in the morning, when I'm a bit fresher. Then, once I finish, I read in the afternoon and evenings. I got rid of the TV specifically so that I wouldn't allow myself to just veg out.
Anahita Firouz: Of course, every writer should read a lot. But I used to read a lot even as a teenager. Our house is full of books. I always have piles of books waiting to be read. I read in two languages and from a wide range of subjects. I have a fiction pile --- old and new works. I have another pile of nonfiction books to read for my research. For example, for my novel, In the Walled Gardens, I did extensive research that required a huge amount of reading. And then also I have random books I pick up for inspiration or because of my interests --- history, cultural studies, travel, politics and religion, poetry. I write during the day, so I try to read earlier in the morning or at night mostly, and I often take notes.
Karen V. Siplin: You must write everyday, even if it's in a journal. Writing everyday is the only way you will find your voice. And reading is a must. I believe an aspiring writer should read everything they can get their hands on. Every writer has a unique voice which comes out the minute s/he jots something down on paper. But sometimes it's difficult to believe in your own voice, especially if it is original or experimental. Reading as much as possible broadens a writer's horizons. I like to use Bret Easton Ellis as an example. Ellis is an author who takes chances when he writes (entire chapters in French, not to mention chapters that end mid-sentence). An aspiring writer doesn't want to copy a style they enjoy or find refreshing, but they want that style to help validate their own voice. I try to think of authors like Ellis and Dana Johnson when I begin to doubt my own voice.
It isn't easy balancing reading, writing and life. And there are days when I do not pick up a book I'm in the middle of reading. But I'm always shocked when I meet people who are writing books but say they don't have time to read. The best advice I have for balancing reading and writing is: Force yourself to read something that is not a newspaper or magazine for 30 minutes to an hour each evening (if you are one of those people who don't have time to read). Figure out when you feel most comfortable writing, and sacrifice whatever you're doing at that time to write.
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