Saturday, June 22, 2013

Reading to Understand Writing Or Writing To Understand Reading



"They" say read what you want to write. I read everything from cereal boxes to candy wrappers, soup cans
to horror stories. I read romance, comedy, screenplays and thrillers. Any genre you can name, I read, so that I can write –my favorite—the mystery.

Need conflict, read Debby McComber; need suspense try Tess Gerritsen; need to multiply fear and suspense, read Stephen King. If your description lacks pizzazz, give yourself a shot of Jude Devereaux. There is no better source for comic relief or ribald-in-your-face-story-magic than Janet Evanovich.
Looking for basics of writing a compelling mystery, I might read Dorothy Sayers or Agatha Christie, the classics will never let you down.  That said, nothing is ever more mind bending and wide-open, full of mystery and intrigue than non-fiction. Even a good cookbook can cook-up a mystery of best seller proportions. Or maybe your choice is a cat, dog, or horse…I'm sure you can name a few of your own favorites.
I read to understand the world, but I write to understand myself and create a place for others to discover what it is they believe. And that, my friend, is a mystery worth solving.

Check out the next blog post in this hop: Ginger Simpson at her blog
  http://mizging.blogspot.com

3 comments:

Rhobin said...

Thanks for participating! I loved the line I read to understand the world, I write to understand myself.

Anonymous said...

Your post shows the difference in people. You read to understand the world, while I read to escape it for awhile.

Unknown said...

True writing deputy - and its a good thing we are different - makes for more good books out there waiting to be read. Thanks for stopping by.
Billie