Can a piece of writing still be good if one or more of its main characters are terrible and completely unlikable? Do main characters need to be likable? If so, why?
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Category: Reading
Why You (Yes, You) Should Read Romance Novels
Romance novels and rom-com novels get a bum rap and are often considered as “trash,” or as “guilty pleasures”– the books one should be ashamed to read. Typically romance novels are shoved in the back of a closet or are quickly discarded after they’re read, not displayed on bookshelves for guests to see in a home library, in other words. And this, quite frankly, annoys me. Because romance novels can and do offer so much to readers and writers alike.
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What to Read if You’re a Writer
As someone who founded a book club called the Egalitarian Book Club, I would never dissuade anyone from reading a bit of anything and everything by a diverse array of authors. However, if you’re a writer, you might want to be a bit more decisive about what you read on a regular basis… at least eighty to ninety percent of the time.
Here’s a short list of what you should read if you’re a writer.
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Audiobooks Are Books. Period.
There’s been a lot of debate about whether audiobooks are “real books” since they’ve started becoming more popular and accessible. And I keep wondering how this is even a debate. Audiobooks are “real books.” Period.
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Book Review: The Faraway World
After reading Infinite Country, I will read anything Patricia Engel writes. So, this book was already on my radar in 2023. And it’s no surprise it was a five-star read for me…
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Current Reads and Book Reviews [July 23, 2022]
This past week, I finished reading The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh. I’m still reading Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt. And I started reading The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. [See the answers to yesterday’s quiz at the bottom of this post.]
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Quiz: Can you match these opening passages to their famous works?
An opening line sets the tone and mood of any piece of writing. Today’s post will inspire you to consider interesting and effective ways to open a piece of writing. Read the opening passages below, then see if you can match them to their well-known works.
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Lessons in timely reading
Have you ever experienced the pure serendipity of reading a book at the precise moment you needed to read it? Perhaps you started reading a book about characters learning to grieve, as you were learning to grieve. Or you read a book with a protagonist overcoming an obstacle that you were also attempting to overcome. Regardless of how it comes about, the impact of timely reading can be life-giving, sometimes life-changing, even if it’s in the subtlest of ways.
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Six ways to read more to write more
If you read more, you’ll have more ideas for your own writing, which means you’ll likely write more. And you’ll probably write better, too.
You’re essentially more likely to avoid writer’s block and be a better writer if you read more.
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Writing inspiration from children’s stories
I’m currently reading T. J. Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea. It’s unlike anything I typically read, or that I’ve ever read before. And I mean that in a good way. While the book is intended for adult readers, it incorporates elements of storytelling that are traditionally incorporated into children’s stories, which is much more difficult than it seems at first. And it’s made me realize that gleaning inspiration from children’s stories so that you can write for adults will not only challenge you as a writer but reintroduce you to the underlying magic of storytelling in general.
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