Hi everyone! Welcome to the first post of my new blog. The initial purpose of this blog is to document my journey of writing my first novel. I will share insights along the way I have learned. Recently, I have read and are reading several books on writing. I want to review those for you and give you the major takeaways that hit home with me. There are quite a few books out there that claim to know the best way to teach you how to write. What I have found so far is that there is no one way to write, and that goes for any part of the process. If anyone tells you “should” be doing it a certain way then that’s just because that is how it works for them.
Other posts on this website will be more specific to my experience in writing and my failures/successes of which you can hopefully learn. I already had a major reorganization of my novel based on a few different pieces of advice I read, but I will get to that in another segment.
I don’t want this blog to be only for writers. I want to it be for readers too. Stephen King is one of my favorite authors and admittedly I need to read more of his works. One of King’s tenets of writing is to read a lot. Read 3 to 4 hours a day he says. I’m not sure I can say I always get to that mark but I am trying my damnedest to. Now, this is not something that all authors agree on but I would venture to say most agree that you need to read quite a bit. Reviews of the books I read will not just be of the writing variety but also of fiction I liked to read, so be on the lookout for those.
Reading shaped my formative years. It was a great place to escape to, full of fantastical people, creatures and places. Not only was it an escape, but it formed a strong basis for grammar and vocabulary. This strong foundation has helped me tremendously throughout the years in various parts of my life; helping in school, work and general communication with other humans. If you have this foundation, then you have already overcome some of the first hurdles of writing which is grammar and vocabulary. If you don’t have it, good news! I have the prescription for your ailment. Read. Read. Read. It honestly does not matter what you read, just make sure it’s something you enjoy. Like with exercise (which I will probably reference a lot) and anything in life really, give yourself small goals at first as to not be discouraged.
There is no excuse to not read right now. Find a local library and sign up for a library card. Go to your local bookstore and read books to see which one interests you. On the go? Always in the car? Try Audible. Consuming books through audio is just as good as reading them. One of my favorite stores is Half Price Books. I like to go in there and browse their clearance section for hidden gems. Most of them are only $1 each! You can find similar deals on Amazon but pay $5 for shipping, that’s five books you could have got instead. If you already read books and know what you like but are uncertain what to read next, then Goodreads is a great place to discover books similar to what you already like.
Let me know in the comments section what you are reading or plan to read.
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Kyle Wood is an amateur writer, currently writing his first novel. Lover of Scifi and Fantasy books.
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