Recent Reads
Reading is the other work I do when I'm not writing. I read to be a better writer, and studying what I read keeps me moving towards the day when people, other than the current few, will be able to read my writing. And they will, of that I am certain.
In a recent article I read on writing, the author stated that a writer needs to be able to deal with uncertainty, a statement that is only too obvious to those of us who are writing to be published. Perhaps less obvious though, and what the author of the article really meant to say, is that despite all the uncertainty, a writer must write as though he is certain, must keep writing each new project as though he knows exactly where his project is going, and write as though he is certain that it will be a fantastic piece of work when it is done. It is sometimes hard to keep the uncertainty that surrounds us out of our work, but we must.
For me, a portion of the certainty that I can draw on comes from studying the great works of other writer's. Here are some that I've read/studied lately: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, Titus Groan (The Goremenghast Novels) by Mervyn Peake, and Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. I'm currently reading/studying Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon, and after that I'll be reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.. .
In a recent article I read on writing, the author stated that a writer needs to be able to deal with uncertainty, a statement that is only too obvious to those of us who are writing to be published. Perhaps less obvious though, and what the author of the article really meant to say, is that despite all the uncertainty, a writer must write as though he is certain, must keep writing each new project as though he knows exactly where his project is going, and write as though he is certain that it will be a fantastic piece of work when it is done. It is sometimes hard to keep the uncertainty that surrounds us out of our work, but we must.
For me, a portion of the certainty that I can draw on comes from studying the great works of other writer's. Here are some that I've read/studied lately: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, Titus Groan (The Goremenghast Novels) by Mervyn Peake, and Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. I'm currently reading/studying Dismantled by Jennifer McMahon, and after that I'll be reading Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.. .