Reading and Writing

There are basically two ways to learn how to write: 1) write; and 2) read. They are equally important. If you're really interested in writing science fiction, read every science fiction book you can get your hands on.

This serves two purposes. In the course of reading, you will absorb a great deal of craft knowledge subconsciously. You will see how other writers do what you are trying to do, and reap huge dividends from that education.

The second thing all the reading does is helps you to know and understand your tradition. In addition to researching agents and markets, you need to be thoroughly immersed in your genre. You are entering a river in midstream; if you wade in unknowing, assuming you can handle the current, you will drown. You'll waste time writing what others have already written. You will recycle tropes of the past.

A friend of mine, excited by the work I was doing, told me he had always wanted to write poetry. When I asked him who his influences were – who inspired him – he said, “Oh, I've never read any. I don't have time to read.”

If you don't have time to read, you'll never be a writer.

So what are you reading?

Is there a book or story that set you on this path? A work that inspired you? One that still guides you today?

Return from Reading and Writing to Nuts and Bolts