Things I've Learned Reading as a Writer

Many speakers at workshops recommend reading books as a must for aspiring writer so this winter I've been reading through my stack of books.

One area I've been struggling with is how to handle a scene when the two characters in the scene are of the same gender. In a recent book I noticed how skillfully the author accomplished that task by alternating the names and the pronoun he.

In another book, a secondary character, was introduced, I noticed how the author used key phrases, dialogue, and action to create a picture for me. As I continued reading, she skillfully did this to create individuality for each new character.

The research and sources one author credited in the Forward of her book blended seamlessly so I never stopped to question any details in the book.

I also noticed how one author recorded events happening to different characters in separate scenes so I never felt confused about the sequence of events time wise.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the books even while stopping to take notes on examples of techniques I observed as I read.

I recommend taking the time to observe how authors handle areas that you might be struggling with in your own writing. In other words, follow the advice of published authors to read in order to be a better writer.