As a writer have you ever considered how you can learn from another writer’s books? It should be a constant part of your development as a writer and especially as a professional writer. It’s easy to dial it in and think what we did last time is good enough for this book, but I’ve found each book actually gets more challenging. I have to come up with fresh characters and plots, something that is far from easy to do. So how do I try to stay sharp and develop my skills?
I dig into the books of authors I admire. I literally will pull them apart and see what I can learn from them. It’s something any of us can do with a little time and effort as we strive to always improve and stretch our writing muscle.
Here are a few ways I love to step back and increase my writing muscle from other writers’ skills.
- Break apart another author’s packing by creating a chapter-by chapter synopsis. This process helps me see how they create pacing and weave together the different threads of a plot. This is all helpful and important as I’m working on novels and creating context and new plots of my own. I’ve done this a few times in my writing and should do it more often with books that won’t let me go after the last page. I’ve also done this with favorites when I’m shifting between genres. It’s been a helpful tool to make sure I’m picking up pacing and other cues in reader favorites.
- Listen to a favorite audiobook to pick up word choice. If you read fast like I do, listen to an audiobook of a book by a favorite author. This can be a great way to hear the word choices and other choices that this writer makes. I just finished listening to The Woman in the Window. It’s a psychological thriller that has 130,000 ratings on Amazon with an average of 4.3. While it’s not my typical read, that many ratings has me taking notice and I was able to pick it up for $4.99 on Chirp, so I gave it a listen. A couple things I picked up on was it was written in present voice and it’s in an incredibly active voice. Every verb packs a punch and is so descriptive. I need to get the paperback so I can study how the author chose the words he did. Which also leads to my next point.
- Read fan favorites. Have you read Where the Crawdads Sing? (619K ratings on Amazon with a 4.7 average). How about All the Light We Cannot See? (217K with a 4.5 average). Sometimes you need to read the award winning, fan favorite books that are outside your personal favorites for that reason alone. Study them for why they work. Why are so many people reading them? What is pulling people in and getting them to tell others about them? What can you learn from those?
- Attend writer’s conferences so that you can learn from other authors. My favorite is ACFW, and we have a virtual conference coming on February 23rd and 24th with speakers like Tamara Alexander, Karen Ball, and Robin Lee Hatcher. There are other conferences all over the country, so there’s probably one close to you, but conferences are a great way to meet other writers while honing your craft. A writer’s conference can also be a great place to meet editors and agents. More importantly, it’s a great place to meet other writers – those crazy people who understand the journey you are on and the unique road you are walking. It’s worth so much to find your people.
How do you learn from other writers?