4 surefire techniques of HOW TO READ LIKE A WRITER

by Sneha Sharma | Jan 15, 2021 | Creative Writing Tips

Does the method of reading change, if we are a writer? Well, the answer is, it needs to, if we haven’t yet discovered the technique of RLW (Reading Like a Writer).

The first thing I try to teach in my writing workshops, to every new batch is the base point from where the journey of writing begins – and it has to be, by all means, the way we read!

My research and articles elaborating and analyzing this point, published in UGC approved journals and internal university periodicals, have put me in a position to elaborate on the main points of the techniques of reading.

Mike Bunn in one of his chapters in Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing (Volume 2), explains the importance of RLW. He uses Allan Tate’s metaphor of writing, when one thinks of herself as an architect, understating like a student, the constructs of ‘building’ a story, so that one can build it for herself.

A writer is “a reader moved to emulation.”

In a Paris Review interview, when asked if his earlier work has been inspired by Virginia Woolf, author William Maxwell (Author of ‘So Long, See You Tomorrow’ and ‘They came Like Swallows’) agreed that his earlier work indeed was a compendium of all of his favorite authors. He quoted another legend Saul Bellow as saying,

“A writer is a reader who is moved to emulation.”

(To strive to equal or excel, especially through imitation. Eventually we find our voice as we keep on writing. )

Robert Peake in his article – Emulation, Originality, and the Writing Tradition, elaborates on how emulation–as defined by a desire to imitate and transcend the spirit and tactical successes of works one admires–can actually enhance originality.

Talking of emulation, I also like Robert’s idea of reading widely and responding genuinely to our rich heritage of literary arts. Maybe reading a thousand authors and then narrowing the reading down to a select few who are your favorites and exercising through imitation of their style of writing till the time we find our own independent voice as writers.

Emulation teaches you to creatively rewrite and re-examine the mechanics of what was written

Emulation can be thought for thought (rewriting the thought conveyed in a passage in your own words)or it can be a word for word (replacing the adjectives and nouns, for example, with other synonymous adjectives and nouns)

Many times, reading too much of the same author can automatically lead to writing like him.

Read Slow –

Understanding the usage of a language as a medium and its sentence structure is the key to become an eloquent writer. That would happen when we read slow to grasp the power and CHOICE of words used in popular literature.

Language is to a writer what notes is to a musician and color to a painter. The wonder of every piece of art is its intricacies, what went into it.

“Every page was once a blank page just as every word that appears on it now was not always there, but instead reflects the final result of countless large and small deliberations. All the elements of good writing, depend on the writer’s skill in choosing one word instead of another. And what grabs and keeps our interest has everything to do with those choices. It’s surprising how easily we lose sight of the fact that words are the raw material out of which literature is crafted.” – Francine Prose – Fifty Shades of Grey.

My absolute favourite suggestion –

Reread your old favorites –

When you read a book for the first time, you are busy comprehending the story, grasping the language, journeying the symbolism, making notes but after you become familiar with these constructs and like what you read, it is a good idea to re-experience it. It’s like going back to your summer house in vacations time and again, to relive the comfort of the place you enjoy so much being into.

Consider asking yourself – what is that one or two things about the book that made me come back to it?

• What makes the book special?
• Who was my favorite character?
• Is there anything to learn about the character arcs or kind of metaphorical references made for him/her?

For a passage you admire, you can choose to ask yourself –

• What was the word choice of the author?
• What was the rhythm? 
• Is the passage offering any new perspective that is changing what the story has meant to me until now?
• Ruthanne Reid, author for ‘The Write Practice’ suggests – elaborating on the paragraph that you think is the game-changer of the story; something that made your perspective change about the character’s choices or emphasizes on the gravity of the problem or importance of the solution offered or why the character’s assumptions are such, maybe because she belongs to a different culture or locality. Talk about it.

Elaborate on these points in a notebook or a blog. Share with others or have a discussion group.

Also reading the same genre in which you are willing to write would help to evaluate which archetypes to avoid. Although reading across the genre helps boost creativity.

Helpful links –

• Midnight Publishing
• Writer’s Cook-Book 

Saul Bellow was a Canadian-American writer. For his literary work, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature.

*1 – Ruthanne Reid  writes in the blog ‘The Write Practice’ – ‘There is a rhythm to good prose writing. Read a beautiful passage out loud if you don’t believe me. If you were to swap words with synonyms of different syllable count, the rhythm would totally change.’