Read to Write!

It’s time for another Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) post! Every first Wednesday of the month we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share and try to come up with solutions and encouragement. In this IWSG post, I have my latest writing progress and an answer to the question of the month.

In the last couple weeks, I haven't  written a lot of new fiction. I've mostly been working on my weekly blog posts and as far as fiction goes I've mostly been doing editing and formatting. The formatting is really taking me out. I'm formatting my book of two short stories called "The Boo Brothers: Two Tales of Terror". I came out with the electronic version around this time last year. This year, I'm formatting for a paperback version that I'm planning to release for Halloween, though hopefully way before the 31st of the month. But I had to format it a second time because the files from the font that I used messed up. Then you get all the little technicalities of the process that you don't really understand how to deal with until you've made enough mistakes  to figure it out and do it correctly. That's valuable writing time. 

It just really annoys me because it seems like formatting shouldn't be so difficult. I mean I already have an e-version of the book on Amazon and so files to it that have been uploaded to Kindle Direct Publishing. So why can't there be a way to simply transfer them to a program for creating the paperback version? With so much advanced technology out there it seems like there'd be a tool to do that rather than having to start from scratch again. I personally believe KDP will come out with a tool that does this but it's just a matter of time when they do. They've advanced so much with their online tools already.

Now to answer the question of the week:

"It's been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don't enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?"

My answer to this is that the belief in a writer not needing to read is a new one to me. Almost all serious writers I know, have met or read about insist that in order to write good and professionally you need to read. I really believe that a good writer, not just a fly by night one, but a serious writer who regularly writes and publishes needs to read avidly and passionately. The best writers out there are ones who have a passion for reading. Now I can't say a lot for other genres' authors since my genre specialties are science fiction and horror. I do read other genres but I don't follow their writers' writing processes. But in science fiction and fantasy: Ray Bradbury lived, as he would put it, to read like he lived to write; Stephen King reads; Margaret Atwood reads; Neil Gaiman reads. So how can you be a serious and thriving writer if you don't read or don't have a passion in doing so? Normally people who are serious about writing for a living are such because they love reading.

So for me writing and reading go hand in hand. If you truly like to write and are serious about doing it full time or regularly and putting your stuff out for publication, then you will love reading other peoples' work.

Today’s IWSG is brought to you by these super co-hosts: Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Mary Aalgaard, Madeline Mora-Summonte, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor! IWSG was founded by awesome author Alex Cavanaugh, writer of the Cassa Series of novels! 

Until next time . . . 

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