Donald Maas (famous literary agent) reckons in his book The Fire in Fiction (read it!) that you should read everything, even if it sucks, because there’s gotta be something in there that sold the book, and you can learn from that.

I personally? Don’t wanna waste the time sifting through all that trash out there just to find nuggets. What about reading only the good stuff because it’s well-written. What about reading stuff that might not be quite so well-written if you enjoy it? Isn’t one of the main purposes of reading, enjoyment? To be swept up in the story?* Or does that have to change to a certain extent if you want to become the one who writes the stories?

Discuss. Preferably from the POV of a writer, but readers are welcome too. I like making you guys think, even if it’s just, “Wow, Steph’s lookin’ pretty purple today.”

*I’m not talking about the purposes of writing, mind. Just for reading. We might write social commentary, but it does nothing if people are so bored that they turn to The Adventures of Arianna Raven Nightshade and Kristoffe Giovanni von whatshisname after two paragraphs.

Besides, professional writers most likely don’t have time to waste reading stuff that sucks.

Excepting S.Meyer, of course. ;)

Read everything. Experience everything.

The mark of an excellent writer is versatility of expression and experience. If you take a look at the biographies of the great writers of the past, you’ll find the vast majority of them had very difficult childhoods or young adult lives. Is it because writers require suffering to be great? No, it’s just because writers require a full range of experiences. How can you write about tragedy without experiencing tragedy? How can you write about love without experiencing love?

That’s why I never close myself to any experience, no matter how painful or unpleasant. The death of a friend or relative is an expansion of my expressive range, just as a first love is.

So why should you read every single scrap of writing that falls before you? Because you never know when it might come in handy, when you might appreciate having that in you toolbox of writing.

So why should you read every single scrap of writing that falls before you? Because you never know when it might come in handy, when you might appreciate having that in you toolbox of writing.

Does this apply to the low-brow drivel and the pretentiousness?

I read somewhere that a lot of authors switch to reading mostly nonfiction for research purposes and don’t enjoy fiction as much after writing it themselves.

I, however, don’t think that will ever happen to me, as I love almost every fiction genre.

I read quite a bit, but mostly works by old dead people. I’m fond of Russian lit (currently on Chekhov). I also study the Holocaust in my spare time (so I’ve read quite a few biographies and history book). Apart from that, I’m an Orson Scott Card fan (don’t make fun. Please). Really, the only genres I haven’t read are myseries and westerns, but I’m not attempting to write those, so it doesn’t matter much. Although, I pick up nearly every book that comes in the house and flip through it. I can’t help myself.

Basically, though, I write what I read. So that means my prose often comes out Dostoveskyish, which is what I’m aiming for. (I don’t think I’m as good as him, obviously. Please don’t think that I’m of the mind that I can match his quality. I’m just trying to capture the very Russian feel of his prose without ripping him off. Although I only attempt to sound Russian when I’m writing about Russians. It’d be weird to have my English schoolboy soliloquizing to himself, and his female friends bursting into hyserics/rage ever other chapter.)

I sometimes read crap for the lulz, but I find it very hard to sift through, as I read mostly classics. Then when the crap hits, I can’t really stomach it. Hell, I couldn’t finish Twilight.

The crap I’m currently reading is “Cosette: The Sequel to Les Miserables”, by some chick who thinks she can be Victor Hugo. It’s not teaching me anything about writing, except this:

Don’t attempt to be Victor Hugo. You fail.

Although I am seeing what happens when prose is overladen with weird similies… For instance:

“She did not want her daughter preserved in religion like a bonbon in sugar.”

Or:

“She said the name twice, like it was a stale biscuit”

Those are just from memory. But they are actual quotes from the book. I cringe whenever I come across them. But I have to keep reading it because I’m reviewing it for fellow Les Mis fans. No matter how painful it is.

On the subject of learning how NOT to write, there’s a bloody helpful book called, “How Not to Write a Novel”. It gives hilarious examples of bad writing, and then explains

1. Why it is bad.
2. How it should be changed.

Anyway, it’s a great book, and at very least, it’s very entertaining.

I read pulp fiction (and fanfic) for the lulz. Read Twilight for the same reason, but wound up more deeply disturbed that in agony from laughter.

I’ve found that, with all the discretion I’ve acquired through my own writing, that the writers I really loved reading when I was younger I still love and have come to appreciate more. All I have to say is that I’m glad I was friends with a librarian with excellent taste.

I think it’s important for writers to read both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ literature. I learned a lot from reading the Inheritance Cycle and the Twilight Saga. xP

I disagree with that. Novelizations of movies, in order to be released around the same time as the movie, are based on an earlier version of the script than the one that gets filmed. As a result they can often include scenes, characters, subplots, or alternate events than what you see on the screen due to budget, focus testing, or time constraints. This can be an interesting peek into the movie writing process, especially once you begin investigating the reasons for the differences.

I agree with SWQ and Sly.

I read quite a bit, but mostly works by old dead people.

Me too.

On movie novelisations: I managed to pick one up called “Getting Even With Dad”, by Elizabeth Somebody-or-other. I highly recommend it. It was hilarious, and it was really, really well-written. Just to say that they are out there.