How to read like a writer - Top Tips from Rufus Purdy at Write Here
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Today I have something a bit different for you and would like to welcome Rufus Purdy to my blog. Rufus is the editor of Write Here, who offer high quality, affordable creative writing classes throughout the UK. They also offer editorial services for novelists - both for those who are published and those yet to be published.
Rufus was editor at the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing school from 2012 to 2018 and has worked on a diverse range of bestselling titles. He's also a journalist and has had work published in The Times, The Observer, The Financial Times to name a few! So it seems to me, if you have been working on a story and want some advice, or if you'd love to write but don't know where to start, Write Here could be the answer! Check out their website to find out more about their courses and editorial services...
But back to Rufus's guest post! When authors are asked for advice on writing, they always say read, read, and then read some more. Not difficult! But it's also important to think about how you are reading so that you can develop your own writing. Today Rufus is going to give us his top tips on how to read like a writer!
How to read
like a writer
When we ask ourselves how to read like a writer, many
of us think back to English Literature lessons at school. Reading as a writer
is perhaps the most important skill an
aspiring author should master, but it has very little to do with analysing
whether Victorian novelists are suggesting sex when they talk about window-frames
or what’s on the breakfast table. Learning to look at a book through the eyes
of a writer – as opposed to just consuming it as a reader – will bring
previously unnoticed techniques to your attention and make you question the way
you’re constructing your own writing. And, of all the skills a writer should
perfect, it’s probably the most enjoyable...
TOP TIPS
• Read widely – and don’t just stick to the kind of
books you like. If you love psychological thrillers and want to be the next
Gillian Flynn, there’s a lot you can learn about creating suspense and making
your readers want to turn the page from crime fiction. And romantic fiction can
show us how to create memorable characters and believable love stories that can
inspire even the most literary of novels.
• Ask yourself key questions whenever you’re reading a
novel. In what order is the author choosing to tell the story and to what
effect? What point of view (first or third person) is the novel’s narrative
voice in and would the story be as dramatically interesting if the author had
changed it? What purpose does each scene in the novel serve, and is it either
developing character or moving the story forward?
• Look very closely at the beginning of a novel you
love – for it’s in the opening 3,000 words or so that the author is working at
their hardest. Write Here… has blogged before on how
to write a great opening to your novel, and you should be asking
yourself just how the writer is hooking you in and making you want to read on.
• If you’re reading a genre novel, you need to ask
yourself how the author is meeting the expectations that type of book’s readers
will have. In a crime novel, for example, the initial threat established at the
beginning needs to be subdued by the end. In a science-fiction story, the world
the author creates must be believable and relatable. If the author’s not doing
this and you’re still enjoying the book, then ask yourself how the expectations
of the genre are being successfully subverted.
• Keep in mind that the answers to any writing problem
you have can be found in the pages of a book. Any issue, from successfully
building tension to creating memorable characters, will have already been
solved by other authors. So read them. Ask your writing/book-loving friends for
recommendations if you can’t think of any yourself.
Thank you so much Rufus - this is really interesting and there are some great, clear and manageable tips here to help all aspiring - and perhaps more experienced writers - use reading to hone their own skills and craft their own novels. Thanks so much for sharing these tips and joining me today!
Write Here… is dedicated to finding talented new
authors outside London. They run affordable, 12-week creative
writing courses taught by published authors in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.
RUFUS PURDY
Rufus began his career dressed as a giant banana (complete with yellow tights), handing flyers to tourists outside Covent Garden tube station. Desperate for a job that would give him some dignity, he went into publishing and – after a spell working on financial directories – he landed the position of Junior Sub-editor at Harper’s Bazaar, where he honed his editorial skills polishing up celebrities’ barely literate copy. A spell at Condé Nast Traveller reawakened a love of seeing the world and, after an enjoyable spell as a sub-editor-for-hire, he became Associate Editor at Psychologies, where he combined the Chief Sub’s role with that of Travel Editor. This led to him being offered the job of editor at boutique-hotel experts Mr & Mrs Smith, where – until his first child was born in June 2009 – he spent his days, writing, editing, commissioning and blogging, while unsuccessfully trying to convince his team that he was far too busy and important to make them cups of tea. As editor of Family Traveller magazine, he was shortlisted for Launch of the Year at the 2014 BSME Awards.
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