Reading is FUNdamental!

As writers we hear this all the time, “If you want to be a better writer, you need to be a better reader.” And this is very true. But also true is that in reading we need to do so effectively. Yes, effectively. See, reading well can help make a huge difference in the quality of work you produce.

Here are three tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your reading experience,

1) Be sure to read books you enjoy.

Unless you enjoy the classics (e.g. Austen, Dickens, Hemingway, etc.) reading mandatory novels some of which you may particularly enjoy might be counterintuitive. Reading should be a pleasure so read books that you like this way you’re sure to read more.

2) Read the type of material you aspire to produce.

Find an author or two or three that you admire and read as much of their work as possible; devour their work actually. 

3) Keep a good log of the books you’ve read.

Voracious readers alike can tell you that they may not remember the books they’ve read in the last year, let alone five. So, keep an online journal of authors and titles, if you’re ‘old school’ keep a paper journal.

Goodreads allows members to maintain online book log/s. Goodreads' members can create shelves, designate books being read, and books to be read; books can be rated and reviewed. For those of you who have never heard of Goodreads, I highly encourage you to visit their site and become familiar with its community of readers and writers.

I’ll share with you that last year right around the holidays I made a commitment to myself to read ten novels in 2013 and I posted this on my Goodreads dashboard, I’m happy to say that I’ve already exceeded that goal by 200%. Now, I might have never done so had I not committed to it. Morale of the story: no time like the present to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions J

Happy reading and happy writing folks!

Maria