In a market oversaturated with content, it can be hard to stay fresh and bring something new to the table. It’s vital that a writer doesn’t just live at his or her writing desk. Nothing is read in a vacuum, so nothing should be written in a vacuum. M. Todd Gallowglas, writer, critic, and educator explains why writers need to be continually reading materials inside and outside of their primary genre. If he has one piece of advice for writers, it’s to read. “Read widely. Read voraciously. Read twice as much as you write,” says Gallowglas. He says that it’s reading that keeps writing fresh, interesting, and exciting. For example, he thinks the fantasy genre is stagnating a bit because the authors in this genre aren't bringing original ideas to their stories. You should read widely within a genre to understand expected elements, but also read widely outside of that genre so you can bring new ideas to a manuscript. Watch the clip below to learn more from this bestselling fantasy author about how reading can benefit your writing.
That was helpful!