READING DOES THE WRITER GOOD....

Previously, I shared that I had finally been met with writer's block! I just sucked it up and accepted the fact that I wouldn't be a true writer if I didn't encounter this at some point in my journey of writing my first novel. So, during my 'downtime' phase, I've been reading. I figured if I couldn't write, the least I could do was read!!! I went down to my local library and spent a great deal of time reading excerpts from books by some of my favorite authors, Danielle Steel, Nicholas Sparks, & Debbie Macomber. It's funny because now when I read, I notice things that I didn't notice before. For example, I paid attention to how dialogues were exchanged between characters in each book. I read descriptions of given scenes to see how they were crafted.

Reading books has taken on a whole new meaning because now I am a writer to be. I want to be the next Danielle Steel or Nicholas Sparks. And if I'm gonna achieve their kind of success then the best way to do that is study their work.

In addition to checking up on my favorite authors, I also visited the non-fiction side of the library and looked at every book they had to offer on writing. I browsed a few and ended up checking out about 6-7 to bring home. One book of particular interest that I've been glued to is called Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass. Now whether you are a first-time novelist or seasoned veteran, this book is a great resource to draw from no matter where you are in your writing career. The great thing about it is it has given me an opportunity to find out if what I've written to date is falling within the guidelines and suggestions in the book. At first glance it would seem that without any formal training in the world of fiction novelists, that I'm at least close to the mark. However, the real test will come when I begin pitching my story idea & manuscript to agents & publishers next year.

So...that's about it for now! Hopefully, by next post I'll have shaken off this 'writer's block funk' that I've been in for the past week. I sure hope so because I've got 5 chapters left to write and they won't write themselves!!!!