I am not a fan of New Year’s resolutions.  I cannot think of a single time that my life changed significantly because of me following through on a resolution, and in fact, it seems that most of my attempts at resolutions have sent me backward on my goals. 
 
What has worked for me is to decide on a small goal, meet it, then take on another small goal and meet that.  When I have followed the pathway of tiny goals, I have been much more successful than resolutions. 

Now, I understand that setting a small goal might feel like the same thing as setting a resolution, but I would argue otherwise.  When I set a resolution, it’s usually because some part of my personality, habits, or behaviors is driving me crazy and I want to overcome that by changing several patterns at once.  Overnight, I’m supposed to eat better, exercise more, wake up earlier, and be more productive.  But the reality is that I never do that because it’s too much all at once.  I can’t focus on battling my middle-aged body and try to figure out how to get to the gym six days a week (in the snow no less) with kids, the house, the job, and so many life complications. 
 
What works for me is to attempt a teeny tiny goal, meet it, and then set another one.  One example where this worked well was the Inktober activity.  In October of this year, I joined Inktober, where writers and artists create a single piece each day based on a one-word prompt.  For the first week, I wrote a haiku poem (a haiku is a poem with three lines with syllables of 5-7-5).  This activity only took me three to five minutes a day.  The goal was tiny and I felt successful quickly. 

After writing a haiku poem for the first week, my confidence was up.  So, I wrote a 50 word short story for the next two week.  Each day, I would sit down and write a short story, which was usually closer to 100 words.  I’d cut it down to 50 words, post it on Instagram, and move on with my day. 
 
For the last week in October, I created a series story.  So, each day, I used the daily prompt and continued the story that I wrote the day before.  The process was interesting, because I couldn’t go with a totally new idea since I needed to string along several prompts together. 

For me, Inktober forced me to write every day for a month.  Although I would love to say that I write every day all the time, I don’t.  I write a few times a week and usually set aside one morning to write for a couple of hours straight.  The problem isn’t that I lack the discipline to write every day; I lack the opportunity.  Between work, kids, family, pets, and taking care of myself, I can’t make daily writing work.  Yet incredibly, I wrote every day in October for the Inktober project. 
 
When I set a tiny goal (write a haiku poem, write a 50 word story), I was able to do what usually feels impossible.  I was able to write for 31 days in a row.  To be honest, the outcome was exhilarating and I kept writing every day through November.  In fact, the momentum that was generated in October get me through the rough draft of my next book, which I expected would take another two months to accomplish. 
 

So, if you’re like me, skip the resolutions.  If they don’t help you, then don’t bother with them.  Instead, consider taking on a small goal, meeting it, and then another small goal.  Would you like some help doing this?  This January, I plan to write a small piece each day.  The prompts I’m following are listed below.  If this sounds like fun, you’re certainly welcome to join me. 
 

January Daily Writing Prompts

Each day, write a haiku poem, a free verse poem, a 50 word story, a 100 word story, or one paragraph (description of character, setting, plot, or scene) on the prompt.  Feel free to interpret the prompts in any way you choose.

For the last few years, I’ve taught writing workshops to adults in memoir writing and short stories.  Most of my students are new to creative writing and come in feeling intimidated about being judged or expected to achieve more than they feel capable of managing in a weekend workshop.  As I listen to people’s concerns, one consistent worry I’ve heard is that writers have a hard time putting the first words on the page. 
 
It seems like those first words are particularly intimidating, but once they are down, then the rest of the story flows pretty well.  When teaching essay, article, and blog writing, I recommend that my students write the middle portion first then the introduction.  It lessens the heightened expectation that writers put on themselves to be perfect the first time around. 

When first-time writers are breaking ground with their first stories, whether they are taking on a memoir story of childhood or a fiction short story, those first words can be the hardest.  But, one of the truisms of creativity is that novices borrow but professionals steal.  And stealing words from another source is a tool we can use to get our stories started.  If you are a first-time writer or if you need a bit of a booster, give this a try.  We are going to steal stories from another genre to use in our stories.

Brief Story or 6 Word Memoir
 
As the legend goes, a journalist asked Ernest Hemingway to write a story that could make a person cry with just six words.  In true Hemingway fashion, he responded with a challenge accepted bravado and wrote the first 6-word memoir.  Now, whether or not this story is historically accurate or not is unimportant to me, because it is such a great story that, I love it for the point it makes.  So, what was Hemingway’s 6-word memoir?
 
For sale: baby shoes, never worn. 
 
When you read that 6-word memoir, you a full sense of the story: it’s a missing childhood, shoes never used, an adult who missed out, or someone who never was a child and longed for maturity from a young age.   

The takeaway is that if we boil down what we want to say in just six words, then we have achieved a significant accomplishment, because we have communicated a full thought, a full story in a small amount of space.  Communicating so precisely with few words is a powerful way to begin a story.  Instead of explaining your setting or your character, begin your story with a 6-word memoir and start with a bang. 
 
Here are a few more examples to get you thinking:

• Three great kids.  One terrible accident. 
• Hard work. Low pay.  Still nothing. 
• Who was counting the calories anyway?
• I didn’t think this would happen.

 
With each of these 6 word memoirs, you can imagine the story that could unfold from them.  From “Three great kids.  One terrible accident,” the reader is instantly intrigued and wants to find out what happened.  What was the accident?  Was there an accident to one of the children?   What happened?  When you introduce a scenario that causes your reader to ask questions about what is going on, you have the reader hooked. 

How about the second example?  “Hard work.  Low pay.  Still nothing.”  After reading that line, the reader knows they will come across a story of struggle with little reward.  Struggle is a classic theme in memoirs, so this kind of story can pull your reader into your story right away.  The reader will hope for a happier ending but will be intrigued to know what happens in this unfolding tale. 
 
Another example is “Who was counting the calories anyway?”  I always imagine this as the first line for a chef’s memoir.  After reading this 6 word memoir, the reader will expect a story about the joy and pleasure of food rather than the tedious monotony of counting calories.  That kind of story pulls readers in right away. 
 
Finally, the 6 word memoir “I didn’t think this would happen” leaves the reader with questions.  The reader wants to know what happened.  What was the situation?  Who was involved?  How did things work out?  Anytime that you get your reader asking questions about the story, you have them engaged and will keep them reading.

I have seen the 6-word memoir used a couple of different ways, which may give writers more ideas on using this tool.  You can use it as the first line of a story.  Or you can use it as a transition between scenes, themes, or settings in a story.  Another idea is to use it as the title of chapters in a book.  If you need a way to start your story, try the 6 word memoir.  Anytime you use the 6 word memoir to capture your reader’s attention, you have a winning strategy from the start.
 
Try out this strategy with your next short story and see how it works for you.  Every technique doesn’t necessarily work every time, but when we try out different methods, we expand our skills and add more tools to our writer’s toolboxes.  And those can come in handy indeed when we are writing. 

Audience and purpose go hand in hand for writers. Before we write, we spend a little time considering who our intended audience, which is the person or people we believe will read our writing. Establishing the audience for a piece can help writers stay on track and create a more valuable piece of writing.  A little time spent planning can save a lot of time revising.   

As a starting point, writers create for themselves. Writers are their own audience.  We engage in certain types of writing e.g., reflective work, diary and journal, and stream of consciousness memory writing) solely for ourselves. When we write solely for ourselves, we write with the intention that no one else will read what we write. When we do this, we tend to be free and open about what we create, because we don’t fear the judgment of others or worry about the outcome of what could happen since only we will see that writing.

When we branch out, we create other work for a small audience. Letters, emails, and personal stories are pieces that we create with the intention that they are read by one person, or at most, a small group of people. For example, we might write a letter which we mail to Aunt Clara with the idea that she will be the only person to read that, so we include only information that would be of interest to Aunt Clara and address her personally in the piece.  Of course, we know that Aunt Clara is chatty is loves to tell stories at her club, so we might keep that in mind when choosing which details to include.

As well, we may consider writing for a small, controlled group. I work with writers who are composing their personal stories to preserve within their families. They collect the stories of their lifetimes to save and pass among their close friends and family, knowing that although we write for our family, those stories may be passed on for generations. When writing personal stories, we might address our audience directly or we might use a generalized second person point of view by using “you” to reference our readers.

And of course, we have the broad, general audience. This is where our writing could be read by anyone and everyone who comes across it. When we write for a broad audience, we might be engaged in a blog, an article, a novel or short story, or a book for publication. Our hope is that the broad audience loves our writing and buys our books, though that audience can also be more critical since they are separated from us personally.  Believe it or not, our friends and family tend to be our biggest supporters when we are creating.  They know us, understand our journeys, and get what it took us to put words to the page. 

Our intended audience includes the person or people we believe will read our writing, but things don’t always work out that way. The letters that Benjamin Franklin wrote to his son have been compiled into a book and shared for centuries. The letters that author Willa Cather wrote to friends are part of her estate, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letters to his daughter giving her advice on life go in and out of publication.

So, although we may originally compose certain writing for an intended audience, the reader can change over time and our writing may end up in the hands of an unintended audience. That could be a broad, general audience of readers who purchase a copy of our collected letters, but it would be more likely that they would be other friends and family, business partners, or community members who come across our writing.  For example, historians have used the journals of average people throughout history to piece together events from the past.  Our writing can end up helping more people than we originally expect when we dedicate words to the page. 

What about Purpose?

The other element that writers may want to consider is purpose. Why are you writing? What drove you to sit down and start the letter, the story, or the book? What outcome do you intend will come of your writing? Do you expect the reader will understand you better, make a change in their life, or develop a skill from reading your writing?

When we set a purpose for our writing, we tend to help ourselves. This is because when we have a purpose, it is easier to focus and stay on track. Many writers can wander down a bunny trail after beginning a piece that lacks a purpose; this can happen with fiction writing more often than with non-fiction. We start out writing about a pirate who wants to settle on land and end up with a gardener who hates to get dirty. It happens to the best of us.

If you set a purpose for writing before dedicating your first works to the page, it can help you focus, write in a more organized manner, and meet your goal. If you have no purpose, then any road will get you there, but if you have the purpose to compose a particular piece of writing that meets a particular goal, then establishing that purpose can help get you organized and keep you organized throughout the process.

Of course, the best laid plans of writing can be easily derailed. So, if you set a particular audience and purpose for a piece but end up in a different place, it’s OK. Sometimes, a story wants to be told and insists on coming up no matter what we are trying to create. So, if you are on a path but end up racing down a bunny trail, it might be a good thing.
 

Although in my perfect world, everyone reads beautiful hardbound books made of high-quality paper with gorgeous fonts that suck you into the stories, that isn’t how the world works.  Audiobooks are the fastest growing market in the publishing world right now.  But does listening to an audiobook count as reading?
 
In reality, we read what we have access to, because access equates to opportunity.  Many of us don’t have enough time to read paper books the way we once did.  I remember growing up, when we would spend the first half of Saturday sitting around reading.  But, in my current life, I don’t live that way.  I work 50% more hours per week than my parents did, and I have a full schedule on top of my job.  I am engaged in a number of activities: writer’s group, working out, writing three different books, and household tasks, I also have my family to think of.  My kids are busy (intentionally so).  And each of these activities means time away from reading paper books. 

Audiobooks have changed enormously over the last 30 years.  My husband once belonged to an audiobook lending bookstore.  For $50 a month, he would check out as many audiobooks as he could listen to, which was a lot, since he would listen at work for 10 hours a day and in the car.  Considering that the books he listens to are 700 page fantasy tomes, this was an exciting option.  It connected him to his favorite authors (Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan) and allowed him to keep reading while he worked.
 
Today, audiobooks are available everywhere and millions of people have caught on.  Many people don’t want to listen to the news or the radio, but an audiobook can be a source of pleasure reading or informational reading depending on the title. 

Granted, I have heard concerns about listening to audiobooks in lieu of reading paper books.  Fellow educators have suggested that listening to an audiobook does not engage the reader in the same way that a paper book does.  They have also said that the learning gains from audiobooks are lower than from reading a paper book.  I can understand these concerns, and I take them into consideration when I recommend an audiobook to a student.  But, if the decision is between a reader struggling through a paper book (or abandoning the paper book altogether), I support the audiobook as an option.  To me, an audiobook could be used as a gateway to independent reading for a reluctant reader, which in the long run, would support literacy skills and lifelong learning through reading.
 
Fellow writers have also expressed concerns that the audiobook misrepresents the author’s original intentions behind the text.  You see, when a playwright composes a piece for the theater, they intend that the piece will be performed by professional actors for a live audience.  But, when an author composes a piece, they intend the connected between writer and reader to occur on the page and not be interrupted by a reader’s intonations, emphasis, and vocal suggestions. 

 
These are fair concerns.  Having listened to at least a hundred audiobooks, I agreed that some actors add their own spin onto a story by the way they use their inflections, pronunciations, and tone to deliver the tale in a different way than the author may have intended.  As a writer, I can understand not wanting an uncontrollable layer to enter the writer-reader relationship.  But, I think that I would prefer to have my story valued enough within the mainstream market to be recorded as an audiobook.  I also think that some of the best audiobooks I have heard are ones read by the author.  For example, I have listened to two audiobook versions of Fahrenheit 451.  The version read by Ray Bradbury is spectacular, an experience to be appreciated over and over again (I’ve listened to it at least three times already).  I do think the author knows how to control and deliver the text, and I would love to hear more books read by their authors.

So, does it count as reading to listen to an audiobook instead of reading a paper book? 
 
At this point, I would argue that it does.  First, accessibility to audiobooks is higher than for paper books.  People can listen to an audiobook while commuting, exercising, or doing mundane tasks.  Reading a paper book is more of a challenge while doing a second activity.   I know.  I’ve tried.  I used to try bringing my book to the gym and the only machine where it worked was the recumbent bicycle.  With my audiobook plugged into my ears, I am free to roam the gym and can hit the machines and free weights that I need.  The same is true for driving, walking, running errands, and cleaning the house. 
 
The accessibility issue has greatly improved recently since the advent of smartphones.  Now, people are downloading audiobooks using apps like LibriVox and Kobo where people can buy audiobooks and listen to them anytime their phone is nearby.  Plus, readers can connect their phone to the car’s stereo system using Bluetooth and never miss a line of the story.  This technology has taken audiobooks away from readers carrying around CD players and changing out the CD every hour to full streaming accessibility. 

Too, audiobooks increase the number of titles on our mental bookshelves.  The statistics around reading are a bit depressing.  The young and the elderly tend to be the lowest readers, with few reading a book a year.  If we got audiobooks into the hands of more people, we could potentially increase their general knowledge and engagement with humanities, the sciences, and current events.  More readers means a more educated population means stronger communities because people have more information available for better decision making. 

If the decision comes down to not reading, reading only occasionally, or struggling through reading paper books or listening to audiobooks, I say go for the audiobooks.  I have met a few writers who don’t read or read only occasionally and I have recommended trying out audiobooks as an alternative to paper books.  Yes, in a perfect world, we would all read beautiful-crafted hardbound books, but the reality is that many of us are trying to keep up with busy schedules.  The audiobook format fits for many people, writers included. 
 
So, if you are not reading a book right now, go get one.  The library has both CDs and downloadable audiobooks to check out (you can also use apps to download them onto your phone).  You can buy audiobooks for download, and even YouTube has audiobooks available for listening to instantly.  Listening to audiobooks increases the number of books you complete each year, and that leads to a more knowledgeable, competent version of you. 

When I teach memoir workshops, one of the topics we discuss is the difference between fiction and nonfiction writing.  When we write memoir, writers tend to approach the writing with a stiff spine and a list of facts to impart upon the reader, and that can lead to factual, though lifeless writing.  Unfortunately, one of our first inclinations as memoir writers is to turn off the reader with dull, encyclopedia factual accounts of events.
 
If you have ever read a school biography project, these tend to start with the facts: date of birth, place of birth, and parent’s names.  Invariably, the writer has lost the reader by the end of the first paragraph because the writing, although factual, functions as a better sleep tonic than engaging piece of writing.

For whatever reason, many writers fall into this pattern when we write nonfiction, especially memoir.  We tend to think of life as a series of facts rather than a series of stories with full sensory details and depth of emotion and thought.  All too often, the result is writing that fails to inspire the reader. 
 
So, how do we fix this situation?  Memoirists, like writers in every genre, can use fiction-writing techniques to capture and keep their reader’s attention.  We can use our fiction story-writing skills when we write nonfiction to bring our personal stories to life.  Though they are factual, they need not be boring. 

If you have not yet read Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith, I recommend that you pick it up.  He documents not just his life stories as a Newfoundlander fisherman turned sea farmer but lays out his philosophy around providing highly-nutritious food during climate change and restoring the ocean’s plant and animal diversity. 
 
I picked up the book because I wanted to learn about his ideas on sea farming, but when I found was a crisp, lively writing style that engaged me from the book’s beginning.  Smith had me hooked from the first page to the last, as he took me along the journey of his life from Canada to New England to Alaska and beyond. 
 
What tools did he use to pull me into his memoir?  First, he used sensory details and deep descriptions in his writing.  He gives the reader a sense of the images, sounds, and tastes in the events that he experienced, and that brings us into the story right away.  When I read his narratives, I’m there watching the scene and taking it all in.  He’s showing me what is happening rather than telling me what the facts are. 

Second, Smith focuses on the story not on the facts.  Of course, he includes the facts of his life in the stories, but the focus is always on the story itself.  As a Newfoundlander, he has an unfair advantage over the rest of us mere mortals.  Newfoundlanders are famous for their storytelling abilities and lovely ways of reorganizing language from a dull series of words into lyric poetry.  When you read the examples I cited below, you’ll see what I mean.  The man can write a story! 
 
Let’s take a peek into the book Eat like a Fish and see how he does it.  Below I included two quotes from the book.  What I want to point out here is that he pulls the reader into the situation with just a few words and with just one paragraph leaves us with a vivid sense of the story.  We didn’t need a laundry list of facts and figures to get a sense of what was happening, what the tone was, or how Smith felt in this time of life.  He is able to tell a story in just a paragraph.  Take a look at the examples below. 

Bren Smith’ Eat Like a Fish
 
The ER nurses wouldn’t let me be.  The first day I pushed my cart into their domain, they swarmed, demanding to know my story.  They were all ages and sizes, but all shared a mix of warmth, strength, and irreverence.  They made fun of my teenage silence and anger, forcing me to unfurl.  I’d join them at the nurse’s station, listening to gossip about new patients, shitty boyfriends and husbands, grim tales of bad sex, frustration with sloppy and arrogant doctors.  They were great storytellers, able to slide from ridicule to compassion mid-sentence. During that time in my life, they were my ballast.  No wonder I later married a nurse.  Page 28
 
I had been welcomed by the new urban class of “foodies,” a strange, ritualized culture marked by the trancelike state they’d go into after the first bite of a new dish.  A slight smile curled onto their faces as the oyster liquor hit their taste buds.  Their eyes would close.  A moment of silence.  Then a practiced attempt at poetry, as they detailed the swirls of flavor.  Never one to fetishize food—I still ate at the gas station most nights—I found this new and, at first, alienating.  But, God, how they loved my oysters, my pea crabs, my slipper shells.  I’d quickly become proud of the food I grew, and adopted their culinary dialect.  Page 107
 
I love this book, and I loved reading it.  It filled me with fog and mist and green leaves and salty sea and cold sand.  As I was reading it, I had a clear sense of the place in life where he was, the ideas he was wrestling with, and the life questions he had.  Those types of stories and types of storytelling give the reader a glimpse into one’s life, and that’s one of the most powerful effects that we can have.  When we pull the reader into our little corners of the universe and give them a peek behind the curtains, we create a level of intimacy and clarity that readers seek.  A memoir reader wants to know about you, wants to know your stories, and wants that revelation of self.   When you tell a story for the sake of the story, you can give them what they want without boring them. 
 
Smith, Bren.  Eat Like a Fish.  Knopf, 2019.

 Yes, Writers Need to Read  
 
Every once in a while I run across a non-reading writer.  Some part of me is fascinated by the non-reader for a zillion reasons.  Why would anyone write without reading?  Why would a writer refuse to read what others are writing?  How can a writer engage in the process of sharing information without reading?  How are the non-reader’s messages so valuable that they won’t read from anyone else?  How on earth would the non-reading writer become a better writer if they don’t read? 
 
I don’t understand it, but I’m fascinated by it.  And, I want non-reading writers to know it's OK to start reading, because reading supports our writing.
 
Maybe it’s connected to our couch-potato culture.  Maybe the idea comes from the idea that a person is athletic if they watch football.  Or that someone is a film critic if they have seen the last dozen Marvel movies.  Or is it that we have a hopeful, positive spirit as a people and envision that any of us can grow up to be anything we want?  Isn’t that part of what drives us to keep buying lottery tickets on Saturday mornings? 

 Unlike football or watching movies, writing is not a spectator sport.  Writers may be hiding in the back of the café with their noses pointed into a laptop screen, but they aren’t separated from society; rather they are closer to it.  
 
I think most writers read and love to read.  For many writers, the writing process is a cyclical flow of how we live our lives.  We read, we interact, we observe, and we write.  These steps flow together in a sort of creative pattern that engages us with the pulse of what’s happening around us and allows us to process life into stories. 
 
Reading provides tangible benefits for writers.  It keeps writers abreast of new writing in the world.  It provides constant connection to the writing world.  Every writer I know asks, “Have you read this book?” as part of their everyday conversation.  Reading gives us connection to each other and to the writing world.  And finally, reading hones the writing muscles.  Although writing is a different process from reading, the act of reading hones our sense of language, structure, and flow.  We have a better sense of what our writing should look and feel like when we read. 
 
So, what should writers reach for?  I mean, bookstores are big places after all.  What kinds of books provide the most fuel for the writer’s tank? 

 Read in your genre
 
What is your genre (or your genres) that you are writing?  Are you a novelist focused on writing science fiction, horror, or post-modernist fiction?  Is your current project a memoir that is taking on a life of its own?  Or are you intent on writing a nonfiction series to share what you learned in your career with newbies to the field? 
 
Regardless of which genre you’re writing in, you should be reading other writers in that genre.  Every once in a while I hear someone say they don’t want to read in their own genre, because they’re afraid of accidentally stealing other people's ideas or allowing another writer’s style to rub off on them.  Honestly, that’s just silly.  If you run across a good idea, use it.  If someone else has a smoother style, learn from it.  Whatever you write will be your own and will continue to develop over time.  Reading in your genre will clean up your own writing, will inform your practice, and will help you hone your space within the genre. 

 Read out of your genre
 
Not only is it a good idea to read in your genre, I’d also recommend that you read outside of your genre.  There is so much to be gained by reading across the bookstore’s aisles.  For example, I recently recommended Eat Like a Fish by Bren Smith.  It’s a nonfiction account of his experiences as a fisherman and later sea farmer.  The writing is exquisite and highly engaging.  It doesn’t feel like nonfiction, although every word is true. 
 
When I recommended the book, it was to a group of novelists.  I think there is a lot that fiction writers can learn by reading good-quality nonfiction.  Smith is a master at telling a whole story in a single paragraph.  His narrative style pulls the reader straight into the book and makes you care about the depth and complexity of the issues.  And guess what?  That is exactly what novelists are seeking to do.  Read outside your genre and seek out the gems hidden in the pages of those books.  It can go far in informing your writing style.

 Read about writing
 
There are at least a hundred books about writing.  As you peruse the bookstore’s shelves, you’ll find books on how to be a better writer, memoirs on writer’s lives, and guide books on everything from the business of writing to the challenges of editing your own work.  Read these books.  Every one of them doesn’t have to speak to you, so lean toward the ones that stand out, but read them.  I find that most writers have a few of these books they love and tend to return to time and again to re-read. 
 
Three of my favorites are On Writing by Stephen King, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury.  They’re spectacular in that every time I read these books, I’m reading a new book and learning something different.  By reading about writing, you can better understand both the art and business of writing and where your work fits into the puzzle.  Too, you can sharpen your own practice and work out the details so that your writing process fits your lifestyle and needs.  By reading about writing, we become better writers. 
 
So, if you aren’t a reader/writer, it’s OK.  You can change your ways and start reading today.  And if you are reading already, you may want to take a look at what you’re reading and how well that genre guides your practice and supports your craft.  Are you getting everything you need from your current process or do you need to update your choices to include more options?  I tend to read in one genre too often, so the reminder to read in multiple genres helps me to branch out and read more broadly, and that reading pushes me to consider a broader audience when I write.  You may be similar. 
 
If you aren’t sure where to start, look at the genre you’re writing in now.  Hit your local bookstore (or library if you don’t have one).  Start with one genre and grab what interests you.  If you’re writing horror and you want to start out reading in your genre, grab something that jumps off the shelf at you and make that your starting point.  After you read that book, branch out and read a book about writing or in another genre. 

Read. Rinse.  Repeat.  With every book you read, you will be a better writer. 

​I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about reading purposes until I had to teach it.  When I sat down with my students, I quickly realized that I naturally shifted from one type of text to the next without thinking about it, but they needed explicit instruction around how to do this. 
 
Reading for Pleasure
 
For whatever reason, I have always read upside down.  I have no idea why this is, but I absolutely love, and I mean love, to read with my feet in the air while lying on the couch.  Ever since I was a little kid, I remember throwing myself down, my feet on the couch’s back, and settling in for an afternoon of reading. 
 
Reading for pleasure should be a pleasurable activity.  When you look back on your life and think about the loveliest moments, some folks may include their pleasure reading.  This is the type of reading that we do while drinking coffee, hot tea, or wine.  This is the type of reading when we fall asleep and feel like a mid-chapter nap is just part of the process. 
 
For pleasure reading, the book is one element of the experience.  When we read for pleasure, the whole action should be pleasureable: dozing off mid-chapter, drinking a favorite drink, snacking on delicate morsels, snuggling with the cat, and wrapping up in grandma’s homemade afghan.  The reading is part of the whole experience.  

​Reading for Information
 
When we read for information, we are there to learn.  We come to the textbook to prepare for an exam.  We read a series of articles to figure out a solution for a problem.  And we read nonfiction books so that we can be better informed. 
 
Everything about this type of reading is different than reading for pleasure, although certainly we experience a kind of pleasure while learning.  While reading for information, I read upright and likely have a notepad nearby to take notes.  The research supports taking notes while reading to increase memory, and I have found it to be true for myself. 
 
I have a few different ways of taking notes while I read for information.  I use sticky notes to mark passages in the book where I need to jot down an idea related to a specific passage.  I also use the smaller sticky notes that allow me to mark an important page so that I know where to reread after I finish the first read-through on the book.  And, if I’m reading something detailed then I pull out a notepad and take notes by hand while I’m reading.  While reading for information, I’m upright, prepared to take notes, and focused.  No naps and cat cuddles here.  

​Reading for Inspiration
 
When we read for inspiration, we can find the middle space between reading for pleasure and for information.  Some say that we read to know that we are not alone.  Some say we read to connect to the collective intelligence of the universe.  And others say we read to take the next step on our personal journeys.  I would agree that all of these are true. 
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Each of us comes to the printed page for a different reason, but many of us come to it to be inspired.  In many ways, life can be a challenge, especially for those with health, money, or professional problems.  But when we come to reading, books don’t judge us.  In fact, many dozens of authors are solely dedicated to writing pieces intended to inspire. 
 
The reasons that we need inspiration are endless.  Have you been thinking about remodeling the house and need ideas on upgrades you can afford?  Has earning your PhD been a lifelong dream that you’ve yet to fulfill and you need to know what programs are out there?  Is the alluring call to visit Paris finally got its hold on you and you are curious about which restaurants serve gluten-free menus? 
 
While reading for inspiration, you may not need to take notes, but nodding off mid chapter would likely defeat the point of finding inspiration.  Reading for inspiration is reading to reconnect a frayed connection, and you have to pay attention to make that happen.

​Reading to Share
 
I will admit that I lack consistency when it comes to reading aloud to my kids, though when we read together, I love it.  Believe it or not, reading was a group activity until very recently.  If you go back before people wrote stories on paper, all information was passed on verbally from one person to another or from one person to many. 
 
Not until the 17th century did humans even consider reading silently to themselves.  We are group-minded creatures and have always shared information aloud: stories, poetry, songs, histories, and government edicts.  In fact, until the 17th century, people would expect that if you pulled out a book you would share the information and read it aloud to everyone present.  To read silently would have been rude.
 
If you happen to have a person under the age of ten sitting around, then you likely read aloud quite a bit, even if inconsistently like me.  Reading aloud changes the relationship between people.  When we read in a group, the reader takes the attention from all other activities.  If you spend any time with a toddler, you know that it is impossible for a small child to ignore a book.  When my kids were little, we would pull out a book and they would instantly race over to see the pictures and hear the story. 
 
Reading aloud gives power to the reader, which is why many teachers have kids read aloud in groups.  The reader can perform, be in charge, and lead without coming up with their own stories.  It allows for a kind of power for the reader.  Some elementary schools bring in therapy dogs for reluctant readers to build their confidence.  The act of reading aloud brings the reading alive.  It changes the relationship between people when reading.  And it encourages conversation and discussion during the reading process.  

​When we read, we have to set our mindset for the purpose.  What do we want to achieve?  What do we want to gain from the reading?  How much attention and dedication will the reading require?  Do we need to take notes, be super-alert, or access other resources while reading? 
 
When I first encountered the idea of using different techniques for different reading purposes, what I realized is that my students were trying to read for pleasure all the time.  They weren’t learning while reading for information because they weren’t focusing, taking notes, or dedicating their time to the text.  Instead, they were petting the cat, drinking tea, and putting their feet up: all the things I would tell them to do while reading for pleasure. 
 
As I started working with them on this, we identified that our bodies can look different when we read different books.  Our minds need to be in a different mindset to tackle different books.  And we need access to different resources when we read different books. 
 
When we identify what we need from a book, we can show up ready to read, and that leads us to meeting our purposes.  

What do you think about, focus on, and look for when you’re reading?  I think when most of us read, we seek out entertainment and information.  We want to fall into a story and let it take us away from our personal dramas for a little while, and we seek to improve ourselves by expanding what we understand about the world. 
 
When readers approach a book, they should identify why they are reading.  What is the purpose that brings them to the page?  I know, of course, that many of us grab a book at the library and automatically dig into it like it’s chocolate cake because we have an inkling of what to expect.  But if we take a moment to identify our needs first, our reading process can be more targeted.  We can develop a writer’s mindset while we read. 

As a writer, we tend to read differently than other people.  Whereas many people takeaway a love of language, an appreciation of the depth of narrative, and an acknowledgment of the writer’s talents, we look for the how, what, and why of what went into the writing. 
 
While we are reading as writers, we tend to ask more questions of the piece like:

• How did the writer conduct research for this book?
• How did the writer organize their thoughts and ideas?
• How did the writer go through the writing process?
• How did the writer know this idea would lead to a compelling book?
• How did the writer engage the reader throughout the piece? 

When we read as a writer, we look not only at how entertaining the narrative is or how instructional the piece, but we look at how did the writer go through the process of coming up with an idea, researching the idea, then writing, editing, and revising the piece until it landed in the publishable form. 
 
When we read as a writer, we have the get into the mindset of being the reader and the writer simultaneously.  As the reader, we want to be entertained or guided.  We want the book to make us better people, better informed professionals, or happily entertained readers.  We know how it feels to have a book take over our thoughts so that when we aren’t reading, we’re thinking about the book.  It’s a bit like being in love.  

As a writer, the complications of writing a book become clearer.  We have to think about how to take an idea from its infancy into a fully-developed piece.  We have to think about the language and the wording we use to make sure that everything not just makes sense but connects with readers so that people get the most out of the reading that they can. 
 
When I read like a writer, I ask how the writer constructs a book-length piece, but I also ask about what and why:
 

• What are the tools the writer used to construct the piece?
• What was the writer thinking while working on the book?
• What were the challenges the writer overcame during the writing process?
• What phrases came from the writer naturally and which ones were carefully crafted? 
• Why did the writer make these particular choices about the piece?
• Why did the writer want to share these specific messages with the reader?
• Why was the writer drawn to this topic in the first place? 
• Why would the writer dedicate so much time to a project like this?  What are the implications and effects this book could have on readers and society generally?

 

​As we read with the writer’s mindset, we are digging into the writing: how it was constructed, what the writer meant by information they included, and why the book had a particular effect. 
 
What a writer does when they read is to analyze the piece while reading.  We have to think not just in the way that a reader does but think about what was this like for the writer to create this piece.  By getting into that mindset, every book we read becomes a roadmap for writing.  Every book is a manual and if we can pull it apart then we can get a peek behind the curtain and understand the writer’s life a little better. 
 

​My son has the amazingly-annoying habit of looking over my shoulder while I read, and since we get the newspaper on Sundays, he always reads over my shoulder.  Today, he asked, “Who is Kamala Harris and what’s going on with her?” 
 
I looked at the column on the right and there was an announcement that she’s running for President.  I relayed the message and his response surprised me. 
 
“Yes!  Finally a woman and not just another man.” 
 
What prompted his excitement about a politician, I really don’t know.  Maybe it was watching Captain Marvel last weekend.  Maybe it was that he sees women in most leadership roles in his life since all of his teachers and doctors have been women; even his martial arts teachers have been women.  Or maybe he has deep thoughts about gender in politics that go beyond our dining room. 
 
What struck me is that his viewpoint is so different than what I expected from him; he is nine after all.  The article in the newspaper jumped out at him, whereas I glanced over it without taking notice.  The whole idea struck me as interesting that we would have different reactions to the same article. 

​Why does this matter to writers?
 
Well, have you ever worried that spending time writing your book about the history of African-American aviators would go nowhere?  Have you considered picking up a different hobby worried that no one wants to read a book about driving Land Rovers off road?  Or what about the fantasy book series that has elements of history and science?  Have you been concerned that publishers will laugh at the idea? 
 
Guess what?  New and interesting ideas sell and they have the potential to sell well. 
 
Before JK Rowling was picked up for her Harry Potter series, publishers didn’t see a market for her books and thought of young adult fantasy as a money-losing genre.  Before Ray Bradbury released Fahrenheit 451, the interest level in dystopian fiction was dried up.  And before Stephen King published Carrie, no one could have predicted that the horror genre would be taken over by a Maine English teacher and become a best-selling sensation.  

​Is this true only of novels?  No, not at all. 
 
Do you remember 2010?  This was the time when films made it to the box office because they were written, produced, and directed by men.  And their protagonists needed to be men, especially though white men.  But then Frozen came along, and suddenly Disney broke their formula by offering a story about sisters saving each other and the love story was secondary.  Then we got Hidden Figures, Diary of a Teenage Girl, and Wonder Woman.  It seemed like out of nowhere people were excited to see films made by and about women. 
 
About two weeks ago, a writer who had attended one of my memoir workshops reached out to me.  He asked if his book idea was worth pursuing.  Did it have any possibility of being picked up by a publisher?  Was there any kind of market for his ideas?  Would anyone want to read about his life? 

And you know what?  The answer is yes.  Definitely yes. 
 
You see, when you have an idea that is different, there may not be an open market in that first moment you have the thought.  You may not have the easiest time finding an agent or a publisher who is ready to take on that project and run with it.  But that doesn’t mean the story won’t find its audience.   
 
Because if you have an idea that people want to read, then you have a market waiting to be tapped.  Just as my son surprised me that he wants to have a female President, new ideas can be refreshing, interesting, and liberating.  Sometimes we get wrapped up in what we think is true that we don’t always open ourselves up to what could become true. 
 
Same thing for screenplays.  Who knew ten years ago that female-centered films would take over Hollywood?  I don’t know that anyone predicted the change in the industry, but when it happened, the whole field shifted. 
 
The same can happen with your book idea.  Just because your book doesn’t have a clear market or audience today doesn’t mean that it won’t have an audience when you are ready to publish. 
 
People are on the lookout for new ideas, and when something appealing comes along, people tend to jump on it. 
 
So, keep your pen at the paper.  Keep working on your book and stick with your stories, even if the ideas seem unusual or unpopular.  We can’t predict today what people will want to read tomorrow, so give your ideas the time and energy to develop. 
 
 

​Ever since I can remember, I’ve heard a second voice in my head.  We all have the usual inner monologue, but creative people oftentimes have a second voice that narrates the creative process.  I’ve referred to mine as the nuisance, the artist, and most recently, the beast. 
 
At the least opportune moments, the beast comes up with amazingly creative ideas and starts narrating in my head while I’m busy at another task.  My beast is especially chatty while I’m driving or working out at the gym.  And naturally, my beast never chooses to share incredible story ideas when I’m sitting at the computer.  She only talks when I’m without paper and pen. 
 
Of course, the ironic thing is that I feel like I would lose my creative energy altogether if I didn’t have that second voice in my head.  Without her, I might limit my pursuits and stop writing altogether.  For me, when she starts rattling off an idea in my head, the drive to write explodes and writing is all I can think about.  She can drop a few words on me and in an instant, all I can think about is getting back to my book and dedicating more time to the craft.  

​If you have an inner creative beast, then you know what I’m talking about.  That inner voice that whispers sweet everythings in your ears and seems to have the pathway to exceptional creativity laid out in front of her.  That’s the one. 
 
A lot of writers have talked about this situation.  Elizabeth Gilbert gave a Ted Talk where she discusses her writing process and how she is overcome with magical ideas and must stop everything she is doing to write them down before they’re lost.  Maya Angelou wrote about being overwhelmed with a creative idea from an inner voice and having no choice but to stop and write when the moment hit. 
 
I used to ignore my beast but after a while, I realized that if I fed her, then my creative process became more efficient and productive.  I can’t necessarily pull the car over mid-commute to collect the ideas she whispers, but I can support the creative process when I’m not writing.  

​Get Up and Move
 
Ray Bradbury talked about walking as a vital element in his creative process.  He walked most nights after the sun went down, and even got himself into trouble.  As the story goes, one night police questioned him extensively about why he was walking around town at night (which later became the impetus behind his short story “The Pedestrian”). 
 
Stephen King walks every day.  Of course, many writers are active and make a point of getting outdoors.  Henry David Thoreau, Isabella Bird, and Sarah Orne Jewett were all well-known to be outdoor enthusiasts.  Of today’s writers, Jon Krakauer, Tom Wolfe, and Jim Carroll are all known to be active outside of their writing. 
 
Writers are well-known for spending long hours sitting at the desk, but those who get up and move are likely to feed the writing beast.  When you move your body, you alter your body chemistry by releasing endorphins, deepening the breath, releasing toxins, and boosting energy.  Exercise is a personal choice, and some writers are drawn to weight training, whereas others prefer the hike through the trees. 
 
Whatever your activity of choice, do it to feed the writing beast.  For me, I’ve found that when I exercise, my thoughts are clearer, my stress level is lower, and my ability to focus on writing is higher.  Spending time moving the body can help you ignite your creativity.   
 

​Create Something Different
 
Most of the creative people I know do double duty.  They’ll write, but they’ll also crochet, paint, or garden.  The writing process isn’t just about finding the right words for the right piece; it’s also about fueling the fire on a continual basis so that you can keep writing. 
 
Most of the writers I’ve met deal with some form of writer’s block.  That sometimes looks like staring at a blank page with no ideas on what to do.  Other times, it feels like a total lack of motivation to write anything.  And it can also look like a downward spiral where each day it’s harder to write. 
 
Sometimes, writing can feel overwhelming just to sit at the desk, and sometimes writers lack the mojo to begin writing anything.  When this happens, feed the creative beast with some other type of creativity.  Just stop writing and create something else, then come back to the writing.
 
Crochet, garden, carve wood, restore that old motorcycle, take photographs, and draw.  Whatever your back-up creativity process is, use that as a way to feed the creative beast.  When you engage in a creative exercise, it opens up the pathway to writing and allows you to restart that engine.  

​Read Outside your Genre
 
I feel like even though it’s so hard to make time to read, we have more reading options available to us.  At work, we have a little group of people who do audio books while commuting.  I have several friends who use an e-reader, and a colleague swears by listening to podcasts. 
 
Although, I do believe that reading ink on a paper page is the ultimate reading experience, I don’t think that means that other forms of reading and ingesting material should be discounted. 
 
I always have an audio book going in my car, and I get a lot of ideas for my writing from listening to audio books.  I read the newspaper on Sundays.  And I have at least three books that I’m reading at all times. 
 
The benefits we gain from reading are nothing short of phenomenal: developing empathy, expanding our understanding of other cultures, extending our professional development, and increased comprehension and processing abilities. 
 
The other amazing thing that reading does is that it supports the creative process.  It feeds the creative beast.  When we read outside of our genre, we come across many tools to use in our writing: different sentence structures, facts and opinions that we could integrate into our stories, methods of description, and different ways to present ideas. 
 
When we read in the same genre we write, sometimes that can stifle our creativity.  It can limit our thoughts and even encourage us to imitate another writer’s style.  When we read outside of our genre, it can create new pathways for ideas, style, and presentation. 
 
The little voice in the back of your head can be a powerful tool when you’re putting the pen to the page.  If you support your writing process by feeding the creative beast, then your process is likely to be more efficient and productive.  The creative process includes more than just writing.  It is also about becoming better versions of ourselves, expressing our creativity in different ways, and learning on an ongoing basis.  Feed your creative beast, and may the ideas keep flowing onto the page for you.