Reading in Genre

Progress Report: Okay. I'm a slow reader. And have homework for anatomy & physiology 2. Working on #mayno rewrite and sekrit novel. 10 books was too much. I'll be lucky if I finish 5, but I'll get the 10 read in May. I will have Wren to the Rescue done by tomorrow and close to having the Particle Physics book done too. Both are short, some of the shortest books on my list. But I'm okay with it. At least I'm reading.

Image shows things from Physics book. See physics can be fun!

To continue my week on reading topics...

Read in the Genre You Write

The reason for this can seem rather obvious. It helps to know what others in the same genre have done and to get an idea of what is expected. Sure, there is an interest at some point in being inventive and original but there are still certain aspects expected in each genre. How can you know what you're doing if you've never read in the genre? (I have a different answer for the next blog post, so stay tuned for that because I break this rule.) Most of the time, the answer is simple. You can't.

Let's go into this a little more. Why read in the genre you're writing?

1.) Most genre fiction has certain tropes, aspects and styles expected from writers. When someone picks up say, a mystery, they execpt to read a certain type of story. Just because the main character is a detective, that doesn't mean it is a mystery novel. There are other factors to take into consideration. For example, add paranormal elemtents as an important part of the story, such as vampires, werewolves, etc... the novel is more likely to be in fantasy/sci-fi (depending on how the book store sets up their shelves) than mystery. Wizard detectives are in fantasy/sci-fi, as another example.

2.) Reading in general is a good tool to learn about writing. Whether in the same genre, or not, there are common writing elements that authors use. Being able to see them in work is useful. Some of the things about writing in general that can be learned are foreshadowing, dream sequences, point of view, and many others.

3.) In genre reading shows what others have done in the past. This might sound like a repetition, but it's one that bears extra consideration. Let's say you have a vampire novel (which many people do). Reading other novels that are already published shows what types of vampire lore has been used, the different character elements that determine villains versus heroes and many other aspects. It can help because you know how to make yours different because you know what has already been used. Same goes with elves, witches, fairies, detectives, and many other types of characters/creatures.

There are a few other reasons but I don't want to go on for too long. As usual, I leave you with a questions.

Do you read in the genre you write? Why?