In a new post, Kristen Lamb wonders what we should call a writer who doesn’t read. “Whenever I am reading samples, I can ALWAYS…ALWAYS spot a person who never reads (and usually within a paragraph or two),” she writes. Giveaways include too much stage direction, POV issues, shallow vocabulary, indistinct dialogue, pacing problems, passive voice, grammar and spelling mistakes, and many others.
“Reading helps us learn to see where (other master performers) put all the wires and trapdoors that leave audiences stupefied,” Lamb says. “How do they use the lighting, misdirection, sound effects, or dry ice? We study all this so we can wow audiences when they attend OUR show.”
Reading also heightens our ability to connect unrelated objects or ideas to create something new or interesting. It improves our attention span and increases our working memory, which is a good tool for novelists who need to keep characters and plot points straight for 100,000 words (give or take).
“If we want people (a.k.a. “readers”) to spend their limited spare cash and seriously limited spare time to read OUR books, shouldn’t we extend the same courtesy to our peers?” Lamb concludes.
Hear, hear.
