New Book for Fellow Writers!
Years ago I devoted two full years of my life to obtaining an MFA degree in Creative Writing — a combination of workshops and standard classes. Two years of reading and writing (and teaching, to help pay my way). I went into some serious debt in that effort, but it was worth every penny.
At the time, I assumed my writing would benefit the most from the workshops, and I certainly gained terrific insight into my strengths and weaknesses through the other writers in the workshops (several of whom have gone on to win prestigious awards).
But looking back, I realize I got at least as much, if not more, from the classroom training. In those courses I learned how to read fiction in a way I’d ever read it before: as a writer.
I learned how to break down the structure of a story (For example: does it spiral around on itself, move forward in a straight line, or take another shape?), to notice how the opening of a great novel foreshadows what’s coming with a few well-chosen words, and many other ways of examining what I was reading.
Those were the lessons I still use today.
“Read to Write” is my effort to distill what I learned into a succinct method you can apply while getting the same result: reading like a writer.
You’ll enhance your reading experience (without ruining it, I promise!) and improve your writing.
What could be better?
Check it out!
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