What is the first step you must take to write a novel? It’s simple. You must read. As simple as it is, many aspiring novelists don’t realize how critical this step is.
Read What You Love
If you’ve decided you’re writing a political thriller, don’t limit yourself to just political thrillers. If you’re in the mood for a romcom, read that. All reading is helpful if you approach it with a teachable attitude. From the theology book, Mere Christianity, I learned how important it is to write precisely, especially when creating analogies. Reading the comic novels and short stories of P. G. Wodehouse showed me how crafting a humorous simile or metaphor can put fun in a story as well as reveals something about the character who came up with simile or metaphor. I have no plans to write a book on theology or a comic novel, but reading those books has had a profound impact on my writing because I approached them like a student.
Since middle school, I’ve loved to read about cryptids, like bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Sightings of mysterious animals always give me a thrill as I wonder “what if”. How does that affect my mystery novels? I was able to include Ohio’s connection to bigfoot and the people who look for the creature in my latest Rae Riley mystery, A Riddle in the Lonesome October.
You Have to Know Your Genre
Whatever genre you want to write in, you need to know what the rules are for that genre because readers expect you to follow those rules. A mystery in which the detective does not reveal the identity of the murderer will leave mystery fans confused and ticked off. Also, knowing the rules of the genre backwards and forwards allows you to know when and how to bend the rules.
Don’t Read Only Current Novels
As a first-time novelist, you may have just come up with a killer climax to your space opera. If you aren’t well read in your genre, you wouldn’t realize that a famous novelist came up with that same climax in a best-selling space opera ten years ago. When you submit your novel to a publisher, or even just let family read your work, they’ll think your story is either unimaginative or boring.
Knowing the history of the genre you want to write will show you where the genre has been, what’s considered fresh and what’s considered old hat. Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes still loom large over the mystery genre. A new writer is well-advised to read some of their most famous works to understand why an author who died in the 1970s and a fictional character over a hundred years old retain so much influence over the genre.
Also, reading older novels can inspire you to put a fresh twist on their concepts. Tough female PIs became popular in the 1980s. What if you wrote about a tough female PI during the 1940s when the male version dominated? How could write your main character to fit in that historical context?
What do you love to read? Here are some of my favorite stories and books. No matter the genre or topic, they are stories I’ve learned something from.
Last week, I mentioned director Alfred Hitchcock’s rule of maximizing a setting. He was also brilliant with his casting. He had to be. In a thriller, there’s little time for backstory or deep character development. I believe Hitchcock knew that if he cast certain kinds of actors who already carried a certain persona with them that would help flesh out their characters without a word of dialogue. If he needed a relatable, easy-going all-American male, he cast James Stewart. If he wanted a debonair leading man, he cast Cary Grant. But Hitchcock also knew the value of casting against type.
