Some writers avoid reading books in the genre or age group
that they’re writing for, because they don’t want to be influenced by a similar
character, style or plot. But when I’m working on writing middle grade stories,
I like reading middle grade books. I find that it helps to keep my mind firmly
in the world of ages 9- to 12- year olds
and their humor and language. It’s the same when I’m working on a picture book –
I want to read other picture books to get a feel for the pacing, language and
level of humor.
Mostly, I read for enjoyment, hoping I’ll absorb something
that will improve my own writing. But once in a while, I’ll take a favourite book
and study it more closely to see why it’s successful and how I can make my own
story more like that. And by more “like that” I mean, a story that gives a
reader the same kind of satisfying, emotional experience that I get when I read
one of my favourites.
It’s not that I copy the plot or even the writing style, but
I try to uncover strategies that will strengthen my own writing. For example,
not so long ago, I was stuck and not making much progress with revisions on one
of my middle grade writing projects. So I studied The False Prince by Jennifer Neilsen to see what made it such a
captivating read, and it reminded me of some things I could do to
make my story stronger:
1. Make my character more active. There is never a dull
moment in The False Prince. Even
though some of what the main character is doing is “off stage”, he’s always up
to something. As a reader, I feel like he’s always scheming and that keeps me
hooked.
2. Bring out more voice. I really admired way Jennifer Nielsen gave
readers a strong sense of Sage’s personality right from the beginning. My story has a totally different main character and perspective than Jennifer Nielson uses in The False Prince (my main character is a girl, and I’m telling the story in third person, not first), but by thinking about my "mentor novel" I could see that what my story needed was more of my main character's personality. I discovered
that you need to be a little dramatic in creating your character’s voice,
otherwise it can come across as too quiet or not distinctive enough.
3. Show most story events through the main character’s
thoughts and feelings. I believe some people call this “interiority” (for more on that see literary agent Mary Kole's Interiority vs. Telling). To me, it means that if I'm describing trees, I'm describing what it is about the trees that is important or noticed by my character (and if she's not thinking about the trees, then I don't mention them). Through reading The False Prince, I realized that it's okay to "tell" the reader some things, if that's what the character is thinking about (just don't go overboard).
Do you ever use a novel as a "mentor text" to help you with your own writing?
For more tips, check out this post by Dee at Dee Scribe Writing, Tuesday Writing Tip: Why Writers Need to Read.
For more tips, check out this post by Dee at Dee Scribe Writing, Tuesday Writing Tip: Why Writers Need to Read.
