Obviously you have to read, but you don't have to read a LOT.

The lessons for writing are distilled into non-fiction books on writing, usually by authors of multiple best-sellers.

It is actually a little difficult to extract rules of plotting and characterization from reading books, the plot and characterization are better taught, not by example, but by explicitly tutoring the distilled version of how to do it.

Another approach is to not read fiction for entertainment, but to open it up and scan for particular things similar to what you want to do. If you have a lot of dialogue to put across, find a passage in a book, written by a multiple best-selling author, and analyze how they accomplished that feat without boring the reader.

The same goes for a lengthy description of a setting; look for something with very little dialogue and a lot of exposition.

The same goes for writing a battle, or a sex scene. Of course both of those have their own non-fiction books on how to write them, or examples of them. Google for them.

We don't teach medical students surgery by just telling them to watch a few dozen surgeries and then jump in with a scalpel. We don't teach engineers to build bridges by looking at a lot of bridges.

We teach them the theory of biology and surgery, or the theory of building bridges, long before we have them look at actual surgery or actual bridges. The same can go for writing. Read on the theory of forming a story, what is important to that. Read on the theory of writing.

If you love to write, learning the theory should should be engaging to you; you have immediate application for it. Then follow the examples and try to apply what you've done in writing. You won't avoid reading best selling fiction altogether, but IMO it is bad advice to just tell people read a hundred books and then write one, just as bad as telling an engineer to go look at 100 bridges by themselves, try to figure out what is important by themselves, and then design an original bridge by themselves.

The result would be either a patchwork of plagiarisms from existing bridges, or a disaster, or both.

Theory first, examples of "what worked" are only useful once you can generalize them back to the theory, because it is the generalized theory you need to apply to your own specific work; not just plagiarizing somebody else's application of the theory.

posted over 5 years ago

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Amadeus‭

3156 reputation 2 1399 613 37

Don't Write, Tell Stories.

Stories began as an oral tradition. There are story telling competitions every year and some of those people never write down a thing. Look up stuff like oral tradition and you'll find your way down the rabbit hole.

Now, technically, you can and sometimes still should write in this space, but lots of the greats never did and never will. Record yourself. The medium of oral story telling is performance, but also taps a lot of the things we talk about here when we talk about how to write a good story.

I don't think you can get out of reading entirely if you're hoping to write; but a lot of story tellers have notes or just work on their set and don't sweat writing long drafts of whatever. Whether its comedy or tall tails: there's a space out there. Maybe you won't be a famous author, but you can still do what you love and if you get good enough at your craft you may reach a point where you can write down the thing you have memorized or work with someone who knows how.

If you're not going to read, you probably can't write at a professional level.

But, that doesn't mean you can't tell stories, amazing and enjoyable ones, at a professional level.

You have to ingest what you want to put out.

If you're going to tell stories, you must listen. If you're going to write stories, you must read. Quality revision in either case requires you to examine what you are doing. Therefor, you can't revise what you write without reading it. You must at least read what you are are writing. Same goes for telling, but in that case you need to examine what it is you are saying and how you are saying it. And paying attention to others in your field only makes you better at what you're doing.

posted over 5 years ago

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Kirk‭

280 reputation 9 31 52 0

As a dyslexic, I understand the general aversion to reading. As someone who loves storytelling, I nevertheless want to be exposed to stories.

There are some life-hacks for the reading adverse that want to write.

Get the audiobook

Not only does an audiobook outsource the reading to someone else, but it is something you can listen to while travelling to work, sitting on the bus, or whatever.

Read along with the audiobook

There is a second use of audiobooks that I do not see discussed much - read-alongs. As a kid, I loved read-along storybooks. I must have listened to "Autobots Lightning Strike" so often it must have driven my mother spare. To this day, I can still replay the whole thing in my head.

Reading along with the narrator takes the pressure off. If you want to just get used to the pleasure of holding a book and get a feel for the flow of words on a page, this is ideal.

Record audiobooks

There are sites you can go on (I'll let you find them yourself) where you can get paid to read and record audiobooks. If you are the sort of person for whom money is a great motivator then this one is for you.

Find a series to be passionate about

For me as a kid, it was robots and adventure stories. My mum gave me the Enid Blyton book, "The boy next door" and I was soon reading every one of her books as fast as my mum could buy them for me. These days, I find those books boring and repetitive but that's just because my tastes have changed.

I know of other dyslexics who never read at all. That is until Harry Potter hit the shops. Suddenly it did not matter how exhausting it was to read, they wanted to find out what happened next.

When your passion for a series, genre, or author gets strong enough, nothing will stop you getting hold of more and just reading the heck out of them. Terry Pratchett's books are great for this.

There is a reason us nerds and geeks tend to be experts - we consume everything there is to find on our favourite subjects. Don't like fiction? Try travel guides, technical manuals, science textbooks, biographies - whatever floats your boat. You are not likely to learn story writing so fast but you will pick up a thing or two about tone and pacing.

Join a writer's group

No matter how much you generally avoid writing, the quid quo pro of reading a little of a person's work and offering feedback in return for a load of feedback on your work forces you to read but in a fun setting with people that you can get along with.

As the reading is bite-sized and you take a break to discuss it afterwards it hardly feels like reading at all.

Learn about the theory of storytelling

There are some amazing videos on youtube that dig into the mechanics and theory of storytelling (film, TV, and books). Terms to search "the hero's journey", "the three-act structure" (also "the five-act structure" and "seven-act structure" too), and storytelling tropes.

This will turn all your Netflix binges into storyteller training. Although, I have to warn you that learning the patterns of storytelling will spoil some of the more formulaic series.

I spend a fair amount of time deconstructing the story pace in my favourite Netflix shows. I write humour and so tend to try and work out why a joke is funny. That is not for everyone but it works for me.

Make your peace with reading

Sooner or later, if you are serious about writing, you will have to make a sort of begrudging peace with reading. Some dyslexics I know invest in coloured overlays which help calm the text down and make it easier to read. Others read exclusively on their phones (don't ask me why - it sounds terrible to me).

What helps is that the more you read, the more you enjoy reading and the easier it gets. Even if you are dyslexic or for some other reason a weak reader. Sure, you start off at a disadvantage but that only means you need a bit more effort to catch up. Read books you love and you will hardly notice you are doing it.

Watch and read

Some of the better adaptations are so much more enjoyable to read after you have seen the series. Good Omens is a perfect example of that. Watch it, read it, and then watch it again. It is amazing.

posted over 5 years ago

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Matthew Brown aka Lord Matt‭

130 reputation 3 9 25 0

Analyse what aspects of reading causes you to "hate" it, then make sure to avoid them in your work. This suggestion, however, implies that reading is again part of your solution...

You will then be able to write perfect prose for youself - but this has its own special problems!

I hope you find a solution, my regards, Barry.

posted over 5 years ago

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BarryC‭

5 reputation 0 1 1 0

Along the other valid answers,

I'll suggest audiobooks.

I don't hate reading, but lately I have little time to spend on a single book. Audiobooks are convenient since they allow you to enjoy a book as you are doing something else (commuting to school/work, cleaning, jogging, gaming, etc...).

The underliying point being: you don't need to read, you read to consume plots, possibly looking at them with a critical eye. The more plots you consume, the more you'll be experienced in the art of narrating you will eventually become.

Plots and narrations come in many shapes, but if you want to be a novelist, it makes more sense to look at other novels. So, an audiobook is a good choice (rather than, let's say, a movie).

posted over 5 years ago

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Liquid‭

770 reputation 44 140 116 3