Monday, August 5, 2013

Reading Makes Me A Better Writer

This month I had the chance to read some great books. One by Laura Kaye. One by Jennifer Probst. One by Robin Covington. And a novella by Ruthie Knox.

I'm a very slow reader. I love to savor every word in a book. Which means I love the great wordsmiths.

I have to confess that as I was finishing off my most recent book for Harlequin Romance, I seriously became poetic. Even I was amazed at some of the beautiful prose coming out of the tips of my fingers.

And I realized that reading some authors of beautiful prose, Kaye, Probst, Knox, Covington, their goodness rubbed off on me.

Or maybe it made me more aware to think about everything happening in the moment of my scene. The sky. The scents. The kiss of the sun. The trembling perfection of a hero's touch. A slammed door. A baby's giggle. Those are the things that put readers in a story. Because that's where they want to be ... not dumped or dropped, but lured, tempted.

A good storyteller doesn't just whip out facts or follow a trail...she lures her readers to follow her on an adventure. That adventure may actually include some adventure. :-) But more often than not in romance the adventure is a unique adventure of the heart and emotion, told with the right words, the right feelings, the right breathless wonder.

Who doesn't love a romance that leaves you breathless or a thriller that really thrills or a suspense that scares your socks off? Who doesn't want a mystery that truly puzzles you or a Sci Fi that fascinates and makes you think?

Consider the most recent book YOU loved? Did it just tell a story or did it drop you into a wonderland of perfection?

Now consider the book YOU'RE writing...are you telling a story or are you taking your readers on a breathless adventure?

Happy Monday

susan

No comments: