Miranda and Bonnie talk with Richard Bender about reading widely in today’s episode of the writing forge.

This week’s question: What genres do you normally read? What genres are you unfamiliar with? Let us know and let’s give each other recommendations.

Tips and Tricks:

• It’s important to read widely in order to familiarize yourself with different writing styles.
• Each genre has its strength. See what it does well and apply that to your own writing where you can.
• Conversely, if there is a particular skill you want to cultivate within your own genre, look for a genre where that is the main skill. E.g., if you want better humor in your fantasy, read some humor books to see how they’re constructed.
• It’s also important to read in the genre that you write in to understand what’s going to appeal to people in that genre and to see what other authors in that genre are doing.
• When reading for fun, try to take stock when a book does something well. You can pause and analyze what the author did right then, or revisit later.

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Cover art by Maggie Walker