Weekend Writing: Critical Reading Improves Your Writing

Writing is my lifelong passion. It's my purpose in life and since I was ten years old, I have been actively writing as much as possible. But before I became a writer, I was a reader. Ever since my childhood, I happily indulged in reading every book I could get my hands on. My collection kept growing and somewhere along the way, I thought to myself, "Can I write my own stories?"

I always had an active imagination. I played "pretend" and created insane characters. This early form of storytelling was instilled in me from my years of reading. But for the purpose of this blog post, I'm going to focus on critical reading. When we read books "for pleasure," we don't think about the mechanics of the work of fiction. We read the story, fall in love with the characters, and that's it.

But critical reading is so important to your development as a writer. I'll walk you through the processes of critical reading. Hopefully, the next time you read a book, you'll analyze the text differently and you can apply these skills to your writing career. It's a win-win situation for everybody.

What's Critical Reading? 

As I already mentioned, when we read, we don't think about the mechanics behind the story. We don't analyze the plot or the character development. We might think about these story elements, but we don't meditate on the author's writing process. We don't critically analyze the effectiveness of the author's prose. We read because we enjoy the book. It's fun. 

Critical reading is an entirely different reading process. To read critically, you have to do everything that most readers do not. You're analyzing every aspect of the book, as though you were perhaps a book reviewer or critic. Most readers comment, "Well, it was a good book." Critics would instead express, "It was a good book for this reason," and then elaborate on the details.

If a novel's ending fell flat, a critic would explain exactly where the author went wrong. Was there a lack of thorough character development? Did something happen in the story's climax? There's incredible power in reading a text with a critical eye, especially if you're a writer. You can analyze language, plot development, character development, and so much more. How did the author bring the story to life? With this new understanding and perspective of the text, you can actively improve your own writing. You'll learn to view your own work as a critic. What would they see in your writing?

(photo/Georgetown Learning Centers)

Questions to Ask 

(photo/Pinterest)

It's time to read. You have to read in order to write. Stephen King wrote in his highly-regarded advice memoir for writers, On Writing, "If you don't have time to read, you don't have time (or the tools) to write."

I couldn't agree more with him. The more we read, the more we learn about good writing. We learn by example; therefore, we must read works by writers we admire--our role models. There are no specific rules for how to read critically. Some people underline specific passages that are meaningful to them. These passages might offer examples of character development that the reader may have never seen before. Other readers might write down notes to consider for a later date. It's up to you to decide what is best for you.

But no matter how you decide to read critically, you need to know what questions to ask as you analyze a book. Here are a few questions to ask as you analyze a story, broken down into different writing elements.

Characters

• Did the characters feel real and believable?
• What role did each character serve in the story? Would you miss the character if he/she was removed from the book? 
• Was the character involved in the book? Or did events just happen to him/her? 
• What are the character's motivations? What are their goals? What do they want in life? 
• Do you care about the characters? If you don't, why? 
• How did the characters change in the book? Are they a different person at the end than they were in the beginning? 

Setting

• Can you visualize every scene in the book? 
• Did the author use the five senses to describe the scenes? If not, how could the author have included more senses? 
• Did the locations help set the mood for the scenes? 
• Did the locations serve a significant purpose? 
• How did the author describe the setting? Was it incorporated into the narrative or dumped at the beginning of a scene? 

Plot

• What drove the action in the book? What was the main event? 
• Did the author "hook" readers in the first chapter? If not, what could have the author changed? 
• Which scenes were the most engaging for you as the reader? What scenes could have been omitted? 
• Could you believe the plot? Is it realistic? Even if the fiction is fantasy or science fiction, does the plot still "work"? 
• Were the characters' actions believable? 
• Did the book have subplots? If so, were they necessary? Were they distracting to the main plot? 
• Was there a clear climax? Was the climax disappointing? 

Prose

• Did the point-of-view work for the story? Could it have worked better in a different point-of-view? 
• Was the author's use of point-of-view and tense consistent throughout the entire book? 
• Were there any passages of writing that were confusing to read? Were they long-winded? Could the book have had another round of editing and revising? 
• Did the author rely on particular words or phrases? Was the language repetitive? 
• What about the author's writing style did you enjoy? 

Additional Story Elements

• Did the novel fit into its designated genre? For example, if it was classified as a fantasy novel, did it work as a fantasy? 
• What type of reader was the book suited for? 
• Did the book have a clear and consistent tone? 
• Was the dialogue believable and realistic to how people really talk? 
• What themes were explored? Did the author handle the themes appropriately? 
• Was there enough at stake in the book to keep readers engaged? 
• Was the book original? Was it different than other books you have read in its genre? 

I know that there are a lot of questions to consider, but this is just to get you started on your journey to read critically. It will take a while to master this skill. To learn, you have to start reading. Start to read books from the perspective of a writer (or even a critic). If you want to grow as a writer, you need to evolve as a reader, too. If you know there are certain elements of your own writing that you need to improve on, look for these elements in the books you read. Watch what other writers do and learn from them. 

Take it slow and work on your reading skills. Just because you have been reading your whole life (if you're like me) doesn't mean you still can't learn how to read in a different way. Critical reading will improve your writing over a period of time. Trust me. 

Read (critically) on. 

-KJL-