I’ve been thinking a lot lately about reading and critiquing within your genre.
Not just YA writers reading and critiquing YA, but the specific kind of YA–contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, historical, etc; And where I’ve ended up is that doing both widely can be a great benefit to your own personal writing . . . but it must be balanced.
Let’s start with reading. When I first started writing my first manuscript last fall, a YA Contemporary Romance, I was so hungry that I took something, learned something, from everything I read. Of the 200 or so books I read last year (one day I’ll try to sit down and count them all), half were probably Contemporary or Historical, and the other half were Paranormal, Fantasy or Urban Fantasy.With this second book I’m writing, a YA Magical Realism/Historical that leans again toward Contemporary, I’m seeing that it’s in reading other similar books that my creative soul is fed. Don’t get me wrong–I still love reading Fantasy and Paranormal, but for this season of my writing life, I’m noticing an interesting correlation between my reading and writing.
When I read another Contemporary, Magical Realism, Romance or Historical book, I become inspired. I sigh in response and have that ‘fresh from a warm bubble bath’ type of feeling. I’m eager to dive into my own writing and recreate that same feeling in my own work. But when I read the other kinds of YA books, or too many of them in a row I should say, I feel the opposite. I focus on the action and crazy tension and plot twists and reveals that flood Fantasy and Paranormal books and suddenly my quieter, realistic, emotional journey type book seems boring.
The same can be true with my Critique Relationships. During the drafting phase of my first book, my main critique partner was a fellow YA Contemporary writer with a ton of experience. That was a huge blessing because she took me under her wing and I was better able to learn and follow in her footsteps since they were so similar to mine. But over the last four or five months, I’ve made amazing friendships and widened my critique circle to include some amazing/crazy-talented Paranormal, Steam Punk, and Fantasy writers.
And I love it.
While critiquing, I get to ‘practice writing’ in these other styles, try on this different writing hat for a bit, while also focusing on all the things that are foundational to all genres: plot, clarity, character arc, show don’t tell, description, setting, etc; And these talented ladies inspire me. One of my partners writes HOT kissing scenes. Fan yourself, melt in a puddle of drool, swoony scenes. (She also pumps her writing out in record pace which leaves my head spinning in awe but that’s another post). I use the feeling I get after reading some of her scenes and bring it to my own writing, attempting to amp up the romance in my story. All of these writers amaze me with the world building, settings, and creativity they bring to their storytelling, and it inspires me to recreate that imagery and imagination within my own real life worlds.
BUT I have also noticed that after reading these highly imaginative, combative plot driven drafts, I sometimes (very important to note here that it is only sometimes) turn to my own writing and feel deflated. I imagine my writing partners bored to death reading my contemporary, relationship, character driven books. My creativity can sometimes dry up at times like this.
My solution? Balance. If I’ve critiqued a lot of my CP Fantasy and Steam Punk drafts in a row, I MUST break out one or two Contemporary books (I’m a fast reader) before hitting my own manuscript again. If a week hits with a ton of awesome new Paranormal releases and I simply must read them all, I MUST also read a Contemporary in the mix. But the same is true for the opposite. If I read too many Contemporary books in a row, I MUST pick up a new Fantasy, Paranormal, Steam Punk, or Urban Fantasy. Not only does it inspire my own writing, but it allows me to be the type of CP I want and need to be for my writing partners.
How about you? Has your reading or critique relationships influenced your own writing? Do you read widely and outside of your own writing genre, and if so, do you try to strike a balance of any kind? Do you prefer to have writing partners only within your genre, or do you enjoy mixing it up?
Happy Writing!
