I hope you're following along with Tina, Jean, Krista, and Kat. If anyone else wants to play, just let me know and I'll stick you on the 30 Day Challenge blog roll. :) My list (with links to each post so far) is here.
Today's topic is all about goals. My short term goals for this month.
Honestly, this month I have to read. A lot.
I used to be a voracious reader, roughly a book a day (about 5 books a week) through my teens and much of my twenties. My reading really fell off after I published - reading became an exercise in fighting against the urge to get out my red pen - and I've only really gotten back into reading since we moved up north.
Earlier this week, my agent and I talked quite a lot about M's struggles to sell (and the crappy condition of the print marketplace) and he wants me to spend a month reading a lot of current, popular fiction, across genres. Once I've done this, I'm supposed to analyze these books to see what makes them tick. Why are they popular? What similarities do they possess? What insights can I glean?
I've never worried about analyzing books before and while I definitely don't want to follow any trends - much rather start some, thanks anyway - this is an excellent exercise to improve the scope and structure of my fiction.
So that's what I'm doing. Better get back to it. ;)
2 comments:
Good luck in your reading Tammy! Like you I used to read voraciously. Then I got a job that sucked the very life out of me. For the past 3 years I've been living a shadow of what I used to be. I'll be quitting my job tomorrow and starting a new one on the 23rd. I'm so excited and hoping that a new job will allow me to breathe new life into my....well...life. :)
T,
I used to read voraciously, like you and Tina. That slowed when work took its toll, but I still read a lot.
However, I definitely keep critiquing (which I also do a fair amount of) separate from fun reading - they're totally separate things for me, and I can't do both at once.
If you're looking for greater commercial success, then by all means, follow your agent's advice. If you're looking to write well... you've already got that.
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