“Read
in your genre. Read in your genre. Read in your genre.”
You hear it all the
time. From agents. From authors. From
people on the street (No, not really, but it seems that way) It feels like
everyone gives the same advice.
I
think it’s good advice. I’m a huge propionate of reading, but are you limiting yourself by only reading in the genre you
write?
I think so.
There
are PROS for reading IN your genre.
- You can spot trends
- You know the market
- You know what’s been done already
- You find new exciting authors
- You understand what readers of your genre expect
But
there are PROS for reading OUTSIDE of your genre.
- You can learn how to add suspense from reading Mystery or Suspense Novels
- You can learn how to add emotion form reading Romance and Contemporary
- You can learn how to use lyrical language from reading Literary Fiction
- You can learn world building from Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Dystopian
- You can learn how to make everything boring from reading Non-Fiction (I’m just kidding J But only a little)
I’m
sure there are more. What do you all
think? Do you stick to your genre or do you find branching out helps you as a
writer?
-Angie
