What genre do you read normally? Do you stick with the same one or do you hop around, sampling a variety of tasty morsels offered?
Limiting yourself and not reading outside your genre is like having the same thing for dinner every single night. Mac and cheese gets old. Pretty soon you will find yourself only able to talk about mac and cheese. You will not be able to share recipes with friends…because you only know how to make mac and cheese. There are different versions of course, you can step away from the box and try to create home made. It may taste better but in the end…it’s still mac and cheese.
Do not be afraid to experiment. Try new things. You might not like everything you try but you will never know if you don’t give it a chance.
You might find that missing ingredient that you never realized you were searching for. Then when you do go back to your old favorite, you can bring all the knowledge you gained and before you know it…instead of just macaroni and cheese…you may have a full blown noodle casserole.
Why eat just your own genre when there are so many more books waiting to be devoured?
That’s my take on it. Anyone else hungry?
I'm hungry. Love food posts!
ReplyDeleteMurder mystery is my fave but I also sample other morsels, some I like, some not so much. I read a lot of the classics too, and non-fiction.
And, of course, cookbooks...:)
Yuppers, now I'm hungry. :)
ReplyDeleteGret advice - I really do believe that each genre has samples of several other genres inside of it, and knowing how to write each genre well makes any novel you write better. I'm trying to read/write in as many genres as I can.
I read a little bit of everything from time to time but mostly I end up reading young adult/middle grade, since that's what I write. I find it puts me "in the mood" to write.
ReplyDeleteThat Mac & Cheese looks yummy! Yummy!! :)
ReplyDeleteI read general fiction, then some chick lit, then some romance. Lots of YA and neither I or my librarian know why.
ReplyDeleteFantastic analogy!
ReplyDeleteFor the past year and some, I've been trying to read some of the classics I never read (from which I gained my ridiculous fascination with To Kill a Mockingbird) and also books I think every [insert category] should read. Like Roots, which I think every black person should read, maybe even every American- even if it is 899 pages long.
Also, I think every writer should read the Megabestsellers (MBS) . I don't see how you can ignore something which is so influential in your industry. It's not about liking or not liking Twilight. Not reading MBSs is like a politician who doesn't understand communism. Or a choreographer who's never seen a ballet. You can get by just fine without it, but if you have that knowledge you might just be able to take your field to the next level.
I read a lot of YA, a lot of adult fantasy/sci-fi, and a little of everything else.
ReplyDeleteOh, and my favorite mac and cheese has ham and chipotle peppers in it. Yep. I AM hungry. :)
Yes, this made me very hungry! =)
ReplyDelete