Reading Outside My Genre
I recently read two books outside my genre and found them very helpful in terms of writing craft.
The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber.
I liked the writing in this book and thought the pace moved quickly. Although the romance didn't draw me in, I was impressed with how the author used omniscient pov. Writers are encouraged to use deep pov, but this book showed me that it's not always necessary for a great, fast-moving story. This book was a good example of a plot-driven book, I thought.
The Dark Man by Marc Schooley is Christian Speculative Fiction, a genre I don't read often. I was completely impressed by it. Loved the writing and the pacing. The story intrigued me and I found the premise very believable. It's set in a futuristic type America in which our basic freedoms are gone. One of the intriguing things about the craft in this book was how Schooley used pov. There was a mix of omniscient, third and second. For example, the characters are most often written in third pov, but their thoughts were in second pov, no italics. I'm not sure I've seen that style often but it was pretty effective once I got used to it. I also loved the romantic angles of the story. I'd recommend this book to a lot of people.
So I've learned a lot from reading outside my genre. What fiction outside the norm have you read lately? What did you learn from it?
The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber.
I liked the writing in this book and thought the pace moved quickly. Although the romance didn't draw me in, I was impressed with how the author used omniscient pov. Writers are encouraged to use deep pov, but this book showed me that it's not always necessary for a great, fast-moving story. This book was a good example of a plot-driven book, I thought.
The Dark Man by Marc Schooley is Christian Speculative Fiction, a genre I don't read often. I was completely impressed by it. Loved the writing and the pacing. The story intrigued me and I found the premise very believable. It's set in a futuristic type America in which our basic freedoms are gone. One of the intriguing things about the craft in this book was how Schooley used pov. There was a mix of omniscient, third and second. For example, the characters are most often written in third pov, but their thoughts were in second pov, no italics. I'm not sure I've seen that style often but it was pretty effective once I got used to it. I also loved the romantic angles of the story. I'd recommend this book to a lot of people.
So I've learned a lot from reading outside my genre. What fiction outside the norm have you read lately? What did you learn from it?
Comments
I learned some valuable stuff about craft, but I was definitely craving a feel-good magic story immediately after. Guess that's why our favorite genres are or favs. :)
Ooo, I've got to pick up the second book. It sounds like my kind of reading material.
Sci-Fi is outside my normal genre preference. Kerry Nietz persuaded me to read his first book. Now, I can't wait to pick up his second, "The Superlative Stream."
Blessings,
Susan :)
Great question!
Patti
I've heard omniscient POV is very hard to pull off; how neat that Hieber and Schooley did fine jobs.
I'm currently reading a self-help book by Dr. Laura called "Bad Childhood; Good Life," and a non-fiction by Jennifer AlLee called "The Pastor's Wife." Both are different genres from what I write, but I'm enjoying the excellent crafting in both of them.
As for reading outside my genre, I've been reading lots of YAs lately, but that's because I want to make that my genre for a while. But I guess you could say I read outside my genre every week, because two of my crit partners write things I wouldn't normally pick up. One writes thrillers, and the other women's fic/magical realism. It's nice, because like you, I think we learn more about the craft when we're exposed to different genres. ;-)
Good points Anita!
And Karen, lol, if I read that book I'd be picking up a romance soon after! I want to read Elephants, but I have to prepare myself for it first. LOL
Thanks ladies and Warren :-) for sharing your experiences!
Julie, if you do you'll have to tell me what you think!
Angie, wow, how do you do that? A month without fiction? I hope you find a wonderful book to lose yourself in. :-)
T. Anne, I've heard both of those are excellent!
Melinda, that actually sounds really fun!
I am currently reading The Glass Castle by J. walls. Memoir. And very very good.
Thank you for your comments on my blog. it is good to be back :)
You don't know how thankful I am that you chose to read TDM. Were that all it'd be enough, but then you chose to share such kind words about it in public. Much, much appreciated...
You've got quite the blog going on here, it seems, judging by this post.
Sincere thanks,
MS
I confess to being a total nerd, so that would be Oscar Wilde. I came upon an old edition of his plays in a musty back corner of the library, and had to pick it up. I mean, it had that old-book scent.
I learned that some playwrights really like to challenge their actors by the deliberate use of repetitive dialogue, which must have to force vocal and physical inflection from the performers to prevent ruining the play.
Also, Wilde was a consummate symbolist, and his use of the moon and each character's reaction to it in Salome is really striking and worth study for any writer who trends toward the literary.