Writing Wednesday: Studying Craft

If you are serious about writing (which I like to think I am), then it is important to study craft. There are lots of way to do this. You can go to conferences and attend some classes on craft. You can do more intense workshops where they work on your novel and really pick it apart. There is the MFA option. Or you can read books on craft.

Most writers do a combination of the above. One of my favorite books about writing is On Writing by Stephen King. I love it because it is by someone that has written a lot of very successful books. he is living the life of the writer, and I think his advice is really good. One of the things he talks about doing every day is reading.

I love to read, and I learn a little bit from every book I read. Sometimes if I can't stand a book, I'll go back and read it to find out what went wrong. It helps to see what isn't working.

And there are times when I'll reread a book to figure out what makes it work so well.

Sometimes I read a book where the writing isn't the greatest, but it still pulls me in, and keeps me turning the pages, and I try to pin down what works and why.

How do you study craft?