Reading For Writers

Do writers need to be readers? The short answer is YES! This may seem obvious, but you would be surprised how many manuscripts we receive from non-readers. When we receive a manuscript,we will either accept without reservations, accept if conditions are met, or reject it outright. In almost every case where we have rejected a manuscript outright, it is due in part to the author not being a reader.

Image: Surachai / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Reading books should be a part of your schedule each day, a minimum of an hour a day if you are serious about becoming a published author. By reading an hour a day, you are building on a number of qualities that every great author has:

1. Knowledge of subject matter. Read books in the genre you are interested in writing for.

2. Copiousness. Read books from a wide variety of genres. (Want to see copiousness in action? Check out Collision with Doug Wilson & Christopher Hitchens).

3. Writing For Reading. Read consistently and regularly will help you find your own natural rhythm with your readers.

4. Ideas On What To Write. Reading is one of the best ways to brainstorm without thinking about it.

5. Ideas On What NOT To Write. Don't write a book that has already been written. Many would-be authors make this mistake.

Reading is one the key ways to build your skills as an author. Read more, write more, & publish more.


Brad's personal reading guidelines:

• I read Scripture every day. Everything else I read is viewed through the lens of Scripture. It is not all I read, but it effects all I read.
• I try to read at least one non-fiction and one fiction book at the same time. More often than not, I will be reading multiple non-fiction books at once. The key for me is that they are in different genres. For example, I am currently reading business (Personal MBA), psychology (Influence), philosophy (On The Shortness Of Life), trivia (Brain Candy), and Christian (Three Gospels). The fiction I am reading currently is actually a true crime type of book, which reads like fiction (Gang Leader For A Day).
• I will try to read only non-fiction most of the day. Two hours before bed, I switch to only fiction. This was a suggestion from Tim Ferris, I believe in The Four-Hour Workweek, and it has proved very helpful for my sleeping habits. Reading non-fiction before bed gets the brain juices flowing too fast.
• I try to finish a book every day. I average 4-5 books a week, not counting the manuscripts I read for the publishing business. Reading is a large part of my job as well.
• Most people who don't read insist it is because of time. I don't have the time not to read . . . once you build reading into your life, it is hard to remove it without feeling like something is missing.
• As you can tell by the variety of books that I am reading now, I read from a wide list of genres. I have found it very helpful to read books simultaneously and follow what you are most interested in at the time.
• I stop reading a book if I don't like it. Don't feel like you have to trudge through a book you don't like - just stop and pick up a more interesting one.
• I review almost every book I read on Amazon (of course, besides the ones published by our company). This small commitment has made me both a better reader and writer.
• I write in my books. A lot. I plan on sharing more of this in the future, but in the meantime, if you aren't writing in your own books, see How To Read A Book and Mindhacker.

Hopefully this is helpful to see how at least one other reader actually reads. Post your own reading plans or thoughts below in the comments section.

Mark Up Your Books & Feel Good About It

For years, I hated to write in books. I would always carefully flip through texts at the used book store and find books that were untouched, and I made sure to keep them that way. Writing in a book was not only something I didn't do . . . its something that I despised. Bookmarkers were the graffiti artists of the reading world, and I wanted no part of it.

A few years ago, a good friend recommended that I read How To Read A Book, and it changed my bookmarking habits forever. Mortimer Adler's classic text on reading includes a section that teaches you both how and why to mark books. I now carry at least two different colored highlighters, a pen, and a pencil everywhere I go in case I need to mark a book. I have found that it has greatly increased my reading comprehension and retention and made my books more valuable in the future.


So how do you go about marking up books . . . First, the basics.


Buy The Right Materials: Get a good highlighter. You need one that is not too thick, not too thin, and one that won't bleed through. I prefer the common yellow highlighter that Sharpie makes. Also, pick up a good mechanical pencil - you can never find pencil sharpeners anymore. In addition to a highlighter and pencil, you should have at least one color of pen, preferably two. These tools will help you mark up your book properly.


Basic Highlighting Skills: As you read, highlight the material that stands out to you. Bert Webb points out that using the Pareto Principle here (the 80/20 principle) is a good rule of thumb. Don't highlight any more than 20% of the text - it will often be much less than that.


Basic Pen/Pencil Work: When you come across something that really strikes you and you want to remember it, put a star next to the section or highlighted quote. You can also star entire chapters in books if they are particularly interesting. On any two page spread where you have something starred, put another star in the lower right part of the right page. This will make it easy to find.


Building Your Personal Table of Contents: Once you star a particular passage, then you can work on adding the information to the table of contents. For instance, I starred a particular passage in a The Violent Bear It Away, then I flipped back to the Table of Contents. Under the appropriate chapter I added "grace, 82" to indicate that there is a great quote about grace on page 82. Using this method, you are able to quickly find relevant information about the book that was important to you in the future.


This is a basic overview of bookmarking, most of which is covered in How To Read A Book. Other resources on bookmarking are listed below.


How To Read A Book - A classic, well worth the read. The more avidly you read, the more valuable this book is.

How To Mark A Book - Online essay by Mortimer Adler covering much of the same material on bookmarking. Easy way to preview the book.

Twelve Ways To Mark Up A Book - Some points aren't helpful, some I disagree with. You may find some ideas to help you though.

How To Take Notes Like An Alpha Geek - Great post on note-taking from the author of The Four-Hour Workweek

Mindhacker - Great book with a ton of useful information. Hack 7 gives three ways to take advanced notes including building your own index, annotating in two colors, and using your book as a notebook.

Marginalia - Have not read this one yet, but looks like a great text on historic note taking. Definitely picking it up soon.


Leave any thoughts, comments, or suggestions you have about bookmarking in the comments section below.