I Ask You: “Should You Read What You Write?” by Matthew Griffiths

An extra instalment to last week’s “Should You Read What You Write?” survey-post.

Full disclosure: Matthew and I attended Durham University at the same time. He is a marvellous fellow, and extremely gifted, so if you’re a fan of Dr Who, I would certainly recommend you read his work.

Should you read what you write? You can’t not; but you can’t read that alone. I’ve published poems, short stories and, somewhat to my surprise, a novel, and I hope this diversity of genres means I can bring something fresh to one from another. Although it could also mean (to paraphrase Margaret Atwood) feeling the need to tell novelists you’re really a poet, and poets you’re really a novelist. It might even be better if I tell both parties that I’m really a PhD student.

I Ask You: “Should you read what you write?”

I’ve been wondering lately about whether or not it’s a good idea to read what you write. I don’t mean to suggest people shouldn’t edit or proof-read their own writing. What I mean is, should you read the same genre that you write in?

I’ll give you an example. I have a novel idea, which I am particularly excited about. It’s related to a specific sub-genre, which I have consciously been avoiding in order to avoid undue influenced by what is already out there. At the same time, I recognise that being familiar with the genre in which you wish to write is important. Reading widely outside of your genre could help bring outside influences into the novel, help you make something new.

There’s also the question of whether or not you should read your own work, an angle that a few authors addressed as well. How obsessively should you pay attention to your work once it’s out in the world?

So, my question to you is,

“Should you read what you write? And why?”

I sent out a general invite by email and Tweet, and received quite a bit of interest. I’ve included the responses, below, from Jennie Ivins, Sarah Cawkwell, Jon Courtenay-Grimwood, Myke Cole, Mhairi Simpson, Anne Lyle, Robert Jackson Bennett, Mark Lawrence, Gail Carriger, Paul S. Kemp, Lou Morgan, Helen Lowe, and Justin Landon.

Please feel free to contribute your own thoughts and responses (on both interpretations of the question), in the comments. There may also be more authors’ contributions coming in over the next couple of days, so I will either update this or post a second round.

I Ask You: Why do Zombies need BRAAAINZZZZ?

So, I’m reading a novel about zombies at the moment (The Return Man by V.M. Zito – very good so far). I find that I have a bit of a problem in general with the shambling fellows. What are their motivations? They’re dead. Why do they have to eat brains? Unlike vampires, the eating of the brains does not have a rejuvenating effect, so… why? Being entirely unqualified to answer this myself, I decided I would seek some answers from around the speculative fiction community. Here’s what people were able to come up with. I’ll add more if and when people send them in.

[Feel free add your own thoughts in the comments.]