To be a good writer you have to read. Reading helps you sharpen your vocabulary and teaches you the fundamentals of story structure and plot development.

This year, I made a resolution to read a book a month as well as to study my favorite authors – not just to read their books for leisure, or to pass exams, as I have done in the past but to study their narrative style.

The first book that I’ve chosen is The Art Of Fiction by David Lodge. It is a book about literary criticism for the general reader. I’ll write more about the book and about David Lodge in a subsequent post but so far, I love it!

I read it for the very first time in High school because I wanted to learn the proper way in which to analyze a text. I read it from cover to cover and got an A in AS Level English Literature but I didn’t really take the time to savor its contents or David Lodge’s masterful writing.

At that time, I was too busy with school work and to be honest, I was more about the politics of Alice Walker. Her book of essays, In Search of our Mother’s Garden’s was my literary bible at the time. I read it every chance I could get; on the commute to school and back and if I could spare a few minutes, I would read it in between classes. I was blown away by her ideas on feminism and her almost obsessive study of American novelist Zora Neal Hurston.

I picked up The Art Of Fiction again last year but never finished reading it because I was too busy at work but the little bit of it that I did read was really good. This month I resolve to finish it and there after I’ll be reading his other titles.

We’re only 22 days into the New Year but so far, I’m on track with my 2018 reading goals. Hopefully, i’ll be able to keep it up. I’ll keep you posted. 🙂

xoxo,

Zawadi