I love to read. To be anything of a success when it comes to this writing lark you have to be prepared to put in the legwork and read, read, read and when you finish, read even more. But what should you read? Should it be fiction, or non-fiction? Novels or magazine articles, essays, comic book strips or even the back of a cornflake box? Simply the answer is it really doesn’t matter – just read it anyway and enjoy it (and while you are at it, enjoy eating the cornflakes as well!). In these trying times of Coronavirus, many people are, for the first time in years, finding the time to read – and hopefully it is a forgotten joy that will remain in their lives long into the future. I have something of a penchant for crime thrillers. My favourite authors are (in no particular order) Karin Slaughter, Joseph Finder, Kathy Reichs, Ann Cleeves, Kate Rhodes and I have recently got into the Jim Carruthers set of novels by Tana Collins. Delving back in time I love the horse racing novels of both Dick Francis and John Francome and often I will pick one up and read it again for nostalgia sake. In other genres I enjoy the work of Ken Follett, Rachel Joyce, Lisa Jewell and Stephen King among others. The lists is truly endless. Anyone interested in writing themselves must read Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Outlining what he considers to be the basic tools of the trade, this is considered to be part memoir and part master class by one of the greatest writers of a generation. I truly cannot recommend it highly enough. Another writing textbook to consider is The Elements of Style by William Strunk. Originally written over 100 years ago, although revised on a few occasions since, Strunk recommends using each word well and omitting any unnecessary words. It is a highly influential guide to English usage in the late 20th Century (the Kindle edition is currently only 98p on Amazon). If I’m not to be found with my head in a book, then a magazine is usually close at hand (or generally in my case a Kindle with a downloaded periodical). I’ll read magazines on history, gardening, fishing, football, cricket and on and on. If it’s there, I’ll read it. So in this time of self-isolation, lockdown and staying at home avoiding the virus, pick up something to read. It may well rekindle a long-lost love.
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