#194 | Special Edition: The Art of Reading Like a Writer

episode SUMMARY:

Douglas Vigliotti shares five key questions to help you read like a writer. From novels to memoirs, these story and writing questions will deepen your appreciation and understanding of any work fiction or nonfiction. Learn the difference between fans, critics, and writers, and discover the importance of story versus writing, a protagonist’s journey, narrative layers, point of view, tense, writing styles, and the all-important aspect of believability.

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Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So this week we are going to be doing another special edition, and this one is called: Learn How to Read Like a Writer. So before we jump into the five ways that you can start reading like a writer, I just want to remind you that if you are interested, you can listen to the trailer of Slightly Crooked: Good Stories, Told Well, season two, which features my 2021 poem collection, mini heartbreaks or little poems about life, and that is available now on the podcast Slightly Crooked: Good Stories, Told Well. And also I usually save this until the end of the episodes, but I wanted to mention it now while I had your attention. And that is if you enjoy the episode or any of the episodes that you've listened to within the last month or since you've been listening to this podcast, then please remember to share it and subscribe.

(01:13):

So sharing and subscribing are the two best ways that you can support one, the mission of inspiring More Men to Read, and two, helping more new listeners find the show, sharing it with just a friend or a family member and subscribing on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on. And if you want to take an extra two seconds, you could rate it or review it, but I'm not going to belabor it and I'm not going to beat you over the head with it. But it would go a long way if you could do either of those two things, share or subscribe. Okay, so now let's get on with the reason why you are listening to this episode, and that is to learn how to read like a writer. Although there are a lot of different things that you can pay attention to, there are five big questions that I utilize and approach reading with every time I pick up a novel.

(02:11):

And so the questions will change a little bit if I'm reading fiction or nonfiction, but ultimately they're going to be very, very similar in many regards. And you don't have to read like a writer, it's not a requirement. This episode is for people who wish to do so or they're just curious to hear what I'm going to say. Right? And in my eyes, fans and critics read differently than writers read. So a fan reads for pure enjoyment, all they care about is: am I being entertained by the story that's in front of me? They don't care how it was published, they don't care about anything really, aside from enjoyment, entertainment, and emotion. Is this story entertaining me? Do I want to keep reading? Do I want to keep turning the page? And that's not to say that if you are a fan and you're in a reading group you're not going to discuss much larger questions that pertain to the novel or work of nonfiction.

(03:12):

But it is to say that the overwhelming majority of fans are pure consumers. They just want to be entertained. They just want to keep turning the page. And this is probably why genre fiction historically has done a lot better than literary fiction has in terms of commercial appeal. Now, you could also read like a critic, and critics, while I'm sure there is a great deal of things that critics could be reading for, the overwhelming majority read for theme, and also how the work fits into the bigger picture of society and the historical context and the actual form itself. So now that I briefly covered both of those again, let me just remind you that of course there could be a wide variation of fans and critics who read slightly differently than the way that I just depicted it. But again, I'm talking about the 80% of each category.

(04:15):

There are always going to be outliers, freethinkers, and people who tend to do things a little differently. And if I'm being totally honest, those are usually the type of people that I enjoy reading, whether I agree with them or not, because they're willing to push the envelope one way or the other. For me, most of the time I like works of art, whether it's books, movies, or music, that you could find an equal portion of people who hate it to an equal portion of people who love it. So it's willing to go far enough one way or the other to have people who strongly dislike it. To me, that's risky and fun and entertaining. And so it's no different when I am talking about critics, let's say, but enough about fans and critics because that was only meant to be an introduction to the reason why you're here, which is how to read like a writer.

(05:12):

So before I jump into the five ways I need to mention that when reading a novel, let's say, or even a work of nonfiction, I typically divide the book into story and writing. So I look at those two things individually because I truly believe that you can have one and not the other. So you could write a really great story, but it could be poorly written or you could write phenomenally well and write a really crappy story. Now, this is entirely subjective, at least on the writing front. Story in my eyes has a little bit more of a formulaic approach to it that makes certain things work or not work, at least in my eyes. So I have a greater degree of certainty to say the story works or the story doesn't work. Again, there's a lot of subjectivity even in that regard because what makes something good for somebody else might make it bad for another person.

(06:20):

As I already said in this episode, my favorite type of stories are the ones that completely divide the audience. 50% of people hate 'em, 50% of people love them. With that being said, the first way that you could read like a writer is by asking simple questions when you begin the novel. Who is the protagonist? What do they want? What stands in their way of getting it? These objections, setbacks, and roadblocks come both internally and externally. So this is a story-level thing, but no matter what you are reading, there is a protagonist, they want something, and they have internal and external opposition to achieving it, at least in a story that's well executed or entertaining, right? It's very hard to create a story that is entertaining, that does not have tension, could be small stakes, tension, big stakes tension, but it needs tension.

(07:17):

And how you achieve this is up to the writer. But ultimately, I want to ask myself those questions about the protagonist and answer them as soon as I can. This is something that is more story-level than it is on a writing level. Secondarily to that, I'm usually looking to see what is extra to that central storyline. Now, this teeters a bit into editor land because editors read to see how lean a story might be, but most writers are also editors, if not of other people, then definitely of their own work. So knowing how many layers a story has, if it goes beyond that central layer of who's the protagonist, what do they want, and what stands in their way of getting it, then it's important to know because that could weaken the narrative, make it less powerful or potentially less appealing, or the extra layers can add to the storyline.

(08:15):

And for me, added layers are great when they pull more of the essence out of the central storyline. If it's just adding another layer to give more breath without actually pulling out the essence of what that central storyline is, it dilutes the power of that central storyline. Again, this is only my opinion, but I do believe that. And so this is not required of you as you're reading like a writer. It's just me sharing my opinion on how I feel. But what is required if you want to read like a writer, is to answer, who is the protagonist? What do they want? And, what stands in their way of getting it? So the second question sort of blends story and writing, and it asks if the protagonist isn't the narrator, which is the case sometimes, who is the narrator? And if they're different, then what's the point of view that the writer is writing from?

(09:15):

Are they writing from first person, second person, third person? Are they using multiple points of view? If they're writing in the third person, are they using a limited third, which is like a close third where it mirrors the approach of using the first person, meaning that individuals can only know the things that a first-person narrator would know in real-time? Or is it more of an omniscient approach where there's an all-knowing God who is telling you the story? This is often referred to as head hopping, so you're inside the heads of multiple characters at the same time. The writer goes back and forth as they write the narrative. When it's done well, you don't even notice. It's just the style of how the story is done. When it's not done so well or you don't feel it's done so well, you will definitely think to yourself, what the heck is going on here?

(10:16):

This doesn't feel right as a writer, paying attention to narration and point of view is super important because not only will you be able to utilize it in your own work, but you could spot when another author loses point of view, which believe it or not, does happen from time to time, even in the big bestsellers that you read today. Now, I'm not saying it always happens, but I for one have spotted it in books that are very commercially successful. And that's not to say that they aren't well written, it's just to say that they aren't as technically sound as another book would be. I always equate this to a guitarist. Some guitar players hit every note with purity. They never miss other guitar players, play in between the chords, and it may sound good, but it's not technically the same thing as somebody who plays with precision.

(11:18):

Most of the time, only guitarists are able to notice this or care about this. A listener just thinks, oh, that sounded great. It made me feel something. And that's all that's really required. But if you're a writer or a guitarist in that sense, you're paying attention to that. A writer pays attention to this stuff because it's just baked into the craft of what they do and what they're trying to do. Once you know it, it's hard to un-know it. It's not something that you cannot pay attention to. Once you start seeing writing through that lens, the third question piggybacks off of the second question, and you're asking yourself, what tense is this story told in? Is it in the past or is it in the present? This combines with “point of view,” most of the time, but for the same reason that you are paying attention to point of view, you're paying attention to tense.

(12:15):

You want to make sure that your writing stays in the past or stays in the present unless you're intentionally mixing, which does happen from time to time and could be successful. One of the interesting scenarios that sometimes you'll find yourself in either as a writer or a reader is if a story is told in the past tense, is it in the past as in it's happening now, or is it in the past as there's somebody telling the story so they know everything? The difference would mean a lot to how that story reads and could confuse the reader if it's not consistent throughout the entire novel unless again, it's intentional. And you may be asking yourself, well, how do you know if it's intentional or unintentional? There are things that are clearly defined in the structure of the novel that would indicate when the writer chooses to change the point of view or utilize some type of mix in point of view.

(13:20):

It's hard to give an example during this monologue here, but it will be defined if not clearly, then subtly by the writer to indicate that there has been this shift. Most of the time, some writers intentionally are doing things that are different just to be different, of course. But that gets into question number four, and that is stylistically, how does this writer write? So this peels all the way back from anything story level and looks at the sentence level writing of this writer. Are they using short sentences? Are they using long sentences? Are they mixing short and long? Which is preferable to me because it sort of gives a nice feel most of the time. Do they intentionally subvert grammatical norms? One word, sentences, fragmented sentences? There are a lot of different things that writers will do on a stylistic sentence level with the construction of their sentences that may be appealing to some and not so appealing to others.

(14:28):

Also, how long are their paragraphs or chapter lengths or transitions? And then most importantly, do you like their sensibilities? You'll almost certainly know within the first 50 pages of any book, whether you like an author's sensibilities. I think even in the best-written novels or novels that are written by phenomenal writers, at least in the context of what good writing is, as I'm using air quotes, it takes time to get used to the way they write. It takes, I would say, anywhere from 10 to 20 pages minimum to really get used to how a writer writes, because if they're good, they are definitely putting their stamp on the work, meaning their voice or the style of how they are writing is coming through. This is typically the biggest differentiator from writer to writer, their sensibilities, how they write, and it's also the toughest thing to say, this is good or bad for me.

(15:39):

Good or bad just means, do I feel like I jive with this person's sensibilities? And do I feel like they are distinct? It almost has nothing to do with grammar or anything of that nature, and more to do with sensibilities. Are they pandering to the reader or to other people, cultural critics or the industry, or things that to me, are a bit off-putting and are not central to what makes something enjoyable to me, which is truth, honesty, and individuality. So that's mostly what I look for when I am reading, whether it be fiction or nonfiction, and I'm always hoping for something to come along that is completely different than my innate preferences and convince me that I was wrong or shock me. It's the most enjoyable thing for me as a reader. The last question goes back to a story level, and it really just asks three simple questions that I could elaborate on into much bigger questions, but I'm going to keep them simple to close out this episode.

(17:01):

And that is, is it impossible? Is it contradictory? Is it irrational? So a lot of times you'll be reading a story and based on the world that they have depicted, they being the writer, they do something which is impossible or contradictory or irrational. To me, this is one of the biggest violations On a story level. Again, this is subject to opinion. I think most readers will recognize this simply as: is it believable? And that is a way that I definitely sum up. Is it impossible? Is it contradictory and is it irrational? Is it believable? Do you believe what you are reading? And that doesn't mean it's real, it just means that it can happen and should happen because of the world that has been built and that these characters live in and the way that they see the world and their motivations and how they act.

(17:59):

Now, I could go into a lot more detail about all of this. I hope I did a decent job of trying to summarize it as I hopefully made mention earlier in this episode. A lot of this is opinion-based, but that's the point really for you to read like a writer with these questions in mind so you can form your own opinions just as a writer would, even if they are not public with those opinions, being able to see how stories work and writing works, or maybe more importantly, what you like about somebody's writing or don't like are all things that a writer can utilize in the creation of their own work. I don't want to make it sound like writers don't read for enjoyment, entertainment, and emotion. Probably the most important thing that work could do is does it make me feel something, at least in my eyes. Or, like a critic again, which is theme-based.

(19:00):

And I think most writers don't worry about the second part there, which is, well, how does the work fit into the bigger picture of society? Or at least writers who are writing from truth, not from wanting to fit in, which sadly is a motivation for some writers out there and creators of all types. But I drone on and on in. Let me end this by saying that if you enjoyed this episode, as I mentioned earlier, please remember to share it or subscribe on whatever platform you are listening to this on, because both of those things go a long way in helping more people find the show and supporting the initiative of inspiring more men to read. If you want to connect with me, you can always do so on Instagram at Douglas Viti. It's the only social media that I have. Lastly, for more information, you could visit BooksforMen.org where you can get full transcripts for every episode, as well as sign up for the monthly newsletter, which is a roundup of all of the episodes, along with episode summaries, key quotes, and excerpts from each book and newsletter only book recommendations. So again, if you're interested in that, all you have to do is head over to BooksforMen.org.