Seasonal
Insider
Why YOU should delve into a book
this year.
The reasons why, how it has benefitted me and where to start.
By Joseph Holmes
The dust has finally settled
onto 2019, and we are
starting to remember the
date. Christmas is long
gone, and the promise of
spring awaits. For me, New
Year’s resolutions are a big
no-no. I can’t stand them. If
you want to do something-
just do it (as Nike would
say). Last year, I read more
books than all of the other
years in my life combined-
picture books excluded. This
year I am going to beat it,
and I will challenge myself
to read a variety of genres
and texts to further the way
I write. In the hectic 2018 I
wrote a novel, the first draft
at least and by the end of
the year, I had the realisa-
tion which was it needed at
least five redrafts before it
was fit for publishing. I
wrote a book that was miss-
ing from my shelf and tried
to break the rules a little bit.
I do not like long fluffy
books with tonnes of Victo-
rian description, I described
the texts of my GCSEs as
sufferable. I started my
reading expedition with
BookShots (120-page novels
supposedly penned by
James Patterson)- it was a
start. I soon realised that as the
spine grew thicker, the quality
evolved. Now that I can read
lengthy novels I have noticed
my narrative style improve sub-
stantially. I took a look at a vari-
ety of screenplays, and my
script-crafting ability exceeded
my expectations.
Perhaps the key to writing is
first to read.
“The
lowest
rung may
lead to
the
longest
ladder”
So this year, I am going to read
any flimsy page I can get my
hands on.
As some encouragement, I am
www.josephholmeswriter.com for more.
going to buy a different
book every month
(completely different) and
start a version of a book
club with my friends a
family. I may set myself
gruelling homework to
rewrite elements or
change the context to
experiment with essential
ingredients. Now that you
are sick with the boring
context of this article, I
will move swiftly on to
why YOU should read
more.