Five

Two days ago, I told you to read fiction. Today, I’m telling you to read the opposite.

Read Nonfiction

I’m a fiction writer, through and through. I really am. I don’t like writing nonfiction, I’m not very confident in my abilities as a nonfiction writer, and I don’t enjoy reading nonfiction as much as I enjoy reading fiction.

But that’s beside the point when it comes to the upkeep of your creativity, and the betterment of your creativity when it does come to pass.

See, every form of fiction, every form of art, really, is grounded in the real world. We don’t have another way of looking at things, because we’re a part of the world. We’re not part of anything else, really, so we wouldn’t know how else to be looking at things.

With that in mind, maybe you’ll see where I’m going.

Nonfiction helps us stay rooted in realism, in reality, and keep our feet on the ground. That’s extra important when you’re writing science fiction or fantasy, because they’re dealing with a subject matter that is so very foreign to us, as people who live on normal ol Earth.

I know we don’t always like to spend time reading things like this, to take time out of our days to research, basically, but it really does help you maintain your creativity. Some people may tell you that it stunts your creativity, but I think they’re lying. See, our work, whether it’s fiction writing or fantasy painting, needs to be grounded in something. If it’s not, the people we’re marketing to won’t have a chance of understanding what we’re doing.

And I’m not saying you should go out there and read something that you have no interest in at all. No! That would be a horrible idea. No, no. What you should do is find something that pertains to what you’re working on. Maybe find a book about your craft, or one about that might help you better understand your own subject matter.

For instance, when I was writing my Earth-Space series, I bought a bunch of books on outer space. I wanted to have a better idea of what my characters were getting themselves into, and I wanted to maintain a certain realism that my readers could latch onto. And the fun part was that in reading those books, I got even more ideas for my own books!

So there. It’s not creativity ruining. It’s creativity thriving.

Huzzah!

[love]

{Rani D.}