To Read or Not to Read?

Sometimes people find it hard to read a book and to work on their own story during National Novel Writing Month. I completely understand why, reading a book while you are writing your own story can cause you to mimic it and that can be problematic, but reading can also be a learning experience.

If you do choose to read while working on your NaNoWriMo novel, read books that are completely different from what you are writing about. If you are writing a Sci-Fi war novel try reading a period romance novel. Let the other genre inspire you to get more creative. You should also read books that were horribly written so that you can learn what not to do. Fifty Shades of Grey is one I recommend for reading when you want to see how not to do dialog tags or repetition. It's also a book that proves you need to do more research if you are writing about something that you have little knowledge of. 

I would suggest limiting the amount of time you read during NaNoWriMo. A good book can be hard to put down so you should really focus of your own story during November and only read when you need to take a break from writing. 

Tomorrow I will post some writing prompts to give you some inspiration. Have a great day!