by Lisa Jordan, @lisajordan
A while ago, I had a conversation with my sister, who is an educator in our school district, about the importance of reading outside our favorite genres. She reads a lot of non-fiction, particularly biographies. I read a lot of contemporary romance novels. She also believes in finishing each book she begins while I, on the other hand, believe life is too short and my stack is too tall to finish books that don’t engage me or move me. But that’s a topic for another post.
As a happily ever after woman who writes contemporary Christian romances that promise hope and happily ever after to my readers, it’s a struggle for me to read something other than a great romance novel. Since my reading time is limited due to my busy schedule, reading outside my genre takes deliberate effort.
If you’re not a reader of romance novels, reading that genre will help you to understand how romance writers take a hero and heroine on a romantic journey from introduction to the promise of a lifetime commitment. Many non-romance writers may feel we write fluff and to a formula as all romance novels end with a heart-sighing ending. There’s some truth to that argument, but I (and many of the romance writers I know) create realistic, complex characters who face trials on the page. And the joy is in the journey, reading about these characters overcoming their lies and obstacles to embrace truth and being together. Reading romance novels can help you to create realistic relationships that add sympathy to characters-driven novels.
Reading suspense and thriller novels (in broad daylight, for me) help me to understand how those writers create action and tension with their short sentences, planting of red herrings to throw me off from guessing whodunit. I’m becoming a stronger plotter because I’m weaving in the external plot with the internal building of relationships.
One of the things I admire about speculative, fantasy, and science fiction authors is their incredible abilities to create these amazing worlds, languages, and concepts that make you question “What if?” or “Could that really happen?” Reading spec fiction helps me to tap into my senses and setting to add a three-dimensional storyworld to my novels.
Reading Young Adult novels helps me to stay connected with the young adults in my life by appreciating their struggles and what’s meaningful to them in today’s world. When I’m creating young adult characters for my novels, they come across as more authentic and hopefully more appealing to a younger demographic.
Historical novels pull me back into the past ways of life and bring those rich historical events to life by showing what happened through the eyes of unique characters. The attention to detail from language to undergarments reminds me how important details are to our stories.
Lately, I’ve been reading Christian books that strengthen my walk with God and my personal relationships. These types of books also help me with weaving spiritual truth in my novels. While other self-help books enable the reader to…well, rely on self, Christian self-help books remind us to keep God center in all areas of our lives.
Reading outside of your genre enables you to strengthen your writing skills by studying the techniques other writers employ to create rich characters and tight plots. It helps you to improve cognitive abilities by thinking and looking at the elements of story structure in a different way. Additionally, it helps you to develop an appreciation for other styles of writing.
Choose a novel outside of your comfort zone. You may surprise yourself and find a new favorite author!
So, what genre do you write? What’s your favorite genre to read? What genre will you choose to step outside of your reading comfort zone?
A Recipe for Romance
Sarah Sullivan will do whatever it takes to make her summer youth program permanent. But when she’s tasked to teach the teens basic kitchen skills, her hope goes up in flames. Not knowing the first thing about cooking, Sarah needs help. Smelling the delicious aromas coming from her neighbor’s apartment one night, she thinks she’s found her answer. Alec Seaver might know his way around pots and pans, but the lone-wolf widower doesn’t want anything to do with the free-spirited beauty next door. But after he becomes Sarah’s reluctant partner, Alec realizes that she might just be the key ingredient missing from his life.
Heart, home, and faith have always been important to Lisa Jordan, so writing stories with those elements come naturally. Represented by Rachelle Gardner, Lisa is an award-winning author for Love Inspired, writing contemporary Christian romances that promise hope and happily ever after. She is the Operations Manager for Novel.Academy, powered by My Book Therapy. Happily married to her own real-life hero for almost thirty years, Lisa and her husband have two grown sons. When she isn’t writing, Lisa enjoys family time, kayaking, good books, and playing in her craft room with friends. Visit her at lisajordanbooks.com.