By Cara Putman, @cara_putman
As a writer have you ever considered how you can learn from another writer’s books? It should be a constant part of your development as a writer and especially as a professional writer. It’s easy to dial it in and think what we did last time is good enough for this book, but I’ve found each book actually gets more challenging. I have to come up with fresh characters and plots, something that is far from easy to do. So how do I try to stay sharp and develop my skills?
I dig into the books of authors I admire. I literally will pull them apart and see what I can learn from them. It’s something any of us can do with a little time and effort as we strive to always improve and stretch our writing muscle.
Here are a few ways I love to step back and increase my writing muscle from other writers’ skills.
- Break apart another author’s packing by creating a chapter-by chapter synopsis. This process helps me see how they create pacing and weave together the different threads of a plot. This is all helpful and important as I’m working on novels and creating context and new plots of my own. I’ve done this a few times in my writing and should do it more often with books that won’t let me go after the last page. I’ve also done this with favorites when I’m shifting between genres. It’s been a helpful tool to make sure I’m picking up pacing and other cues in reader favorites.
- Listen to a favorite audiobook to pick up word choice. If you read fast like I do, listen to an audiobook of a book by a favorite author. This can be a great way to hear the word choices and other choices that this writer makes. I just finished listening to The Woman in the Window. It’s a psychological thriller that has 130,000 ratings on Amazon with an average of 4.3. While it’s not my typical read, that many ratings has me taking notice and I was able to pick it up for $4.99 on Chirp, so I gave it a listen. A couple things I picked up on was it was written in present voice and it’s in an incredibly active voice. Every verb packs a punch and is so descriptive. I need to get the paperback so I can study how the author chose the words he did. Which also leads to my next point.
- Read fan favorites. Have you read Where the Crawdads Sing? (619K ratings on Amazon with a 4.7 average). How about All the Light We Cannot See? (217K with a 4.5 average). Sometimes you need to read the award winning, fan favorite books that are outside your personal favorites for that reason alone. Study them for why they work. Why are so many people reading them? What is pulling people in and getting them to tell others about them? What can you learn from those?
- Attend writer’s conferences so that you can learn from other authors. My favorite is ACFW, and we have a virtual conference coming on February 23rd and 24th with speakers like Tamara Alexander, Karen Ball, and Robin Lee Hatcher. There are other conferences all over the country, so there’s probably one close to you, but conferences are a great way to meet other writers while honing your craft. A writer’s conference can also be a great place to meet editors and agents. More importantly, it’s a great place to meet other writers – those crazy people who understand the journey you are on and the unique road you are walking. It’s worth so much to find your people.
How do you learn from other writers?
If they expected silence, they hired the wrong woman.
Caroline Bragg’s life has never been better. She and Brandon Lancaster are taking their relationship to the next level, and she has a new dream job as legal counsel for Praecursoria—a research lab that is making waves with its cutting-edge genetic therapies. The company’s leukemia treatments even promise to save desperately sick kids—kids like eleven-year-old Bethany, a critically ill foster child at Brandon’s foster home.
When Caroline’s enthusiastic boss wants to enroll Bethany in experimental trials prematurely, Caroline objects, putting her at odds with her colleagues. They claim the only goal at Praecursoria is to save lives. But does someone have another agenda?
Brandon faces his own crisis. As laws governing foster homes shift, he’s on the brink of losing the group home he’s worked so hard to build. When Caroline learns he’s a Praecursoria investor, it becomes legally impossible to confide in him. Will the secrets she keeps become a wedge that separates them forever? And can she save Bethany from the very treatments designed to heal her?
This latest romantic legal thriller by bestseller Cara Putman shines a light on the shadowy world of scientific secrets and corporate vendettas—and the ethical dilemmas that plague the place where science and commerce meet.
“Intriguing characters. Romantic tension. Edge-of-your-seat suspense. And a fast-paced ending that will leave you exhausted (in a good way!).” —Robert Whitlow, award-winning author of Promised Land
Since the time she could read Nancy Drew, Cara has wanted to write mysteries. In 2005 she attended a book signing at her local Christian bookstore. The rest, as they say, was history. There she met a fellow Indiana writer Colleen Coble. With prompting from her husband, Cara shared her dream with Colleen. Since those infamous words, Cara’s been writing award-winning books. She is currently marketing book 36 and dreaming up future books, not hard when she sees what-ifs everywhere.
Cara Putman is an active member of ACFW and gives back to the writing community through her service on Executive Board. She has also been the Indiana ACFW chapter president and served as the Area Coordinator for Indiana.
Cara is also an attorney, full-time lecturer at a Big Ten university, and all-around crazy woman. Crazy about God, her husband and her kids that is. She graduated with honors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (Go Huskers!), George Mason Law School, and Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. You can learn more about Cara at www.caraputman.com.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cara.putman
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cara_putman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caracputman/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cara-putman
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/939004.Cara_C_Putman
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Cara-C-Putman/e/B001T2AM3I/