Reading and Writing and All That Stuff

I haven’t started a new book in a good long while. I’m still reading my old standby — the latest Star Trek book. This one is a Deep Space Nine novel titled The Long Mirage by David R George III. I’ve said it before and I”ll say it again — George is one of the few authors who truly gets Deep Space Nine and his writing is a pleasure to read.

However, this is an erotica authors blog, not a Star Trek fan blog, so I won’t go further into detail about the joy of this book and this author’s skill.

I’ve been in heavy editing mode with my publisher and thus haven’t had much time to read books outside of those I’m working on. (Reading aside — I haven’t even had time to sit down to type a smutty story in far too long.)

Even when editing is at its thickest, I do strive to manage to read a chapter or two of a book — any book — before bed. So, I’ve been slowly making my way through that Star Trek novel.

It’s commonly advised that authors should make time to read. I agree with that whole-heartedly. An author needn’t always read the genre they’re writing in — though it is advisable to do it now and then to keep on top of the genre — as long as they’re reading something.

A writer who doesn’t read (and believe me, I know some) is a writer who isn’t exposed to the skills and strengths (and weaknesses) of others. Seeing the strength of another writer, seeing how they unfold their plots and develop their characters and explore their worlds, pushes an author to strive to do better. That “do better” might be intending to write as well as the book in their hands or it might mean outshining the dreck contained in the pages of that purchased book. Either way, it’s a beneficial experience.

An author who reads only their own writing and doesn’t explore outside that box is thus stuck inside that box. Yes, that author might make slow and steady gains, but they might be in the wrong direction or they might be far slower than those gains should happen.

In my free time (excuse me while I laugh), I try to teach myself the violin. I could’ve bought a self-teaching book (in fact, I did) and struggle through the lessons on my own. However, I’d go much slower than someone who even minimally invests in professional lessons. If I did it entirely by self-learning, I would still be holding the bow wrong, which leads to hand cramps and an inability to play properly (because I can’t maneuver the bow like someone who holds it properly).

On the other hand, though, to learn violin, I don’t need to exclusively take lessons. In fact, I took lessons for about a year to help get a fairly-decent grasp on the basics. From there, I proceeded with self-directed learning (with long stretches of doing nothing, if I’m going to be completely honest here). I’d print off some music or flip through my student book and I’d struggle with something.

But, just like an author that needs to read books to stay engaged with how others do it, I occasionally take violin webinars or look up lessons on YouTube. Looking to the professionals now and then allows me to learn techniques to shake off bad habits and strengthen my basic skills. I’m still moving slow and it’ll take many years before I can perform in the local open mic night, but it’s because of those brief and semi-regular exposures to professional lessons that I am able to improve as an amateur violinist.

Being an author doesn’t necessarily mean reading for two hours every day — rather, it means intentionally keeping up with some sort of a reading schedule, regularly exposing oneself to writing other than their own, recharging their creative batteries, and then sitting down at the computer to reach for new heights.

Read what you want, no matter what you write. I read a lot of Star Trek, but I don’t write science fiction.

(I’ll try to read a sexier book next time this topic comes up.)



Cameron D. James is a writer of gay erotica and M/M erotic romance; his latest release is The President And The Rentboy. He is publisher at and co-founder of Deep Desires Press and a member of the Indie Erotica Collective. He lives in Canada, is always crushing on Starbucks baristas, and has two rescue cats. To learn more about Cameron, visit http://www.camerondjames.com.