Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Is writing an insane way of spending our time? My mother seems to think it is - even now that she's finally accepted that's what I do. And my dad too was bemused by my choice of career, seeing as, to him, actually reading an entire book is akin to having his fingernails forcibly removed. Robert Louis Stevenson once said he felt reading was 'mighty bloodless' and no substitute for real life - but there again he was famously adventurous, a fact he used to advantage in his novels. But I think most authors wouldn't agree. On the opposite side of the spectrum you have Logan Pearsall Smith who said, "People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading." I can relate to that. I like my own blood to stay on the inside of my body - whereas I don't mind reading, and writing, about someone else's blood spilling all over the page in the fight for justice, truth or freedom. It's not really about coming down definitively on one side or the ot...

A student contacted me the other day to say that she'd been reading some bestselling books to inspire her - but that unfortunately it was having the opposite effect! She said she was feeling very intimidated by the way these bestselling authors spun words, described everything so beautifully and really got her involved in the story. She came away from reading feeling depressed that she could never compete, that she would never be as good as these other writers. She asked if I might read one of these authors, dissect their style and tell her how she might emulate these great writers. I flinched inwardly. I couldn't help myself. Because I make it a rule NOT to read great authors when I'm writing a novel - for exactly the same reasons as my student! A long time ago I discovered that reading writers like Stephen King, Robert Harris, Michael Chrichton and James Patterson stopped my writing in its tracks.  These guys write with such flair - they make it seem so e...