: Re: How many books should writers read? It is well known that the postmodern novels often use citations and references to other cultural objects, first of all to the other novels. Sometimes it is

@Sue2132873

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I guess I'm going to disagree with the others as my opinion is:

Read as much as you need to. When you are happy with the ideas you've developed for a story, stop reading and start writing.

My stance may be a little controversial, but it suits me fine. When I read a lot, I find that it strongly steers my writing and my imagination.

If I read a book with a great romance, I'm easily tempted to put a romance into one of my stories. When I read yet another terrible fantasy book then I want to take my story and plonk it into a modern or sci-fi setting (which is actually what I did).

I have to limit the amount that I read or else I'd never finish a book. Worse, I could finish writing a book that ends up being a mish-mash of ideas I've accumulated from my reading. I would hate to finish a novel only for it to be extremely derivative, and everything feels derivative to me when I read widely.

Building upon the previous advice:

Take inspiration from sources outside literature.

A single lyric from a song is often enough to spark my imagination into overdrive. Sometimes it can be the view out of my window, or something I've seen in the news. Personally, I find non-written media to be far more valuable as sources of inspiration.

Disclaimer: These are techniques that work for me but obviously YMMV. Reading widely is generally recommended for the more disciplined author.

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