Don't Read "Fan Fiction" For Research

I saw a post from a teacher a couple of days ago and she was talking about all of the great books she was going to have her high school students read this year. In all of the cases, these books were current "fan fiction" style books. You know the type. These are "fun" and "exciting" reads that appeal to the kids of today. While, getting kids to read anything might seem like a noble goal, this teacher (and all those who were cheering her on) are missing the point.

Now let me say, I am not here to talk about the approach the teachers were taking with their novel selection. I want to focus on this same aspect when it comes to your research as an author.

As you are doing your research to see what makes a great book tick, it is important to not just get the latest book that "everyone is raving about." It is important to look to quality novels and quality authors. Please, do not misinterpret what I am saying here. This is not to say new authors, nor their books, can be quality. I am saying to look to those novels that really do stand out as being great writing.

If you want to research how to be a great writer, you have to READ the great writers. Copying

someone who is just a "flash in the pants" will teach you to be just that.

I am thinking back to when FIFTY SHADES OF GREY came out. It was new. A lot of readers thought it was fun. But when you talked to editors and agents, the book was described as not strong writing. Those who thought it was great often turned to sales numbers to show "if it was really not great writing, then why did so many people buy it?" For many, they bought it to see what the hype was. I did. I read part of it. And then I immediately returned it after seeing the writing. But my "sale" factored into those numbers.

I bring up that book, because a lot of authors turned to that book as a "model" and started trying to duplicate the voice and style. And they received rejections. Why? They were not learning from "the best."

In the case of "fan fiction" these are books that are meant to be quick and fun reads. These are stories that are not going to last. Sure, there will be some that do, but those will be the anomalies.

Can we learn things from these books? Sure. But what we learn is not necessarily going to make us great writers. We might learn a quick plot device, but that would be it.

So, what do I look for when I read the "quality" authors? I look for how they balance narration and dialogue. I look to how the release information, or create a character that we beg to know more of, and how the author can keep us reading because they give us enough to chew on but not all at one time. We look to how the author creates a world we can be immersed in. We read for technique. We are not reading for plot of just the funny character.

As you look over your To Be Read/Researched Pile, really contemplate why it is in that stack.