One thing for sure that I learned during my master’s in creative writing is that if you want to be a good writer, you should read a lot. I also learned that if you read only one author, you will start writing like him or her. It’s like “you are what you eat”, “you are what you read” or “you write what you read.” Never mind my puns.
During my time in grad school, I had to read too much by too many authors to learn different styles, voices, and tones. An important focus was to find our voice as writers, and from a vast list of authors, I would say that seven of them shaped the way I write.
Edgar Allan Poe
When I started reading Edgar Allan Poe’s work, I fell in love with him. I loved his style and the use of adjectives throughout his text. I was fascinated by how he worked on the subject of death. Whenever I read something by him, I used to think that I wanted to write like him.
I declared myself his daughter. I started to call him Father Poe, every time someone asked me who was my favorite author. Thanks to him, I understood that you have to lose your sanity to write well and that you have to know the end in advance to know how to start.
However, every time I tried to write like him, with that peculiar voice and descriptions, it didn’t work out as I thought.
Julio Cortázar
It takes a brain like his to do what he did. What’s that? He took his poetic license seriously and created amazing things such as Hopscotch (Rayuela), especially Chapter 68. It took three cups of coffee to read it several times to try to understand what it is about. I think I do now, but I’m not sure.
Also, there is Miss Cora (La señorita Cora). This story impressed me the most, not because of the plot, but because of the style. Cortázar combines the thoughts of the mother, with the ones of her son, the patient, with the ones of the nurse. They all melt and flow together, sometimes even in one sentence. It’s a beautiful masterpiece because it doesn’t explicitly say who is speaking. The reader knows who is the one talking because of the difference in each voice.
Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald
Rather than understand who they wrote for, I understood what they wrote and what for. As in “The Killers” or The Great Gatsby, these writers undoubtedly presented their reality as it was, disastrous. From the ugliness of society, they did great universal works. Then, I discovered that my voice should be in my reality and that I, like Hemingway and Fitzgerald, should write about the society in which I live.
Honoré de Balzac
After reading Father Goriot (Le Père Goriot) and Eugénie Grandet by Balzac, I understood that I don’t want to be like him. I don’t need to describe the cracks on the ground in front of the gate of the building where my main character lives. I understand why he did it, but it’s definitely not my style.
I want readers to enjoy my books, not to be bored to death. Don’t get me wrong, those two books are great stories, but why, as a reader, do I need so many unnecessary details. I’m sorry if you like him; his style is not for me.
Luis López Nieves
Luis is a Puerto Rican author and was the director of the first Master’s Program in Creative Writing of Latin America, in Puerto Rico. He literally shaped the way I write. Luis is one of my favorite writers; he was my professor, thesis director, and editor. I learned so much from him during class, and he gave me incredible support during my thesis.
Luis stopped me when I was too poetic and to be concise with the message that I wanted to deliver. He made me realize that I was writing a novel and not an essay, so I needed to give life to my characters, not use them as puppets to deliver my point of view of society.
Ángeles Mastretta
I still remember when I first began reading this Mexican author. She is known for her inspirational female characters within the social and political realities of Mexico. More than shaping me as a writer, without her knowing, she shaped me as a woman. Her female characters are too strong and too vulnerable at the same time. That’s an art that I want to learn as a writer.
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
― Stephen King
If you’re a writer, your first job should be to read as much as you can. Read different authors, not just your favorite. There are digital libraries available and free books that you can download. Find authors that will help you shape the way you write. Don’t just read your current favorite authors. Explore and learn.
