Guest Blog ~ Author Linda Hall

Award winning author Linda Hall has written twelve novels and seven nonfiction books. She has also worked as a freelance writer, news reporter and feature writer for a daily newspaper.

From an early age, she was a lover of stories. As a child she would walk home from school and make up stories, most of which didn't get written down. She also read book after book far into the night. She still enjoys reading, and probably reads a novel a week.

Growing up in New Jersey, her love of the ocean was nurtured during many trips to the shore. When she's not writing she and she and her husband enjoy sailing the St. John River system and the coast of Maine in their 28 foot sailboat, Gypsy Rover II. She invites her readers to her website which includes her blog and pictures of her sailboat.

My best advice for the writer is to READ. Read often and read widely. Never be without a book. Keep one in your car, beside your bed, in the bathroom, on the kitchen counter. Hold your book in one hand while you use the other to stir the soup. Have a paperback with you while you wait in line at the post office.

I've never understood the writer who says, 'Now that I'm busy writing a book, I have no time for reading.' I find that when I'm in the middle of a deadline is when I need to read the most! Continually being absorbed in a book keeps me immersed in words. Being drenched in words that are not my own words refreshes me. Even reading for fifteen minutes at night will energize my writing the next day. I firmly believe this. Writers should read more widely than non-writers. Non-writers might say, ‘I only read mystery,’ or “I only read romance,’ but the writer should read a smattering of just about everything.

I have one caveat however. There is one thing that writers shouldn't read – and that is stuff that is written more poorly than their own. For example, if you begin reading a book and say, ‘Man, I could write as good as this.” Well, you probably can, so put the book down. You will only pick up bad habits if you continue.

On the other hand, if you pick up a book and are just blown away with the words and say, “This is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could write this well,” That’s the book you should continue reading. That’s the book that will ‘teach’ you how to write.

So, here’s my advice: turn off the television and pick up a book.