# The Reasons for Reading Outside Your Genre



## Philip Overby (Nov 26, 2013)

I'm finding myself more and more attracted to non-fantasy writing. Don't get me wrong, fantasy is and always will be my number one love, but I'm just currently more interested in work outside the genre. I often hear the advice that reading outside your genre is a good thing. I guess I never really considered that until I delved more into this recently.

Here are some reasons I think it's a pretty good idea to not only read fantasy work to improve your writing:

1. It gives you new and unique perspectives you may not be getting from fantasy. If the majority of what you read is epic fantasy, reading a mystery or horror book might help give you some new insight into characters' minds.

2. It doesn't box you into the "fantasy writer" mold. Meaning you may not fall into the traps of producing the same kind of work over and over if you can draw inspiration from other sources.

3. Other genres may focus on certain elements more that you hadn't considered. For example, SF focuses on what could be, romance on love, and horror on the things that scare us. 

Do you find yourself drawing inspiration from outside the genre on occasion? What reasons would you give for reading other types of books to help your writing?


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## GeekDavid (Nov 26, 2013)

I read sci-fi quite a bit. I also enjoy the occasional mystery (I am really picky about my mysteries). For non-fiction I enjoy history or science books.

Why do I need a reason to read these? I read what I enjoy, and I enjoy more than just one genre.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

If you don't read outside your genre, I think you're missing out on the complete toolbox that is available to writers. Want to see how to write fast-paced page turners? Read Michael Connelly or Robert Crais. Want to add romantic elements? Read some good romance authors. Want to create a sense of foreboding or dread? Read horror. 

If you're only reading fantasy, you have a too-narrow view of the possibilities.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 26, 2013)

Objectively this is really good advice and it makes complete sense. I haven't had (taken) the time to read anything really in quite some time. I've got a handful of fantasy novels I've been meaning to read on the ol' Kindle, but they're collecting dust in favor of other endeavors at the moment.
Some day though, I'll get my other chores done and I'll get on something new and interesting.


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## BWFoster78 (Nov 26, 2013)

I agree with Steerpike.  If you want to learn how to do something, analytically read an author who does it well.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

BWFoster78 said:


> I agree with Steerpike.



:dance::biggrin::grouphug::bounce:


But yes, I think it makes sense, and I'll even read in a genre I don't care for as a rule (i.e. romance) just to see how authors are handling situations there.


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## Philip Overby (Nov 26, 2013)

Something I'd like to ask:

Is there something you personally learned as a writer from reading other books other than fantasy? 

I'm just interested to hear other opinions on this topic since the last three books I've read in full were a western, a SF book, and I'm currently reading _Neuromancer_ by William Gibson. I find Gibson's dialogue really engaging and the ways he describes things are really amazing. Even though half the time I have no clue what he's talking about, it really resonates with me for some reason. I feel like I'm actually be educated and entertained at the same time. It's kind of weird and cool for me.

I do find myself wanting to emulate what I read more in hard-boiled stories and SF than what I have in fantasy. Mostly in the dialogue realm. I just enjoy snappy dialogue a lot. I find this attribute can be hard to find in fantasy on occasion.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Definitely. I've mentioned Michael Connelly and Robert Crais numerous times. You want to learn pacing, tension, and getting the reader to want to read just one more page, you'll have a hard time finding a better place to start.


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## Philip Overby (Nov 26, 2013)

Can you recommend a book of theirs to start with? I don't know if it's just fantasy overload for me sometimes, but yeah, there are times when I just want to read a page-turner and see what they're doing right that makes it fast paced without seeming so hectic.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Connelly has a long series with his detective Heironymous Bosch, but they can be read in any order. This recent one is quite good:

MichaelConnelly.com | The Black Box (2012)


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

This is a good one by Crais - also part of a series that started with his Elvis Cole books, and now has some books featuring another character from those - Joe Pike:

Robert Crais: The First Rule


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## Scribble (Nov 26, 2013)

Recent reads outside of fantasy/sci-fi:

*Incognito by David Eagleman*

Neuroscientist explores how we are not really in control of ourselves. Explores how our "sub conscious" mind makes decisions long before we become aware of them, and the illusions we have of free will and of the world around us. It seems someone is driving the car and it's not our conscious selves. 

Interesting stuff, but from a writing perspective, it made me think about the incorrect assumptions characters can easily jump to based on their biases and past experience, and how I could use that in fiction.

*The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck*

I love this book. What he does with words, the creative shifts in POV, delicious and hopeful and despairing words. Reminded me that painting with words is what I like best, and how it can be done well.

*The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky*

I'd been "meaning to" read this for about 25 years, finally started chugging through. It's a very heady book (and heavy!), complicated, but it opened my mind to writing sympathetic characters you wouldn't like to be friends with. Mr Karamazov is vile, yet I found I was drawn into his charm, sympathetic to his reprehensible life!

*The Information by James Gleick*

Non-fiction/science. This tells the story of "information" from the earliest language to cuneiform, to writing, printing, the telegraph, computing, etc... right up to today. Sparked many ideas in my mind about how technology moves society and vice versa, how we communicate.

*Chaos by James Gleick*

Just started this one, been meaning to for a long time. One of my current projects employs a magic system that underneath all the mysticism is really operating on principles of order versus entropy. I don't want to explain physics to the reader, but I want a system that does not defy the laws of physics, but rather exploits them.


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## Philip Overby (Nov 26, 2013)

Thanks!

Actually, a non-fantasy writer I think I learned a lot from was Elmore Leonard. He was probably one of the first writers who I read for enjoyment that wasn't fantasy. I remember reading his book _Pagan Babies_ in several days. Even now, that's probably the fastest I ever read a book. One reason I think he engaged me so much, was the dialogue heavy writing that breezed past and the descriptions were always spot on. He's a great one to study if anyone is interested in keeping writing sparse but still hitting all the right notes. 

I actually learned more about the genocide in Rwanda from this book as well, something I knew little to nothing about. So not only did the book entertain me, but made me aware about a topic I may not have known much about otherwise.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 26, 2013)

One of my favorite authors of all time is Tove Jansson. Her way of describing things in a whimsical, friendly, almost poetic way that says a lot more than just the words used and which resonates very well with me.

You can find some quotes and excerpts from her books here: Tove Jansson Quotes (Author of Finn Family Moomintroll)

Example:


> “Lie on the bridge and watch the water flowing past. Or run, or wade through the swamp in your red boots. Or roll yourself up and listen to the rain falling on the roof. It's very easy to enjoy yourself.”
> ― Tove Jansson, Moominvalley in November



She does this kind of thing all the time in her books and it's something I would want to be able to do as well.

More - because I still can. 


> “The spirit of adventure sped through his soul on mighty wings.”
> ― Tove Jansson, Moominsummer Madness





> “It is still summer, but the summer is no longer alive. It has come to a standstill; nothing withers, and fall is not ready to begin. There are no stars yet, just darkness.”
> ― Tove Jansson, The Summer Book





> “All things are so very uncertain, and that's exactly what makes me feel reassured.”
> ― Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter



...and finally, this one, which should speak a little to all of us. 


> “Quite, quite,' she thought with a little sigh. 'It's always like this in their adventures. To save and be saved. I wish somebody would write a story sometime about the people who warm up the heroes afterward.”
> ― Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Scribble said:


> *The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky*
> 
> I'd been "meaning to" read this for about 25 years, finally started chugging through. It's a very heady book, complicated, but it opened my mind to writing sympathetic characters you wouldn't like to be friends with. Mr Karamazov is vile, yet I found I was drawn into his charm, sympathetic to his reprehensible life!



My favorite novel ever. You should also read Nabokov's _Lolita_​, which is a brilliant book.


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## BWFoster78 (Nov 26, 2013)

Steerpike said:


> :dance::biggrin::grouphug::bounce:
> 
> 
> But yes, I think it makes sense, and I'll even read in a genre I don't care for as a rule (i.e. romance) just to see how authors are handling situations there.



I read a blog post that noted how good Nicholas Sparks was at getting his readers to cry, so I decided to check his writing out.  My wife had one of his on our Nook.  I got a few ideas from it, but, overall, I wasn't all that impressed.

I've heard, however, that his earlier stuff is much better.  I just haven't worked up the desire to read another one.

I'd love to be able to make my readers cry (on purpose rather than just because my writing is so bad, anyway).


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## BWFoster78 (Nov 26, 2013)

> The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
> 
> I love this book. What he does with words, the creative shifts in POV, delicious and hopeful and despairing words. Reminded me that painting with words is what I like best, and how it can be done well.



Just goes to show how different tastes are.  Granted, I read this as a junior in high school, but I loathed this book.  As in, worst possible book ever.  It just went on and on and on.

Not sure if my reaction would be different today or not.  I have such bad memories of it that I have no desire to find out.


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## Philip Overby (Nov 26, 2013)

I need to try reading Grapes of Wrath again as well. I really loved Of Mice and Men. It's actually one of my favorite books ever and is a quick read to boot. I always think writers should try to consume some of the classics when they find the time. They're classics for a reason. However, I get that some tastes differ.


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## psychotick (Nov 26, 2013)

Hi,

I do read some detective - Agatha Christie and a little humour - Shakespeare - I really do quite like a Midsummer Nights Dream. But there are some genre's I just can't stand. Romance makes me nauseas for example. Others leave me cold like anything to do with real life. And some of that is just dreadful. Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath and Cannery Row, both of which we were forced to read at school, seriously are among the most depressing of books. I'll have to take BWF's comment one step further. After reading them I wanted to gouge my own eyes out and slit my wrists.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

BWFoster78 said:


> I read a blog post that noted how good Nicholas Sparks was at getting his readers to cry, so I decided to check his writing out.  My wife had one of his on our Nook.  I got a few ideas from it, but, overall, I wasn't all that impressed.



I've thumbed through his books in the bookstore, but nothing about the writing compelled me to buy any of them.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

When it comes to classics, my favorites:

The Brothers Karmazov
Crime and Punishment (to a lesser extent than the other)
Lolita
The Haunting of Hill House
The Secret Agent, Chance, or Victory, by Joseph Conrad (anything by him is good)
Moby Dick
Dubliners (Joyce's short story collection)

All well worth reading


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## Scribble (Nov 26, 2013)

BWFoster78 said:


> Just goes to show how different tastes are.  Granted, I read this as a junior in high school, but I loathed this book.  As in, worst possible book ever.  It just went on and on and on.
> 
> Not sure if my reaction would be different today or not.  I have such bad memories of it that I have no desire to find out.



When I read it in school, I don't recall being quite so taken with it. Now that I have children, I felt the creeping fear of the starvation of the Joad children, the desperation of losing all that you've had, the pain of having once been respected then reviled, the loss of humanity of my daughters, wife. It's the story of the shattering of men by circumstance in ways I was utterly oblivious to in my youth. The idea of being on the road, free and without land was no big deal at 15, heck, I'd welcome it then.

This is the line that expresses the fear of a father in the clearest terms, and the dangerous creature he can become when his children go hungry.



> “How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him--he has known a fear beyond every other.”



That quote scares me, for as much as I stand up as a moral man (as moral as I can manage) if my children go hungry, there's nothing I won't do to feed them, steal, even kill. Being faced with the reality of life's need, we see how fragile our current comfort is, how quickly it can be taken from us, leaving us to become fearful monsters fighting for food. No pretty words or high thoughts will keep us from feeding our children when we finally break from civilized life.

So, it has that emotional punch. Plus the theme is still just as pertinent. We've swapped men with dirt on their jeans, growing natural food for the Big Machine. There's nobody to blame for bad fortune, nobody to take revenge on, only banks and corporations.

What I like are the ways he personifies nature, the land, the sky in a way that extends my feeling as a reader as being part of the land witnessing the story of people happening upon it. Not sure if that makes sense, kind of hard to describe.



> “You're buying years of work, toil in the sun; you're buying a sorrow that can't talk.”
> 
> “The clouds appeared and went away, and in a while they did not try anymore.”
> 
> ...



And a few other lines I like:



> “And her joy was nearly like sorrow.”
> 
> “Yes, you should talk," he said. "Sometimes a sad man can talk the sadness right out through his mouth. Sometimes a killin' man can talk the murder right out of his mouth.”


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## Scribble (Nov 26, 2013)

Steerpike said:


> When it comes to classics, my favorites:
> 
> The Brothers Karmazov
> Crime and Punishment (to a lesser extent than the other)
> ...



Those are some hefty books! 

I quite like Hermann Hesse, I would mention Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha as my favorites. I've read Siddhartha I don't know how many times, it is like an anthem of my life.

Speaking of...  Anthem by Ayn Rand. I'm not a fan of her philosophy, nor do I like anything else she has written, but this one holds a fascination for me.

I've read Iron in the Soul by Jean Paul Sartre and The Stranger by Camus a few times.

Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach was a book I was given as a child, it's an important book for me.

I read mostly philosophy as a teen, starting with Nietzsche, I think I was trying to impress smart girls or something. Or any girls. It didn't seem to work.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Scribble said:


> Those are some hefty books!
> 
> I quite like Hermann Hesse, I would mention Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha as my favorites. I've read Siddhartha I don't know how many times, it is like an anthem of my life.
> 
> ...



I have Siddhartha in my to-read pile. Haven't read it. I did like The Stranger. As for Rand, I actually enjoyed Atlas Shrugged and the Fountainhead, for the most part (philosophy aside).

I also have The Magic Mountain, by Mann, which looks to be quite good. I haven't read anything by Sartre. Not sure why; I'll have to fix that.


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## Scribble (Nov 26, 2013)

Put Siddhartha in your mp3 player! Free audiobook from Thought Audio. They have a number of public domain books in audio format.

ThoughtAudio.com - Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, unabridged free audio book download

Oh yeah, Call of the Wild by Jack London. That book I read to shreds as a kid.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Scribble said:


> Put Siddhartha in your mp3 player! Free audiobook from Thought Audio. They have a number of public domain books in audio format.
> 
> ThoughtAudio.com - Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, unabridged free audio book download



Awesome. Going to do that tonight.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 26, 2013)

Scribble said:


> Johnathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach was a book I was given as a child, it's an important book for me.



I've got the comic version framed on my wall:
http://get.unshelved.com/strips/20090705.gif


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## Scribble (Nov 26, 2013)

Svrtnsse said:


> I've got the comic version framed on my wall:
> http://get.unshelved.com/strips/20090705.gif



LOL! Oh man, that's a keeper 

Here's a movie clip, Be by Neil Diamond


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## Ophiucha (Nov 26, 2013)

I read a lot of romance and chick lit, since I like reading about more feminine female protagonists and there aren't many of those in fantasy (or really, any genre other than the ones written for women). I read a lot of science fiction, particularly hard SF. It's kind of weird, since I adore fantasy, but I actually _hate _space operas and only like soft SF if it's got some really good philosophy or writing to support it. I don't read many mysteries or crime novels, but I do like _The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency_ and _Sherlock Holmes_. Horror, I only really read if it crosses over a bit with SFF/supernatural. Historical fiction is okay, thrillers bore me to tears, and I have an odd fondness for Westerns despite it being the embodiment of about a thousand tropes I hate. And I like literary fiction, though I have hard limits in terms of pretentiousness I can tolerate.

Favourite 'Classics':
 - _Little Women_ by Louisa May Alcott
 - _Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions_ by Edwin Abbott Abbott
 - _Orlando: A Biography_ by Virginia Woolf
 - _Pale Fire_ by Vladimir Nabakov
 - everything by Jorge Luis Borges
 - _Les Miserables_ by Victor Hugo


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Ophiucha said:


> - _Pale Fire_ by Vladimir Nabakov



Ah. Wonderful book


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## crash (Nov 26, 2013)

I tend to read a lot of spy, historical and classic novels aside from Fantasy. I read a lot of Alan Furst, who combines history and espionage beautifully with the feel of a film noir. When it comes to historical novels I tend to read works set in the first half of the last century. I do read Philippa Gregory novels, but more as a guilty pleasure; her prose is excellent, but her use of artistic license is _really_ annoying. As for classic literature, I like Jane Austen, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Orwell, Nancy Mitford (is she considered a classic novelist now?), Margaret Lawrence and Jack London. And I guess I could add Hunter S. Thompson, I totally love Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Some non-fiction I do like are Generation Kill and The Bloody White Baron; if any of you haven't read those you should check them out.


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## GeekDavid (Nov 26, 2013)

One of the best books I've ever read outside the fantasy/sci-fi genres is _Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy_.

It tells the story of a single remarkable man in the Nazi era of Germany, the decisions he had to make, and how they turned out.


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## Feo Takahari (Nov 26, 2013)

I think there are very few books you can't get anything out of. Take Dan Brown--the man's terrible at characterization, but he's a genius at modulating tension through carefully arranged structures, rationing out fear and confusion sentence by sentence and even word by word. I don't like or use his style, but I think some other authors would be able to make better use of it than Brown does by pairing it with other talents. And you could argue similarly for Meg Cabot's insight into social interactions*, or Christopher Paolini's knack for writing a powerful character who still feels human and fallible, or maybe even Stephenie Meyer's grasp of the nature of obsessive love.

*With apologies to Cabot for lumping her in with Meyer--she's a much, much better writer, and I think she's been unfairly dismissed because of her genre.

As for a specific thing I'm learning from, I'm reading a nonfiction book called _Explaining Hitler_. The author references a theory by Isaiah Berlin that historically significant leaders who come from the margins of society tend to be very charismatic, but also obsessive and unstable. That's definitely going to influence one of my characters.


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## Penpilot (Nov 26, 2013)

Photocopies by John Berger - It's a book of short vinaigrettes. Reading it I leaned how a composition of simple description and language can create mood and emotion just as well or even better than complex description and language. It made me realize when used well, five cent words, can add up to a lot more than a collection of fifty cent words.

Disgrace by JM Coetzee - It's a book dealing with post-apartheid South Africa. It's one of those stories that brilliantly illustrated the complexities of the situation by putting into a simpler context. When I first read it, I only saw the surface level of the story and didn't really understand the ending. But then one day, the story popped back into my head and I realized I'd learned something without realizing it. I realized how brilliant the ending was.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'brien - Another example of simple writing and how it's used to create emotion. O'brien was a vet of the Vietnam war and this is one of the stories that he's written about it. For those of us who wonder what war is really like, he's lived it, and he's put it to word.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter - A retelling of a bunch of fairy tales, I found that it's a great example of taking the old and making it new again, with your own spin.


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## Steerpike (Nov 26, 2013)

Penpilot said:


> The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter - A retelling of a bunch of fairy tales, I found that it's a great example of taking the old and making it new again, with your own spin.



Absolutely brilliant collection.


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## Asterisk (Nov 26, 2013)

I'll pop in and say that I only read the first page of this thread, so forgive me if you're already waaaay off this. But. Anywho.

I'm a writer of fantasy, but I've only read three fantasy series in my lifetime so far. _Lord of the Rings, Narnia,_ and the Percy Jackson series, if that counts as fantasy. I've tasted some sci-fi, but mainly read fiction that's set in the real world. What I love about fantasy is that there are no rules... you create, you destroy... you _make_ a world. You're probably going "DUH", but whenever I think about this, I'm just amazed at how awesome it is to be a writer and experience this.

Alright, I've done my rambling...carry on


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## Philip Overby (Nov 27, 2013)

Well, this kind of turned into a recommendation thread, but I guess that's fine. 

What I was hoping to hear more of is how these books have improved you as a writer and given you a new perspective that you might not be getting from fantasy books.


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## Ophiucha (Nov 27, 2013)

Phil the Drill said:


> What I was hoping to hear more of is how these books have improved you as a writer and given you a new perspective that you might not be getting from fantasy books.



_Science fiction_, I feel, is close enough to fantasy that many of its tropes translate easily. In particular, I think science fiction authors more readily explore social and political themes. There are entire subgenres dedicated to most philosophies, from feminism to libertarianism, and the way science fiction addresses them - in settings so futuristic or foreign that our prejudices are no longer applicable - is completely translatable to otherworld fantasy. I definitely take this when I'm writing more political fantasy and use it to my advantage.

_Romance and chick lit_, as I mentioned earlier, has the widest variety of female characters in fiction. Older women, mothers, women of colour, married women, fat women, the sorts of women who are rarer in other genres. Though these two genres are not without their own clichÃ©s and problems, it is wonderful to read different interpretations of a character type you're not likely to see elsewhere and let that influence how you write them in fantasy novels. I found it really helped me break away from having all of my female characters be skinny, white 20 somethings, and it helped me consider agency within romance subplots rather than dismissing them entirely for fear of reducing a woman to a love interest role.

_Historical fiction_ can show the value in research, certainly, and I think in worldbuilding. No, historical fiction writers don't worldbuild in the same way, but without the flashes of magic and, generally, the same epic/action storylines, I find the setting shines through quite a bit and the richness of detail that comes from period accuracy and loving descriptions of minor things really shows how well a bit of detail can enhance a world, whether it is the one we live in or one we created.

_Literary fiction_ is the genre of experimentation. Here there be footnotes, unreliable narrators, and non-standard narrative structures. Not all of these translate well into genre fiction, not if you expect to be published anyway, but some of them work beautifully. Consider _Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell_, which has fictitious footnotes likely influenced by literary fiction. It really enhances the worldbuilding, and adds a lot of subtlety to the story if you take the time to read them. Epistolary novels, with 'excerpts' from newspapers and diaries, work beautifully in a fictional setting when you can create famous literary works for your characters to enjoy and quote. Lots of potential to snag some ideas from this genre.


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## Penpilot (Nov 27, 2013)

Phil the Drill said:


> What I was hoping to hear more of is how these books have improved you as a writer and given you a new perspective that you might not be getting from fantasy books.



Well reading outside of fantasy made me better because I realized that generally speaking different genres do certain things better on a consistent basis. Picking a genre book and studying it for its general strengths made it easier to focus on certain things because they're so prominent. For contemporary, I learned small problems can lead to big stories. Basically not every story has to be saving the world. Internal issues can carry a story if the character is interesting enough.  For scifi, I saw how ideas and concepts are extrapolating on, taking the idea of "What if X" from present to the future or taking an idea to the extremes and exploring it. For thrillers, I saw how fast pacing works and how to make something a page turner. For fantasy, I saw how in depth world building can be and what was needed to make a world full.

You can learn all these things in one genre, because they apply to all of them. For example, contemporary fiction needs world building too, but just not as much as fantasy. I find that looking at one genre for it's particular strength--which is my opinion of the strength. Others opinions may also apply--beneficial because it removes distractions. Looking into contemporary fiction, you can focus in on story and character without the distraction of the awesome world building right in your face. The opposite may be true for fantasy. You can study the world building easier because it's so prominent.


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## Svrtnsse (Nov 27, 2013)

I mentioned Tove Jansson earlier. I believe what I've mostly taken away from her writing is the power of association. It's about how short simple easy words can be used for great effect by letting them play with the expectations of the reader. Take the quote below. Look at the red boots.



> “Lie on the bridge and watch the water flowing past. Or run, or wade through the swamp in your red boots. Or roll yourself up and listen to the rain falling on the roof. It's very easy to enjoy yourself.”
> ― Tove Jansson, Moominvalley in November



The red boots makes you think of being a child and being happy about the new shiny boots and splashing through the puddles. They're small words but they bring so much with them. 
Same with "roll yourself up". It doesn't really make any sense - except it does. It conjures images of cuddling under a blanket listening to the rain which in turn brings all kinds of other associations with it. 

I want to do these things too.


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## Matthew Bishop (Jan 7, 2014)

The Life of Pi and The Alchemist are great quick reads outside of fantasy, the former essentially a 300-page metaphor and the latter indecipherable. Definitely recommend them. Life of Pi is more high literary and Alchemist is more adventure


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## Steerpike (Jan 7, 2014)

In the middle of Jane Eyre, which is a great book.


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## psychotick (Jan 8, 2014)

Hi,

If I have influences outside of sci fi and fantasy that influence me probably one of the most powerful would be Catch 22. I really like the way that it shows the unfairness of life in such a brilliantly clever and funny way. I also like the way it leaves you guessing for the longest time as to what'sactually going on. You think the story is travelling in one direction and then all of a sudden your perspective changes.

I'd add in some horror, mainly Koontz, for his characterizations of people. I like his positive outlook on people and their morality. Maybe it's Christian inspired as some say, and maybe he does somewhat overawe me with how enormously over achieving his "average Americans" are, but still there's something to be said for a writer who constantly gives you positive characters.

I mentioned detective before and I do like some Agatha Christie, for the complexity of her plots and her clue leaving. When I've written books with a detective angle to them I like to use her books as a template for sprinkling the clues through them in such a way as to look like nothing and yet suddenly show up as critical at the right moment.

Cheers, Greg.


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