Years ago, easily more than ten, I realized that my reading list consisted of the usual offenders. I read only within the genre that made me comfortable. I thought that reading anything besides what I was used to would not provide me with as much pleasure. Then one day, I decided to make an attempt at expanding my horizons.
I’d never read Fantasy novels before. So I ventured down the Fantasy aisle of my nearest bookstore and picked up a copy of Myst, which was pretty much the first thing that caught my eye amidst a sea of fantasy novels. The universe whispered to me, give this one a try. Unbeknownst to me, that book would forever change not only my ideas about various genres, but transform my ideas about writing. You’re probably wondering, writing? How so?
Well, when I am directed by my higher energy source, I listen. Because I know I am being taught something valuable. And in this case, the lesson has been something that has served me for my entire writing life.
Myst is about a race of people who write. But not just any kind of writing. They have special books. These books, when written in by the people, actually create living breathing worlds. I mean real physical worlds that one can enter through touching the cover of the book. Within these worlds, life thrives, including people. But the crux of the story is that the writers must have a full understanding of everything they write into the story, including the ecological system. Because if they lack even the slightest understanding of how the system works, the world and its people can be destroyed because of instability…thereby creating earthquakes and other ecological hazards that could destroy a world.
What I learned from reading this book, which although not an award winning novel of literary stature, was that writing is not something we just wake up one morning and decide to do. It not only takes practice and time, but it takes a real understanding of the world around us, which is what will make the world we create in our work effective, stable and believable.
This is where reading outside our comfort zone comes into play. I read in all fields and genres; science, biology, anthropology, astronomy, philosophy, psychology, and so on…sci-fi, fantasy, intelligent romance, literary, horror, suspense, mystery, etc. It is by reading everything that I have learned to be an effective writer. It is through learning as much as possible about any given thing that I am able to create stable worlds in my novels and shorts stories.
Myst was a great teacher. In a simple way, it taught me a profound lesson. Simply put, I must imagine that what I write is a living world with living, breathing people who are dependent on me for their survival. I am their creator. And as their creator, it is my responsibility to ensure their world does not easily fall apart. So everything I write, I imagine I can touch the book or short story and physically step into the world. When I step in, I must know that if I were to never be able to get out, the culture and ecosystem would not be destroyed because I did not learn what was necessary to create stability. My life and the life of all I’ve created in the work would be dependent on my diligence, knowledge, spiritual and intellectual acuteness.
