I hope we all realise it's important to read current issues of any magazines we wish to submit to, in order to get a feeling for the kind of thing readers want and expect. The same thing applies with books. Of course we don't always have to do what's expected, but it's helpful to know whether our idea is something fresh and new, or has already been done to death.
Some writers don't like to read while creating fresh stories as they worry they'll be too strongly influenced. The answer is to read outside your genre or market at those times. By reading widely and thoughtfully, we'll learn a lot. If something stops you reading, or confuses or annoys us, we might want to work ot what the problem is so we can be sure to avoid it in our own writing.
There's a lot more to reading than research though. It broadens our vocabulary, introduces us to new ideas, gives us distance from our own writing (and worries) and is generally very enjoyable.
This tip was brought to you by Patsy Collins. Her short story collection Keep It In The Family is FREE to download until 7th December.
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