This is K.M. Wyland and you are listening to the 285th episode of the Helping Writers Become Authors Podcast.

While working on a book, some writers prefer to read novels similar to what they're working on.

Some prefer to read books that are very different from what they're working on. Some prefer to read books that are very different from what they're working on.

Some choose not to read at all while writing.

I'm too addicted to my reading to even think of stopping while writing.

Never mind the fact that I feel reading is the single

best thing a writer can do to improve the craft. I've never done much managing of reading at

all in relation to my writing, but right now as I'm working on my Regency

era superhero novel, I'm also reading Charles Dickens' Little Dorit. I'm actually reading

it because of what I'm writing since I have some scenes set in the

Marshall Sleep Prison which features prominently in Little Dorit but I have to say

I'm also benefiting hugely just from the general similarity of time and setting found between Dickens's book and my own.

Dickens is a master author and one of my favorites.

So it has been a daily inspiration to try to glean from his writing and apply the

lessons in my own work in progress. It's inspiring but humbling too. The latest

post in the video series on my blog is find out why your awesome

protagonist is boring readers to death. It talks about the two reasons you may not

be giving a great character enough to do and how to fix the problem to avoid boring readers.

To find the post, visit my site at helping writers become authors.com.

And now I hope you enjoy this week's podcast entitled

Want to know more about the structure of your favorite books and movies and

announcing the story structure database.

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