Across 10 practical lessons – each combining a published reading with creative and critical exercises – this is an accessible step-by-step guide to how to read like a writer for inspiration and to improve your craft.

“Reliably insightful.” – Publishers Weekly The first step to becoming a successful writer is to become a successful reader. Helping you develop your critical skills How to Read Like a Writer is an accessible and effective step-by-step guide to how careful reading can help you improve your craft as a creative writer, whatever genre you are writing in. Across 10 lessons – each pairing published readings with practical critical and creative exercises – this book helps writers master such key elements of their craft as: · Genre – from fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry to hybrid genres such as graphic narratives and online forms · Plot, conflict, theme and image · Developing characters – physical descriptions, psychological depths and actions · Narrators and points of view – 1st, 2nd and 3rd person narratives · Scenes and settings – time, space and place · Structure and form – length, organization and media · Language, subtext and style

"Reliably insightful. Those looking to get the most out of their reading experience and get the pen moving should give this a look." - Publishers Weekly

"This is a very interesting, and useful, book. It covers a range of types of writing. ... a worthwhile investment. It's both analytical and readable: two words you don't often find in the same sentence!" - Writers Know-How blog