By Ratika Deshpande
Some of the best writing I’ve done has been about the work of other writers. I’ve read their stories and compiled them into themed recommendation lists; I’ve written personal essays and deep dives into books that I couldn’t stop thinking about. It’s work that I’ve both enjoyed and am very proud of, and I think more of us should be writing about other people’s writing. Here’s why:
Learn the craft
To write about a story, essay, poem, etc., the first thing you have to do is (re)read it closely. A single read may be enough to write a short description of the plot or the main theme. But if you’re going deeper, you’ll have to read it several times, taking notes, annotating the text as you go.
Such close reading requires asking questions: What’s so great (or not) about this piece–are the descriptions short but vivid? Is the dialogue hilarious? Perhaps it’s the way the author has weaved the past and the present together? Or how the narrator’s experiences provide a new lens from which to view your own past?
Examining these elements helps you see what craft advice—“show, don’t tell,” “there must be a change in the protagonist,” etc.—looks like in practice. Reading a lot and reading widely teaches your brain to absorb the rhythms of language (especially when it’s not your mother tongue), discover the various narrative structures that are possible, and locate common themes and tropes. You’ll be able to study the components that make a piece work—or leave something to be desired, which you’ll then know to avoid in your own writing.
Identify what you love and hate–identify your inspirations
Relatedly, you’ll be able to identify what are the things that you enjoy reading in a story or poem, and what are the elements that make you put the book away. For example, I don’t really enjoy stories written in the second person (although there are rare exceptions) or excessive expletives in the dialogue or narration. I do enjoy descriptions of food and cities, and reading essays about the history of interesting people, especially writers.
Over time, I’ve been able to curate a personal list of the books, stories, and essays that I wish I’d written. Every time I feel stuck or have a crisis about what kind of a writer I want to be, I look at this list, and think, I’d like to write about a scholarly character like Isabella, or a children’s book that is about mice and stories and soup.
We can’t make the exact same stories and poems, but in trying to put the things we love into our writing, we can definitely move towards making something new. Or at the very least, something we enjoyed writing.
Lift each other up
One of the best things about writing about other people’s work is that it reduces the jealousy and competitiveness we might feel. When I read an excellent story or essay, I find myself immediately sharing it with other readers or writing about it in my diary. I gush about the details or the research or the prose or the ending, adding in a lot of exclamation points. In other words–I celebrate the writing and marvel at the writer’s ability to create such work. I wish I could write like them, I think, but always with admiration and never with jealousy.
And I don’t have to make a conscious effort to avoid that jealousy—when the work is good, the appreciation comes naturally. (This is not to say that I also don’t add in any criticism.)
Because I write about others’ work, I have to read more, and reading more means that the really good stuff stands out from the rest, leading to that natural appreciation.
And when that love comes organically, it’s also easier to write about it. The writing flows.
Turn your appreciation into reviews, criticism, or essays
We can certainly show our love for someone’s writing by sharing links on our blogs and social media, with a brief paragraph of commentary. But sometimes, some pieces of art compel us to go in depth when writing about them. This writing can take the form of a review, a piece of criticism, or even a personal or a reported essay about your and other people’s relationship with the work, which you can then pitch or submit to magazines.
In other words, writing about others’ work can help you do some good work of your own.
Find more good art
When you share what you like, people will in turn recommend you similar stuff. Every time I’ve made a recommendation to the members of my book club or published a themed list of stories, people have pointed me to other works that have similar themes or forms–stories I wouldn’t have discovered otherwise. We find something to fangirl about together, which is one of the best parts of being a reader.
Be an active literary citizen
Consider these lines from Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
Writing about other people’s work is an act of literary citizenship. We may be physically alone when we write and read, but the joy of reading and writing comes from buying and borrowing books, sharing recommendations, and providing criticism and feedback. All of these build on each other so that we can help each other tell better stories, support those who make books and share them (authors, bookstores, librarians, reviewers), and make sure that, all over the world, stories survive.
Reading list
What are some good examples of writing about other people’s work? Below are some articles and essays that have inspired me when appreciating and writing about books and stories:
- “You Could Use the Exercise” by Simon Reader
- “In This Essay I Will: On Distraction” by David Schurman Wallace
- “Comfort in Quarantine: On Going Deeper Into the Solitude of Books” by Jaime Fuller
- “Love Letters as Poetry” by Janette Ayachi
- “Tell Me a Differently Shaped Story: SFF That Plays With Form” by Molly Templeton
- “Creativity vs. Control: Bridge to Terabithia, The Boy and the Heron, and A.I. “Art”” by Wendy Xu
Ratika Deshpande is a writer from India. Her work has appeared in Authors Publish, Reactor Magazine, the Brevity Blog, and other platforms. You can support her writing here.
