Is there a greater readership of contemporary writers or are the classics still in as great a demand as they always were?
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It's a fact that classics have to be read with abundant leisure time on your hands. Though the language is sometimes difficult to interpret, like Gilly has said, a budding author may gain a lot of style and technique from reading classics. By asking the question I was merely judging the market open to contemporary writers. I have yet to approach a publisher to submit my manuscript, but from what I gather publishers are tending to be choosy about accepting manuscripts. This fact tends to indicate that maybe books are not that much in demand!!
I have just started a Murdoch Mystery novel by Maureen Jennings. I try my best to read a variety but I have to admit at the moment I seem to be reading historical novels in some form or another.
I have benefited enormously by reading the classics, and traditional poetry. I could list more examples than, Austen, Conrad, James, Eliot, Hardy, the Bronte sisters, and Tennyson. I have learned much from them. They have improved my writing, and I have been greatly enriched in the process.
Traditional authors have specific strengths and weaknesses. However, their weaknesses are few. because they write about what they know. It is what makes them worth reading.
I have also benefited from reading award-winning contemporary authors. Michael Morpurgo, Sharon Creech, Joanne Harris, Malorie Blackman, Geraldine McCaughrean, Anne Fine, and Eva Ibbotson are excellent examples of hugely-successful, and well-respected contemporary authors.
Learn from the best is my advice to budding authors. The only way you can do that is to make sure you read the best traditional and contemporay literature, as well as your other reading material.
I read five or six contemporary novels and then a classic. This ratio has served me well. I also read traditional and contemporary poetry, as I strongly believe poetry aids the creative process.
I believe that you will vastly improve as a writer, if you soak yourself in the best traditional and contemporary literature.
There is a greater readership of contemporary writers, simply because there are more of them. However, the classics have stood the test of time. The classics have always had widespread appeal. They will always be read and talked about. It remains to be seen how many contemporary authors books will be regarded as classics in the future.
It's a fact that classics have to be read with abundant leisure time on your hands. Though the language is sometimes difficult to interpret, like Gilly has said, a budding author may gain a lot of style and technique from reading classics. By asking the question I was merely judging the market open to contemporary writers. I have yet to approach a publisher to submit my manuscript, but from what I gather publishers are tending to be choosy about accepting manuscripts. This fact tends to indicate that maybe books are not that much in demand!!
I have just started a Murdoch Mystery novel by Maureen Jennings. I try my best to read a variety but I have to admit at the moment I seem to be reading historical novels in some form or another.
I have benefited enormously by reading the classics, and traditional poetry. I could list more examples than, Austen, Conrad, James, Eliot, Hardy, the Bronte sisters, and Tennyson. I have learned much from them. They have improved my writing, and I have been greatly enriched in the process.
Traditional authors have specific strengths and weaknesses. However, their weaknesses are few. because they write about what they know. It is what makes them worth reading.
I have also benefited from reading award-winning contemporary authors. Michael Morpurgo, Sharon Creech, Joanne Harris, Malorie Blackman, Geraldine McCaughrean, Anne Fine, and Eva Ibbotson are excellent examples of hugely-successful, and well-respected contemporary authors.
Learn from the best is my advice to budding authors. The only way you can do that is to make sure you read the best traditional and contemporay literature, as well as your other reading material.
I read five or six contemporary novels and then a classic. This ratio has served me well. I also read traditional and contemporary poetry, as I strongly believe poetry aids the creative process.
I believe that you will vastly improve as a writer, if you soak yourself in the best traditional and contemporary literature.
There is a greater readership of contemporary writers, simply because there are more of them. However, the classics have stood the test of time. The classics have always had widespread appeal. They will always be read and talked about. It remains to be seen how many contemporary authors books will be regarded as classics in the future.