"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