The life unread.

As an unpublished author, I feel like I'm not in any position to be giving advice on writing. For the most part, I'll be sticking to providing fuel for creative endeavors. But this is a subject on which I feel comfortable giving advice.

You're not reading enough. As someone who makes a living reading, the experience has strengthened my approach when I switch to the other side of the desk. My best teachers are other writers.

When I read, plot is secondary to the workings of the complex machinery that the author has put to paper. I want to know what about her prose is making me feel a certain way. Or how he captures the nuance of a New York accent. Or why she's turned her back on adverbs. To put it another way, I read like a painter might look at a painting in a gallery. Instead of gazing from a comfortable distance, I'm up close, examining the brush strokes.

Why aren't you reading more books? Blame the internet-connected device you're holding. Put it down and read something. You'll feel better and you'll learn something about how this complex machine runs.