You ARE Reading, Aren't You? 5 Steps to a "Career" Reading List

There are a lot of folks out there blogging about what NOT to do. “Top 5 Mistakes New Writers Make.” “Top 30 Ways New Writers Fail to Engage on Page One.”  “Top 100 Things You Don’t Know about Querying Agents.” The list goes on.
 
My point is, with all this expert testimony out there, we are bound to find some common threads, and in fact, we do. One of the most prevalent is the admonition to new writers to keep reading. If you are writing genre fiction, you’ve got to know what’s selling.
 
“But you told me not to waste time!” you protest. “I don’t have time to read!” Au contraire, Pierre. Your brain needs fuel. Writing burns fuel, and reading replenishes it. You have time before bed, or while you’re driving (I am an audio book junkie), right? Put away the fashion mags, and keep at least one book in process at all times.
 
“But I’m afraid my writing will start sounding like some other published writer!” You should be so lucky. We are all of us influenced by everything we’ve ever seen or done or heard or read or tasted. We cannot control the composition of all our influences (Into every life, some boring people must enter. And stay, and stay...). What we can do is to make certain our mental diet includes some critical nourishment every day.
 
Don’t fear the writing of others. Let it inform you. Allow the ideas, voice and pacing of successful writers to wash over you. It may be that things they do differently from you are things you don’t like. Great! That’s a super discovery that informs your writing. But it may just be that some of those successful authors actually know a thing or two. Just saying.
 
So we’re going to read. But since time, as ever, is scarce, we need a plan. Be efficient; be selective. Here is my 5-Point Guide to Building A “Career” Reading List:

• The LATEST best seller in your genre.
  
  
• The FIRST breakthrough novel in a successful series. What got them to the ‘inside’? Let’s avoid the tedious discussion about how frustrated we all are when a favorite author begins ‘phoning it in’. If that’s true, then why waste time reading Installment #17? You want to crackle with originality, not produce 300 pages of derivative soggy laundry.
  
  
• A recent best seller in ANOTHER GENRE. Remember, potential agents and publishers are looking at all sorts of fiction and non-fiction. You should, too. Good writing has more in common than it has differences, regardless of the subject matter.
  
  
• Something totally different to cleanse the palate. How about something under 300 pages from the Pulitzer Prize winners and Honorable Mentions of the last 10 years?  The danger here is that you run the risk of being both enchanted and swearing you will never write another sentence as long as you live. It’s still worth it.
  
  
• Lather, rinse, repeat.

 
Organize your reading just as you have organized all other aspects of your writing life. Everything you do informs your writing, so shouldn't you make the most of everything you do?