I’ve been working through Gabriela Periera’s DIY MFA program. One of the chapters of her DIY MFA book discusses “Reading like a writer”. This includes making a structured list of books geared towards your current Work in Progress (WIP). Here’s my current in-progress list:

1. Competitive Books – Your WIP’s nearest competitors. This was a little difficult to select because I’m currently uncertain of the age-range of my book. I went with upper middle grade/younger YA for the time being, although I may ultimately end up writing a “clean” book for adults.
   • Keeper of the Lost Cities, Shannon Messenger
   • Jinxed, Ann McCulloch
   • Skyward, Brandon Sanderson
2. Contextual Books – Put your WIP into “context,” or that help with writing your book.
   • Latinas in Aviation, Jacqueline Ruiz
   • Flying Free, Cecilia Ellis
   • Wonder, R. J. Palacio
   • Fixing My Gaze, Susan Barry
3. Contemporary Books – Specific for your age group/genre
   • The Unteachables, Gordan Korman
   • Legendborn, Tracy Deonn
   • Enola Holmes, Nancy Springer
4. Classic Books – Specific for your age group/genre
   • Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
   • Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin
   • Earthsea, Ursula Le Guin

I’ve struggled a bit to read KotLC like a “writer” because I keep getting sucked into the story. I appreciate the structure of those books in terms of writing about a student in a magical school (as I am using a similar trope). There are some aspects of the book that remind me a bit of Harry Potter and that I won’t replicate, however. Messenger’s dialogue has also been very useful in terms of helping me learn about the craft.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Sanderson, but that book is closest to mine in terms of topic. I’m listening to it on Audible for that reason.

I’ve loved the exposition in Enola Holmes. I find her writing very cleverly done.

That’s all for today! Thanks for reading.