So I've just finished reading Harry Potter 6, which I delayed getting until this weekend for reasons financial and work-load-y. What strikes me (besides the plot, which I quite like and think is well-done) is how much I approve of the writing style. There are images, yes, but not many. (The depiction of one of Harry's emotions, for instance, is amusingly visual, if seeming slightly out of place with the tone of the rest of the book for me.) It's written with the decisiveness of a children's book, really, of a fairy tale, of mythology. You get details, yes, but not the flamboyant verbosity of Anne Rice, say. Orson Scott Card has this flavor for me, as well - the fairy tale bone structure, with whatever flesh (science fiction, fantasy, etc.) the author feels like adding for plot.

I've noticed, as well, that whatever author I'm reading at the moment comes out in my Storyteller writings. I wrote a section of chapter thirteen last night, and it had those same, tell-tale fairy tale elements. This contrasts with the section of chapter ten I wrote while reading Anne Rice (the ballroom scene), which has far more fun with imagery than actual plot for a good chunk. I imagine this is why a writer reads other writers' works, of course - to learn what feels good story-writing wise, what moves, and what is off-putting.

Or at least, this is what I tell myself when I procrastinate on my creative writing by reading (or re-reading) a particularly good fantasy/sci-fi novel.