Want To Be a Better Writer? Be a Better Reader.
Are you longing to be the next literary phenomenon? Do you dream of following in the footsteps of great authors like Margaret Atwood, John Grisham, or Alice Walker? Do you hope to be in a bookstore one day and see a shelf dedicated to your latest novel? Well, hold tight, because I’m about to let you in on the secret behind great writing: being a voracious reader!
Now, before we go any further, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. It is the “just write” method; the theory that simply having a daily habit of writing over and over again will naturally cause us to get better. But, in what world does repeating something exactly the same way we’ve always done it result in improvement?
Despite what you may have heard, writing doesn’t morph into better writing simply because you make time to sit in a small room, hovering over your desk, day after day, waiting for inspiration to strike. You are welcome to try it, and you will probably get an idea eventually, but the four walls of your home office probably aren’t exactly titillating. And, while holed up in your little writer’s cave, pecking away at your keyboard, trying to stay awake with caffeine and sheer willpower, you may find yourself hating the process.
At the end of the day, we must ask ourselves: does laboring through the writing process in this manner actually better our abilities over time? Or do we simply find ourselves repeating the same errors, walking the same paths over and over, wearing them down until we can’t see past the blank page sitting in front of us. Luckily, there is an easier and more enjoyable way to develop your skills.
The idea that reading and writing is connected is not new. As a teacher, I saw very early on that my best writers (and spellers) were also strong readers. Additionally, I noted that as students grew in their reading skills, their writing skills naturally followed. This was so much of a certainty that when I had parents seek advice on how to help their children with writing or spelling, I always recommended a greater focus on reading.
Author Pam Allyn once said, “Reading is like breathing in, and writing is like breathing out.”
Novelist William Faulker, an author studied by students for decades, called for writers to, “Read, read, read. Read everything - trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”
Katherine Paterson, a writer with over 40 published books (including Bridge to Terabithia) said, “Read, because that’s the way you learn how the language works. That’s the way you learn about emotion, on paper. That’s how you find out how stories are fastened, by reading and reading and reading.”
I think they pretty much said it all, but just in case you are still on the fence, let’s go a little deeper and lay out all the ways that reading can revolutionize you as a writer:
Reading exposes you to different writing styles and positively impacts your vocabulary.
Reading helps you make less errors in your writing. You may not be a grammar whiz, but you will be able to recognize when something is incorrect because you have seen it done correctly in all the books you have read.
Reading can foster empathy depending on the books you choose. By reading books about diverse populations of people in a variety of genres, you open your world up to new perspectives and widen your understanding of others.
Reading makes you more knowledgeable. And knowledge helps you be a more precise and detailed writer. Because you know more, you can share more.
Reading can give you inspiration and direction, particularly if you decide to focus on authors in a genre similar to your own. It is an opportunity to learn from the masters, and do something you enjoy at the same time.
And last, but certainly not least, reading helps with stress and can be the key to a better night of sleep if you time it right. By trading in your endless social media scrolling habit for an hour of reading before you turn off the light, you are very likely to find yourself waking up more rested than ever when that morning alarm signals the start of another day. No more nodding off while you are writing. Instead you will be wide awake and brimming with new ideas!
So, if you didn’t already pick up on it, the overall message here is, if you want to become a better writer, read. And then read some more.
Happy writing!
