Should Writers Read?

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”— Dr. Suess

I love reading. One of my earliest memories is of learning how to read. I have vivid memories of sitting in my kindergarten class and reading from the Dick and Jane books. As I looked at the pictures and learned to read the words it felt like another world was opening up to me. I soon started reading anything I could get my hands on, starting with comic books and storybooks. 

One day I started writing. The first thing I wrote was a story book. I must have been about eight years old. Using a storybook that I really liked as a basis, I wrote one sentence and drew one picture per page. For years I drew my own comic books. In high school I wrote Dr. Who fan fiction and a sword and sorcery short story. 

I eventually stopped writing, but I never completely lost interest. I got back into writing a few years ago. It’s one of the reasons that I started this blog. It helps me write regularly, not just these blog posts but also fiction.

I regularly read books about writing. I also read and post on Reddit in the writing subreddit. One question about writing that I see is, “Should writers read?” The answer seems obvious to me, but I see the question come up regularly. I think it’s essential. I admit that I’m biased when it comes to reading. I think everyone should read, but especially someone who wants to write. Novels, essays, folk tales, poetry, you name it. Even if it’s just for fun you can learn from it. But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s advice from two of my favorite authors. 

“You learn best by reading a lot and writing a lot, the most valuable lessons of all are the ones you teach yourself.” — Stephen King 

“Compulsive diligence is almost enough. But not quite. You have to have a taste for words. Gluttony. You have to want to roll in them. You have to read millions of them written by other people. — John D. MacDonald from his introduction to Stephen King’s Nightshift

The advice from the following writers goes into the how and why. 

“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's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.”

― William Faulkner

“First, read a lot, trying to find a balance between what you love and what you suspect you “should” be reading. The ratio of input (reading) to output (writing), especially early on, should probably be something along the lines of 10:1, maybe even 100:1. You just need to steep yourself in literary language and storytelling/literary techniques. And read reverse-engineering style: don’t just “like” and “dislike” things—try to figure out what exactly it is you're liking and how the writer is creating that effect (whether it be a character, a description, the structure of a scene, etc.). Read like a writer, in other words.”

― Todd Hasak-Lowy

“Read work outside your preferred genre. Whenever I teach an intro to creative writing course most of my students just want to stay in their lane. If they read science fiction or poetry or literary fiction or nonfiction or whatever they want to just read in that genre. That’s BS and it doesn’t help them become better writers. It can be helpful to read within the genre you’re writing to understand the conventions of the form, but ultimately it’s limiting. Reading widely will open you to influences and concepts you might not realize in such a narrow space.” 

— Matt Young 

While I stopped writing for a time, I never stopped reading. For years my preferred genres were science-fiction and fantasy with some historical adventure and crime. Now I read a much wider variety of genres. The change occurred gradually but it started around the time I got more serious about writing. Part of it was the advice I encountered from writers like Stephen King and Ray Bradbury, but part of it was something else. After years of reading the same genres, I was restless and curious about what else was out there.

I’d like to think I’m on the right track. All the advice given above makes sense to me, especially as I attempt to write my own fiction. Now I just need to write more.