Thread: reading to improve writing

Several times I have seen people recommend reading to improve their writing, I feel it has probably contributed to mine. But it is not an infallible remedy, one must read authors who write well and also be willing to develop a critical ability, to look deeper than the superficial story.
Then I saw someone told that it would improve their spelling and understanding of meanings and I thought, "No, hang on, I learned that doing crosswords, and I had been reading for years before I started them".
I think reading can help give a "feel" for language, it is certainly important for spreading ideas, but is it somewhat overrated as an exercise for writers?

Definitely not. It's the most important thing, save for writing, an author can do. If more people would read, we wouldn't have to endure the horrible grammar on social networking sites and video-upload sites and practically every other site in existence.

Reading helps you learn syntax, how to incorporate tension and suspense, and how to say something without actually saying it. It helps you become a better writer by showing you how to write. Of course you need to read well-written books, though. That's a given.

Now, if you'd asked me whether it was more important than writing . . . that would be another question entirely.

Hi, Olly...on another thread, I was expressing my surprise that my lifelong reading habit hasn't immediately translated into exceptional fiction writing skills. PageOfCups gave me an excellent reason why, which seems applicable to your post. My emphasis in bold:

Originally Posted by PageOfCups

Reading helps, it leads by example, but you need to practise to improve at anything. Nobody ever became an amazing musician by just listening to music and writing is the same.

To me they are about equal. Both are needed in heavy doses for a person to become effective as a writer.

It is, for example, obvious that some of the writers for a certain wire service are not readers. I would never have submitted the kind of sloppily written items that I see nearly every day, and the editors of 40 years ago would never have accepted them if I had. There was a level of pride in those days that would not allow us to turn in anything that was not up to the mark.

I will add, though, that being a lifelong reader helps me clearly see my own writing can stand a lot of improvement. Good to know before embarrassing myself by showing it to others - or submitting it for publication.

You need to read well to write well. This is a definite fact. I stopped reading for a long time because of depression (disinterest in things you used to enjoy is a symptom, as well as an inability to concentrate), and I stopped being able to write description well; everything was coming into my head like a movie or a television show (which my story all became more suited for than something in an actual book).

This is one of the many, many reasons a person needs to read a lot to write a lot (about a book a week should do it).

I will add, though, that being a lifelong reader helps me clearly see my own writing can stand a lot of improvement. Good to know before embarrassing myself by showing it to others - or submitting it for publication.

Really? I have the exact opposite reaction to reading most books. I usually either wince or start laughing at how bad the writing is, then saying to myself, "I can totally do better than this!"

Most books make me want to write; only some books make me want to write just as well as the author.

James

Originally Posted by Invision

Really? I have the exact opposite reaction to reading most books. I usually either wince or start laughing at how bad the writing is, then saying to myself, "I can totally do better than this!"

Yeah, I should have clarified that my favorite authors are long dead. Like Flannery O'Connor, Steinbeck, Jack London, Sinclair Lewis, Flaubert. But I will tell you this, I had the reaction you describe above after reading the Twilight books...and then discovered to my horror that my first attempt at fiction writing was even worse. To say it was humbling is an understatement. Thus, the title of my recent post, "I will never criticize bad writing ever again."

Originally Posted by Stephanie J.

Yeah, I should have clarified that my favorite authors are long dead. Like Flannery O'Connor, Steinbeck, Jack London, Sinclair Lewis, Flaubert. But I will tell you this, I had the reaction you describe above after reading the Twilight books...and then discovered to my horror that my first attempt at fiction writing was even worse. To say it was humbling is an understatement. Thus, the title of my recent post, "I will never criticize bad writing ever again."

Ah. I've never felt that criticizing bad writing was a hypocritical thing for me to do, simply because I criticize my own writing (and, even if I don't, it's still bad). A lot of the time, giving critiques to other writers helps them out, too (to show them flaws in their story and writing style), and, in general, I see it as a good thing, because you know what is good and what is bad in writing if you do that.

That isn't saying that getting annoying and whiny over things is a good thing ("OMG TWILIGHT WAS SO AWFUL IT'S THE WORST BOOK I'VE EVER READ OMG OMG OMG I HATE IT SO MUCH T_T" is not a good reaction), but recognizing the good and the bad in things is always beneficial.

James

Olly, I'm going the lazy man's way, of letting someone else do the work: next time you're in Foyle's, grab yourself a copy of Stephen King's On Writing. The paperback edition will only set you back a couple of quid. He has an excellent section on why writers should read.