“If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

- Stephen King

To write well, there are only two things you absolutely must do: read and write. Everything else will flow from these two activities, which are essentially yin and yang. Without each other, reading and writing cannot exist. They rely on one another. They are two parts of a greater whole.

Writing is a complex and complicated skill. While basic writing skills can be taught, it's impossible to teach the art of fine writing. It is possible to learn, but this learning is only fully achieved through reading.

The human brain is like a sponge. We soak up everything we observe and experience throughout our lives, and each thing we are exposed to becomes part of the very fiber of our beings. What we read is no exception.

You may not be able to recite all the Mother Goose nursery rhymes you read as a child, but they’re still somewhere in that head of yours. When a little voice whispers Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, there’s a good chance you’ll recall Jack jumped over a candlestick. You absorbed that nursery rhyme many years ago, and it remains with you always.

If you want to write well, you must read well, and you must read widely. Through reading you will gain knowledge and you will find inspiration. As you read more, you will learn to read with a writer's eye. Even grammar sinks in when you read. If you’re worried about memorizing all the rules of grammar, then just read books written by adept writers. Eventually, it all will become part of your mental makeup.

A well-read writer has a better handle on vocabulary, understands the nuances of language, and recognizes the difference between poor and quality writing.

A writer who doesn't read is like a musician who doesn't listen to music or a filmmaker who doesn't watch movies. It is impossible to do good work without experiencing the good work that has been done.

All the grammar guides, writing tips, and books on writing will not make you a better writer if you never read. Reading is just as crucial as writing, if not more so, and the work you produce will only be as good as the work you read.

What is the Difference Between Good Writing and Bad Writing?

Strengths and weaknesses in a written work can be wide and varied. The ideas can be groundbreaking while the prose is dull. The work can be technically adept, demonstrating mastery of the language (grammar, spelling, and punctuation), but the story uninteresting.

Good writing is subjective. One person's favorite novel is another person's least favorite, and that same novel could be considered one of the greatest classics in the literary canon. Meanwhile, a current bestseller might be mocked by critics despite the fact that millions of readers have fallen in love with it.

Some readers prefer stories that say something about the human condition. Others like a story packed with adventure or romance. Some won't bother with works that aren't written in a literary style, while others don't care about the language as long as the information is solid or the story is entertaining.

Ultimately, you get to decide what types of writing speak to you and which types of writing you will read and write yourself.

However, if you want to produce quality work, it’s essential to read material that is mechanically sound. It's also necessary to explore variety in the work you read.

Looking for Good Books

It's impossible to read everything. We have to pick and choose, but how do we do so when there are so many books to choose from? Do we look at the market and read what's selling? Do we turn to the reviewers and award winners? Consumer ratings online?

There are no rules. You'll find that your friend’s list of favorite books includes your favorite book but also includes your least favorite book. A reviewer might applaud a book you couldn’t finish because it was so boring. You might love a book that has hardly any reviews online. It’s all a matter of taste.

To discover your personal taste in writing, you should test all the waters—read a few bestsellers, check out some of the classics, and pick up a couple of prizewinners. Explore different forms (essays, poetry, short stories, novels) and various genres (science fiction, mysteries, historical fiction).

And listen to the fans.

It's easy to go online and look through reviews to find out what others think of a piece of writing. Sites like Amazon and Goodreads allow users and consumers to rate and review books. The consumer reviews often reveal just how differently one piece of writing can affect different people. A single book will have a range of ratings from one star to five stars and reviews that range from utter distaste to complete satisfaction.

I have found that consumer reviews are reliable if you cast a wide net. I like to see a lot of five-star ratings on a book, but I also check the lower ratings to see what people are griping about. If they don't like a character or think the plot was too fantastical, I might decide to find out for myself. If they complain that the text was full of typos and poorly structured sentences, with a plot that had no clear conclusion, I might find something else to read.

Many online bookstores offer also-bought lists. When you visit a page for a book that you enjoyed, you can see which titles other people who read that book also bought. That’s a good way to get a lead on similar types of stories.

Another option for finding good reading material is to rely on reviews from critics. The Internet has given rise to critics who have not studied literature, which is something to keep in mind. If critics have read books only from their favorite genres or from the bestseller list, they are not widely read. That doesn't invalidate their opinions, but it limits their experience.

On the other hand, some critics are a little too well read. Their expectations are so high that only a scant few books earn their approval. There's nothing wrong with high standards, but often these critics forget that a book's strengths can more than make up for its weaknesses.

When looking at reviews, try to find critics who have similar tastes to your own. You should be able to peruse their past reviews to see what other books they did or didn’t like and determine whether their preferences match yours.

Magazines have always published “best” lists: “The Best Way to Lose Weight,” “The Ten Best Films of All Time,” “The Best Way to Save Money,” etc. With the Internet, these lists have exploded and now appear on almost every website. If you're looking for a good book or other reading material, be wary when you shop from these kinds of lists. Always check the source. Is it some unknown blogger who has posted his or her favorite books and labeled them as the best of the best? Is it a list of most profitable books? For what year? All time? Is it a list of books that have withstood the test of time or books that are popular in classrooms? Award winners? The word best is used for a variety of purposes, although another word would often be far more accurate. Still, these lists can be hugely helpful in finding books that will appeal to you.

If you are already a fan of a particular author, read other books by that author, and if you can find out which authors your favorite authors enjoy reading, then you will probably hit the jackpot and find a treasure trove of reading material that you’ll like. This is true for films and music as well. Find out what books, movies, and music your favorite artists love and then check them out. A fun part of this is seeing the source of inspiration for artists you admire.

Quick Tips for Identifying Good Writing

While many qualities of writing are subjective, there are some standard characteristics that universally constitute good writing:

·      Professional writing is not peppered with typos, poor grammar, and frequent misspellings

·      Good writing doesn’t confuse the reader. If concepts that should be straightforward barely make sense, there’s a clarity problem.

·      A well-organized piece of writing flows smoothly from one scene or idea to the next.

·      The narrative has a clear, consistent, and distinct voice, which matches the tone and subject matter.

·      Sentences are properly structured, words are used correctly, and the vocabulary is robust.

·      In nonfiction, the work and its author should have established credibility, and in fiction, even if the story is fantastical, it must be believable.

Reading Widely

“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.”

- William Faulkner

We are like mirrors. We reflect back into the world all that we have taken in. If you mostly read textbooks, your writing will be dry and informative. If you read torrid romance novels, your prose will tend toward lusty descriptions. Read the classics and your work will sound mature. Read poetry and your work will be fluid and musical.

It's important to read technically adept writing so you don't pick up bad grammar habits, but what about voice and style, word choice and sentence structure? What about story and organization? How does what we read influence the more subtle aspects of our writing?

If you know exactly what kind of writer you want to be, you’re in luck. Your best bet is to read a lot within your favorite genre. Find authors that resonate with your sensibility and read all their books.

At the same time, you don’t want to rope yourself off from experiencing a wide range of styles. You might like high literature and want to pen the next Pulitzer-Prize-winning work of fiction. You should read the classics, of course, but don’t completely avoid the bestsellers. There’s a mentality among some writers that you should read only that which you want to write. It’s hogwash. Reading outside your chosen area of specialty will diversify and expand your skills, and you’ll be equipped to bring new techniques and methods into your craft. If you so choose, you’ll even be able to cross genre lines.

Everybody should read the classics, but why? The most obvious reason is that these works have withstood the test of time. Jane Austen, for example, has a huge and active fan base even though she wrote in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Why are people so passionate about her work a hundred years later?

Another reason to read the classics is to engage in thoughtful discussions. When writers discuss their craft, they rarely use contemporary examples as a basis unless they're in a book club. That’s because it’s likely whoever they’re talking to hasn't read the same contemporary books that they have. It's a vast market, and while some tight-knit reading and writing groups have a shared literary collection to draw from, when we discuss works in a broader setting, such as on a panel, in an interview, or to a blog audience, we cannot assume that everyone (or anyone) in the group has read the same modern books we have. It’s more likely that we’ve all read a few of the classics; they provide us with common ground because many of us read the same books as school assignments and many of these classics are so often referenced, mentioned, and discussed that we read them out of sheer curiosity, to see what all the fuss is about.

Lots of young and new writers complain about the classics. They don’t want to waste time reading anything they don't love because there are so many appealing books to read. The stuff they like to read never wins awards and they don't want to be members of the literati. They want to wind their way through a good mystery novel or let their imaginations take flight on a space adventure. Or maybe they want to get intimate with a bit of romance. These genres rarely end up as classics. You'll find them on bestseller lists, but not on critics' must-read lists. In a hundred years, it's unlikely anyone will still be reading them.

And many writers insist they should not have to suffer through the complex and dated language of Shakespeare or endure a book just because a bunch of academics has declared it brilliant. They know what they like to read, and classics don't qualify.

It's good for a writer to know where he or she stands in the sea of literary categories. While I appreciate fine craftsmanship and have greatly enjoyed many classics and literary works, I also have great admiration for writers who want to write for regular people. You know, people who just like to read and be entertained by a good story. I think this is a grounded and down-to-earth approach, and some of my favorite books have never won awards or been taught in a classroom.

But we should not dismiss such works just because they don't encompass what we ourselves want to write.

The literary elites and critics may turn their noses up at some really fun stories, but they have made it their life's work to analyze and dissect written work and to pass judgment on it. Their word isn't law, but it is reliable and there is a lot of work in the literary canon that will teach you about what constitutes good writing. Does that mean you should spend the next two years reading your way through Shakespeare’s entire repertoire? No. But you should try to work in a few classics and literary works each year, so you can gain an intuitive understanding of what types of stories and styles of writing enter the cultural canon for the long haul.

And it's true—the literary elites can be overbearing with their harsh judgments, highbrow tastes, and disdain for the common fare that is usually found on the bestseller lists and in the genre sections of any bookstore. But they know their stuff. They can identify a good turn of phrase and can pontificate on why another phrase is just lame. They are especially attuned to the richness of language and to stories that address the human condition. If you don't know why they gush at Austen but laugh at Twilight, then go read their arguments. You'll find that they have sound reasoning, even if you don't agree with it.

If you want to be a science-fiction writer, then by all means, stock your shelves with loads of sci-fi. Buy out the science-fiction section in your local bookstore. But don't seal yourself in a box, otherwise your work will become trite. If you're too immersed in a particular genre, your writing will feel formulaic and not in a good way. You'll end up playing by all the genre rules (and this is a key reason why much genre work is ignored by academics and the literary elite—it's too focused on catering to its genre and not focused enough on good storytelling). For example, do we need another epic fantasy with names that nobody can pronounce and that are oddly strewn with apostrophes? No, I don’t think we do.

So yes, you should concentrate on your genre, but don't cut yourself off from the rest of literature. You should read a few books outside your genre each year and make sure you toss in some of those classics for good measure.

Just for Writers

Every time I hear someone say that books about writing are useless, I cringe, and not because I myself write about writing. I think it's fantastic that some writers can sit down and compose a masterpiece having learned the craft solely through reading novels or poetry.

But some of us like to approach our craft more methodically. Most of what I learn in books about writing are things I already know, but not consciously. And I've picked up tons of tips and techniques about the writing process that I otherwise never would have discovered.

For example, I tried writing several novels over the course of a few years. I researched, outlined, and promptly abandoned each project in search of a more exciting idea. What was killing my enthusiasm was the absence of mystery. Once I had a detailed outline and knew what was going to happen, the magic was gone and I lost interest in writing the rest of the book.

It was through reading a book on writing (No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty) that I learned about discovery writing (which is often called pantsing, as in writing by the seat of your pants). It seemed incredible to me that a writer could sit down and draft a novel with no notes, no outline, just a couple of characters. But nothing else had worked, so I gave it a try. And finally, I finished the first draft of an entire novel.

I don't think it's healthy to bury your nose in books and articles about writing and never come up for air. If you get too immersed in studying the craft and the industry, you'll get locked into the dream cycle: you'll talk and fantasize about becoming a writer and, in fact, you'll know everything there is to know about being a writer, but you won't actually be writing.

However, a few key resources on the craft are essential for any writer’s development. Be sure to acquire and read books on the craft for your own personal library.

The Eye of the Writer

One of the most important skills a writer can develop is the ability to read critically. Writers must learn to view what we read through writers' goggles.

It's easy to kick back and read an entertaining novel. If we're reading a good story, we'll be intrigued and captivated. Often, we relax so much when we're reading that we enter a state of leisure. But to read with a writer's eye means to read with special awareness, to read actively.

There are various things that a writer should be able to notice in a written work, things that the average, non-writing reader might overlook. A writer should be able to catch typos, obviously. But he or she should also be able to pick up on the subtler elements of a work.

I'm always intrigued, for example, by character names. I don't always pay close attention to them, but I often wonder how the author managed to choose such perfect monikers for the characters. Names fascinate me so deeply that I once wrote an entire essay analyzing the names of characters in the book Tuck Everlasting. My essay explained the deeper meanings that the names implied. My instructor said she'd never realized character names had deeper meanings. She was a professor of literature at the college I attended. I was a creative-writing major.

This highlights the fact that writers simply start to look at writing differently than readers do, even the most intelligent or well-read readers.

As a writer, you should be able to follow the flow of a story. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Can you pinpoint the transitions between these three phases?

There's something about a good book that evokes an emotional response from readers. They become attached to the characters. Throughout history, people have referred to books and their characters as friends. Just think of how much people love Harry Potter. It’s almost as if he were a real person. That’s superb writing—getting the audience to feel so deeply for a character. When a writer reads, he or she should look for techniques that other authors have used to engage the reader's emotions.

One of the most important things you can read for is voice. This is one element of great writing that is impossible to teach or even learn. It happens with practice and experience. As you read, you’ll notice that each writer has a distinct voice, one that makes his or her work recognizable. If you read enough of an author’s work, you’ll probably be able to pick that author out of a quotation lineup (I had to take that test in college).

As we read, we look for these details in well-crafted texts. How did the author make such astute word choices? What made the story emotionally compelling? How were the sentences and paragraphs structured to flow smoothly? As you read, you’ll learn lots of tricks and techniques for great writing.

But the most important aspect you read for is the one that's troubling you.

Let's say you write creative nonfiction, but you have a hard time organizing your material into digestible chunks. This is not uncommon. Often, when people become experts (which hopefully has occurred prior to writing a book about any subject), they see the subject matter so holistically that it doesn't seem possible to separate the various elements. For some writers, the writing process is a free flow. Going through and organizing a manuscript that contains tens of thousands of words of freely written prose is a daunting task indeed.

But if you've read a lot of nonfiction books, you can see how other writers have broken down massive amounts of information for easier reading. You will also discover some who have found clever ways of tying everything together, even though it's all been separated.

There are many other things you can look for when you’re reading as a writer. Search for story elements that excite you or intrigue you and examine them closely. Always be on the lookout for those aspects of writing that give you difficulty. Studying how other writers address these issues will give you great insight.

Reading for Knowledge and Inspiration

There is an added benefit to reading that cannot be overlooked. By reading, you will accumulate vast amounts of knowledge and inspiration.

For centuries, books have been hailed as dispensers of knowledge. Written works have also been credited with providing writers and other artists with a wellspring of inspiration. The greatest writers throughout history have proudly declared that they do not borrow ideas from other writers: they steal.

In many ways, writers are the keepers of knowledge and information. More accurately, they are the distributors of knowledge and information.

Whatever we write, knowledge is the foundation upon which we shape our ideas. Whether we're telling a made-up story or giving an account of a real event, the facts we gather and the experiences we accumulate constitute our knowledge and make their way into our written work.

In nonfiction, the need for research is obvious. One must have the facts if one is to write about the facts. Yet in fiction, and poetry too, the knowledge we gain from reading rears its head and swims through our prose and verse.

For example, if you write a story, it is set in a particular place. The characters won’t have the same life experience or career that you have. Questions will arise and you will need to conduct research in order to answer them. Much of this knowledge you will intuitively possess from being well read. Let’s say you’re writing a scene that’s set on a beach but you've never been to the seaside. If you've perused articles about the beach, read novels set in beach towns, and soaked up poetry that describes the ocean and sandy shores, you’ll be fairly knowledgeable about your setting.

Which is why so many passionate readers declare that through books they've made friends (characters), had adventures, and traveled to distant shores. Books (and art in general) give us knowledge that is as close to real experience as we can get. So until virtual reality evolves and is available for mass consumption, reading is where we turn for knowledge and experience by proxy.

Finally, one of the greatest benefits that comes from avid reading is inspiration. Of course, there is plenty of real-life inspiration all around us. Inspiration often comes from our personal thoughts and experiences: our first kiss or our first heartbreak, our first experience with death, our world view and belief system.

Sometimes inspiration comes spontaneously, seemingly out of nowhere, which is why artists find it so curious and assign it all sorts of mythological origins, such as the muses.

One of the most overlooked sources of inspiration is art itself—paintings, photos, sculptures, films, music, and dance.

But books offer a special kind of inspiration. Books, stories, articles, and essays will spark ideas and inspire you to write. In fact, many writers make it a point to read for a bit before their scheduled writing sessions because reading ignites their passion, filling them with ideas and making them want to write.

The Aversion to Reading

"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."

- Joseph Brodsky

So, why are some would-be writers so averse to reading?

Writers are famous mostly among readers and other writers. They rarely attain vast wealth, and though a lucky few receive honors and awards, they almost never reach the levels of success that we see music and film celebrities achieve. It’s not as though being a writer is glamorous. Why anyone who doesn't read or doesn't enjoy reading would want to become a writer is curious indeed.

Perhaps non-readers want to write because they have stories to tell. Maybe they have ideas to share or knowledge to impart. They don't care about writing or reading; they just want to transfer the contents of their own minds to other people.

How can such persons assume their ideas are interesting or publishable if they are not reading? If a person wants to write a book about baseball, he should read books about baseball lest he discover his book has already been written by someone else. If another person wants to write a novel but refuses to read novels, she runs the risk of telling a poorly constructed story, never mind one that has already been told. Storytelling is a craft, and few people are born with the gift. Most of us learn it by reading.

There's no good argument against reading, and there is a book for everyone. I've long held the philosophy that people who don't like to read just haven't found the right book yet. And a writer who doesn't read is an oxymoron.

Books have been cherished by the greatest thinkers and leaders throughout history. They are gateways to the imagination, fountains of knowledge, and a way for people to connect emotionally and intellectually.

A writer who doesn't read is disconnected from his or her audience. Such a writer cannot possibly understand the experience that he or she is creating.

Questions

·      Who are your favorite authors? What is it about their work that you admire?

·      Do you have a preference for certain genres? What are your favorite books? Why do they appeal to you more than others?

·      Have you ever put down a book without finishing it? Do you finish books even when you’re not enjoying them? What was it about them that you didn’t like?

Activities

·      Keep a reading journal: Include the title and author, dates you started and finished the book, and a few words about what you liked or didn’t like about it.

·      Sign up for Goodreads: Goodreads is a social networking site for bookworms. You can use it to keep a reading journal (it tracks book titles, authors, start and finish dates of books you read, and more). You can also use Goodreads to connect with other readers and find books that you’re likely to enjoy.

·      Rate and review books you read: This is a great way to help authors who you want to support. Leaving a five-star (or high) rating and a positive review helps authors sell more books, and more sales enable those authors to write and publish more books. The act of writing reviews also helps you articulate what you liked about a book.