One cannot be a great writer if one does not read.
Writing is breathing out, but reading is breathing in. You can’t have one without the other.
One thing I consistently hear is that we should have more craft pieces on The Author Stack. After all, the best way to sell a book is to write a great one and package it well.
If you are a paid member, I recommend reading the Writing section of How To Become a Successful Author, the Making Great Content section of How to Build Your Creative Career, and taking the Write a Great Novel course that came with your subscription.
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And about a topic I care deeply about as well. I’ve always said that writing is breathing out, but reading is breathing in. You can’t have one without the other. Often, writer’s block is caused by a writer failing to read enough and solved by the simple act of consuming more stories.
If you haven’t read any of Sarah’s work, you’re in for a treat. I recommend taking the time to check out her work today (after you read this piece, of course).
One cannot be a great writer if one does not read.
Even as I re-read what I wrote, it feels a little pretentious, like I’m clinging to an elitist view of what it takes to be a writer. As if I’m claiming that only “smart” people can be good writers.
I want to be clear that I’m not holding onto some inflated sense of the writing craft. I know plenty of very intelligent people who are not good writers. Some of those people are even avid readers. Writing is just not a skill they have prioritized in their personal or professional life.
But people who want to be writers should also be readers open to consuming many different forms of the written word.
To excel at a craft, one must be intimately familiar with the finished product. A professional musician must listen to different musical styles and movements to master the instrument of their choice. An accomplished carpenter must spend hours studying and admiring different furniture styles in order to build furniture that is both sturdy and attractive. A winning coach needs to watch hours of film and study the methods of other coaches, learning through trial and error what will work with their athletes.
The same is true for writers.
To excel at a craft, one must be intimately familiar with the finished product.
Last year, when I re-read Stephen King’s excellent writing memoir, On Writing, I once again became convicted about the importance of reading in my development as a writer. After all, I see evidence of this nearly every day as a writing teacher. Some of my students don’t understand writing basics, such as paragraphs, dialogue, embedded quotes, and standard punctuation and capitalization.
Why? Because they aren’t regularly immersed in the written word. They aren’t seeing what good writing looks like. Even though I would argue that they are writing in a lot of different contexts (text messages, social media, etc.), they aren’t spending enough valuable time with long-form writing.
The same is true of many adults.
Becoming a better writer isn’t just about writing a lot; it is also about learning more about the world around you and being curious about history and context and new discoveries.
Reading reminds me why I love to write and encourages me to do more of both. I love reading books that turn on my brain and open up my mind just a little bit more. That doesn’t mean that it always has to be deep and highly intellectual. After all, Beach Read is a love letter to books, inspiring me to keep working on my writing while I fell in love with two characters that I desperately wanted to end up together by the end of the novel. Spending time with quality, enjoyable fiction also inspired me to get back to fiction writing, something I have never considered a strong suit of mine.
But reading is about more than just my development as a reader-writer. Reading both fiction and non-fiction is a constant source of research as I try to better understand the world around me. Everything I read and listen to potentially offers me ideas or information that I fold into my writing. I’ve been known to start drafts of blog posts because a line in a book or information in a podcast or an entire concept in an article inspires me to consider an idea. Those drafts may sit there for months before I finally finish them, as I add bits and pieces as I read new books, or articles, or blog posts.
Some of my students don’t understand writing basics, such as paragraphs, dialogue, embedded quotes, and standard punctuation and capitalization. Why? Because they aren’t regularly immersed in the written word.
And then there are the pieces that require me to do additional research, like when I decided to write a piece about the things we learned about the Alamo and Goliad as part of Texas history, while we were living in Texas. Even though I remembered certain lessons learned, I still had to look up information for accuracy.
As I finished up the piece, I listened to a podcast episode about the teaching of Alamo history that fit into the whole piece just right, so I added that to my completed piece, making a few adjustments to the text with the new information I had learned. I love those moments, learning through writing, and putting into practice the work that I have my high school students do every time they write a paper that requires outside research. I frequently tell them that it’s my favorite thing to do because it really is.
Becoming a better writer isn’t just about writing a lot; it is also about learning more about the world around you and being curious about history and context and new discoveries. And this is true whether you are writing fiction or nonfiction. Frankenstein doesn’t get written if Mary Shelley doesn’t listen to her husband and friend discuss the possibilities of galvanism. Stephen King’s 11/22/63 doesn’t get written if he doesn’t spend months traveling to Dallas, Texas to learn about the Kennedy assassination in person. Philippa Greggory doesn’t get her many historical novels turned into acclaimed television shows and movies without extensive historical research that started with her PhD from Sussex.
So with only so many hours in the day, how do you start expanding your mind and reading more long-form?
Turn to audio
I learned several years ago to really appreciate podcasts. And since there is something for everyone out there, it is easy to find something to enjoy. I also find that I can mix up the voices that I’m exposed to, challenging me to consider different perspectives and be open to new ideas. Many of my blog pieces over the years have been inspired by podcasts I’ve listened to.
I’m also a huge believer in audiobooks. Our family has listened to many different audiobooks while on vacation.
When the pandemic started, my husband and I downloaded The Stand and spent the next several months listening to it together in the car when we ran errands without the kids or when we walked the dogs in the neighborhood. I listened to book after book while I was training for a half-marathon, because what else was going to do during two-hour long training runs.
The added benefit of audiobooks is that the more I listen to books, the more I want to read them on the couch. And if you are concerned about supporting your local public library, download the Libby app and listen to books for free.
Start with one book
If you haven’t read a book in awhile, setting a Goodreads goal of reading fifty books in a year might be biting off more than you can chew. Go to your local, independently-owned bookstore and browse the shelves.
Do you have a specific genre that you want to write? Ask the bookstore employee for a suggestion in that genre. Start with reading a chapter a night. Or pick a number of pages. Take the book with you everywhere. Take it to your kids’ practices, the doctor’s office, or even the grocery store. Enjoy reading a page or two while you wait.
Then, once you finish, find a book about writing. My two favorites are Stephen King’s On Writing and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic. Be inspired to read another book. The pace doesn’t matter, but taking the time to read does.
Seek other long-form writing
Social media changed all of our reading habits. We’ve become accustomed to hot takes on Twitter and click-bait article headlines. TikTok and YouTube have trained us to prefer videos over reading information for ourselves.
As a Substack writer, I enjoy the Substack app because it allows me to read the long essays of my fellow writers without depending on my email or social media, but there are a lot of options for those who want to read more than short quips.
Subscribe to a news magazine (I finally got an educator subscription to The Atlantic because I was tired of not being able to read more than one piece a month). Subscribe to the newsletters of your favorite authors or podcasters. Seek out long-form writing that you can digest during breakfast or your lunch hour and look for a variety that both informs and entertains. As with all habits, the more you practice, the more you’ll want to do it.
Writing dreams start with falling back in love with words on the page. Is getting back into a regular reading practice easy? No. But trust me, your writing will thank you for it.
And enjoy this piece by a fellow Substacker who also loves researching in the writing process.
I hope you enjoyed this one by
. As I mentioned above, I highly recommend checking out On The Journey today. Did you like this piece? Let me know. I have heard people want more craft pieces on The Author Stack, so if you want to read more like this, please let me know.If you liked this one, consider becoming a paid member.
If you are a paid member, I recommend reading the Writing section of How To Become a Successful Author, the Making Great Content section of How to Build Your Creative Career, and taking the Write a Great Novel course that came with your subscription.
If you are not a paid member, you can read everything with a 7-day free trial, or give us a one-time tip.
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Really enjoyed this, Sarah. Reading has played such a big part in my writing journey. I joined a course to thrash out a book idea and our homework was essentially reading. I loved On Writing and also Bird by Bird and The Creative Habit. All great books on honing our craft. I also agree with the comment about reading fiction even if you love non-fiction! Some fiction reads have greatly inspired my non-fiction project.
I love this! I've often said, in a similar vein, that you can't write stories unless you consume stories. That's what I do whenever I can in whatever form I can: TV, movies, songs, plays, anything at all - and, yes, books, which are so important because the written word is so very different from the spoken word.