Agreed, reading is a critical part to writing and being a good writer. Don’t know where I’d be in my career if I didn’t read.
I spend most of my time writing non-fiction, but what I find interesting is how dull and clinical my style can become if I don’t write something creative from time to time.
I’ve been seeing this weird thing again lately:
I stop reading when I’m writing because I don’t want to be influenced by another author’s writing, and don’t want to accidentally plagiarize them.
This, like “all prologues are bad, no one reads prologues,” comes and goes from time to time, and largely without challenge. Well, just as I did with prologue haters, I hereby challenge this assertion, which I think can do significant damage to any author, writing anything, in any genre. William Faulkner said, “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.”
Reading is an essential act for any writer before, during, and after their own writing process. First of all, your writing process should be ongoing. You should always be writing. If so, then…
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