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The Simple Way to Learn From the Best Writers: Reading as a Writer
We’re often told as writers that we should read widely, and we should “read as writers”. But what does that actually mean? Does it mean if you read enough, some kind of magic osmosis happens and you just become a better writer? Does it mean you have to analyze every single thing you read and pick it to bits like you are in a college literature class?
In my experience, it means developing the skills of critical and analytical reading that teach you stuff about writing. Your methods should be constructive and useful, not ones that are tiresome and tedious.
Why should you learn these skills as a writer? It’s hard to get better on your own. You could do an MFA, or attend writing workshops, or pay a developmental editor. But those come to an end, or are expensive. By teaching yourself through your reading, you’re learning skills that last forever, and that will actually keep building. You’re learning from your heroes, the best in your genre, plus if you explore novels and stories by writers outside of your genre, you will learn even more. It allows you to focus on particular skills. For example, if you struggle with setting and description, you could read and examine a book by James Lee Burke, and then a historical novel by a writer like Bernard Cornwell.
