Writing Tip # 5

Writing Tip # 5 The importance of reading.

                Now to most of my readers out there this post is going to be a no brainer. If you are wanting to a writer, whether it be a journalist or novelist or whatever, it would be a good idea that you enjoy reading and do it as often as you can.

                Once again I know that this is going to seem like something that should be more then obvious to everyone but I have actually met writers who did not read anything. Now they could all read so they all made the choice not to read. Let me lay out some ground work here so you can fully understand what I am talking about.

                A friend of mine tells me that they are a writer as well, not only that but that he had finished and published two novels! I was so excited to have found a kindred heart that I immediately got my hands on his novels and dove in. I noticed that there were a few things that were slightly off almost as soon as I began reading it.

                The biggest things I noticed was the set up of the pages, there weren’t indentations at the begging of paragraphs. There was no punctuation at all and nothing seemed to flow. So I decided to go and ask him about this and that is when I discovered something crazy.

                He told me that he absolutely hated reading……. hated it. So of course my next question was then why do you want to be a writer and his response was because its better then what he was doing for a living at the time.

                Writing is not a job you do just because you want to get rich and famous, or because its better then what ever it is you are doing. You write because you love the art of writing. Because all you think about all day, everyday is putting words to the stories that dance through your head.

                By reading you are getting ideas, finding new ways to write and express details. You are sharpening your craft and doing research for future projects that you haven’t even thought of yet.

                Well that’s all for this week….. I guess it just bugged me and I had to share it with you guys.

                If you want to be a writer you should be a reader first.