Reading is the duct tape of the writing world—it solves every problem.
Are you confused how to describe characters? Read books with great character descriptions.
Do you wonder what your writing voice is? Read your favorite books and combine all the elements you most admire.
Are you stuck in writer’s block? Read to get your creativity flowing again.
As a writer, you must read endlessly to continue learning and growing. In the words of Ernest J. Gaines, “The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write.”
I would like to expand these to include Five Golden Rules of Reading.
1. Read Everything
Read intensely within your genre, whether you write romance, fantasy, sci-fi, or anything else. However, keep trying new genres, authors, and styles. Read fiction and non-fiction, classic and modern, short and long. Explore atlases and magazine ads, blogs and how-to manuals, social media posts and historical plaques. Be a book zombie—consume books voraciously. As William Faulkner put it, “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. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”
2. Read When You Cannot Write
As I mentioned in another blog post, reading is often a great cure for writer’s block. But what about when you simply cannot find time or energy for both reading and writing? Crazy as it sounds, prioritize good reading. If you only have a few minutes a day, use it for reading. If you are extremely busy, listen to audiobooks while you do routine tasks like washing dishes or folding laundry or getting dressed in the morning. There is always a place in life for stories. After all, as Natalie Diaz put it in this article, “Why do you think people need stories? We are stories. Even our names are stories.” As writers, we must keep the fire alive, always.
3. Read for Fun
While reading to learn is valuable, it can become exhausting if you never read for fun. Give yourself the grace to read “junk” books just for fun. Although the classics and the greats are important, fluffy fiction is pure joy (and some fluffy fiction skillfully conveys deep truths).
4. Read About the Authors You Admire
The more you read, the more you will start seeing a pattern. Observe those patterns and collect them. What are the similarities among the authors and books you like? Is it their themes, subject matter, character development, or something else? Reread your favorite books over and over, then read about the backstories of the authors to gain more context. What personal or historical events shaped your author’s style? Why did they choose to write about certain topics? How did their social status or life experiences affect them? The more you understand the authors you love, the more you will understand yourself.
5. Read About Yourself and Your Environment
Digging deep into your own story can help you grow as a writer. In this fascinating interview, screenwriter Matthew Kalil discusses his concept of the “three wells” that writers can draw from: the well of external sources, imagination, and memories. (For more on his theory, check out his book The Three Wells, linked here.) Exploring your memories, which are often deeply buried, can enrich your writing. Reading about your MBTI, Enneagram type, or even Zodiac sign can help you understand yourself better. Similarly, read about the place (or places) you have lived, worked, and grown up in. Read about the environment, the politics, and the history of the place. In the words of legendary filmmaker Agnes Varda, “If we opened people up, we’d find landscapes.” The geography and the culture around you are intertwined with the magic you write.
Wherever you are in life and whatever you are going through, books are always there for you. Writing and reading are a magical combination—the more you do of one, the better you are at the other. Keep reading and writing, my lovelies!
Sending love,
Anastasia xoxo