Minus the Spine

It’s nearly axiomatic to say that to be a good writer you must be a good reader. Annie Proulx once wrote on her web site that she didn’t believe in taking classes to learn how to write and said that the best way was to write dedicatedly, and read deeply and “omnivorously” (which I thought was a great adjective). There’s an inspirational post on Write to Done: How to Use Reading to Become a Better Writer that offers some simple and true advice. To sum, try for quality reading for a quantity of time and pay close attention to what you like and incorporate it into what you are writing. I appreciate #5, Get Inspired, because I love that thrill of reading something that requires you to write–that absolutely tears open the dam of words in you.

When I read great writing, I am filled with inspiration to write. Sometimes I throw down my book and go to my computer to start hacking away at the keyboard.