Does Reading Help your Writing?

I have always been a voracious reader.  Ever since I was a little girl I devour books as quickly as I get them.  My heart flutters when I step in the doors of a library, bookstore or even just the book section of Wal-Mart or Target.  And this love of books has, I think, made me a better writer.

I've read some great books lately, a couple of which I want to talk about here.  The first is a book about freelance writing by my personal freelance hero, Kelly James-Enger, called Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets to Freelance Success.  This book has really changed the way I view my career as a writer.  I learned so much about marketing myself as a writer, using social media to advertise my services and my blogs and just the basic tools I need to succeed at my chosen profession.  If you are considering freelancing as a career, or if you are an established freelancer who just wants to sharpen up your skills or move to the next level of your career, this great book is a must read.

The second book has nothing whatsoever to do with writing but has merit in a different way.  Destroy All Monsters and Other Stories is an amazing book of short stories by Greg Hrbek.  This book really examines the range of human emotions in a beautiful and moving way.  From love, loss and death to renewal and second chances, I absolutely could not put this book down.  Once I'd read it, I immediately read it again and that is something I don't often do.  I laughed at some parts and really, truly wept at others.  It was an amazing experience reading this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good compilation novel.

But the question remains, does reading help us as writers?  I believe the answer to that is a resounding yes!  Reading brings new worlds right into our homes; it expands our horizons in ways too numerous to count.  Some books really make you think, require you to question your own ethics and morals and most of all, entertain you.  Books give me ideas for my own writing; not plagiarism, mind you, but creative license to take an idea or a concept and run with it in a different direction.  The best of books stay with us forever; I used to lie in bed on cold, snowy nights as a child and pretend I was Laura Ingalls Wilder in The Long Winter.  I cried and despaired right alongside Holden Caufield in Catcher in the Rye.  To Kill A Mockingbird made me question some deeply held beliefs about right and wrong, black and white, and for that I will always be grateful.

I think reading is the best thing that a writer can do with their spare time.  We have chosen to earn a living using words and communication.  Keeping those skills sharp is vital to our survival; reading is the whetstone upon which to sharpen those skills.  So go on, read a book today.  Lose yourself.  You'll never be sorry.