In order to improve as a writer, read more or write more?

[EmilyMiller]

Ideally both, I guess. But if you had to prioritize?

I’m tending towards writing. Then I’m a newbie writer. Maybe reading gets more important later.

Opinions?

—

UPDATE: I should have been clearer. I have read voraciously all my life. It’s not like I never picked up a book. I suppose I mean specifically porn. The answer may remain the same, but I thought I’d clarify.

—

Em

 

[IsobelDoc]

Personally read. Especially if I am moving into a new style or genre of writing.

I realize that looking at my profile on here - I have little in the way of credibility - but I have been writing for over 10 years, just not published anything on this site. This is a new venture for me.

So far I have submitted one piece here which is waiting to be posted - and that is just a haiku, so feel free to completely ignore my opinion.

KR

I

 

[SimonDoom]

Writing, definitely. As with most activities, you learn by doing. I personally think both are very important, and I read a lot from different genres to learn more about how writers do things and to work on my prose style. There are some authors here, on the other hand, who think reading other people's stuff is less important. But we all agree on the importance of writing.

 

[ronde]

Reading the works of others is the teacher. Writing your own works is the testing of what you have learned.

When you read, look for the literary tools all professional writers use. Look for the ways they grab and hold your attention to keep you reading. Look for how they use descriptions and dialogue to force you to draw pictures in your mind. Watch for how the characters and their actions weave the words of the story into something you believe.

Here's a quote:

"If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that."
--Stephen King

 

[TarnishedPenny]

What’s more important - eating food or drinking water? That’ what you are saying. In reality, there’s no silver bullet; one learns to write by examining the work of others, figuring out what makes their writing good (or less so), then writing and trying to learn in turn from one’s own efforts.

As an analogy, put a six-year-old in a kitchen and let her cook (supervised for safety, yes, yes). About the only things that will be used are sugar, chocolate and (maybe) ketchup. That’s all she knows and she’s never had a chance to be exposed to saffron, cumin, mace or cayenne. Similarly, to learn to write well, IMHO, one needs to be exposed to good writing.

Sorry, not what you wanted, but there it is.

 

[EmilyMiller]

What’s more important - eating food or drinking water? That’ what you are saying. In reality, there’s no silver bullet; one learns to write by examining the work of others, figuring out what makes their writing good (or less so), then writing and trying to learn in turn from one’s own efforts.

As an analogy, put a six-year-old in a kitchen and let her cook (supervised for safety, yes, yes). About the only things that will be used are sugar, chocolate and (maybe) ketchup. That’s all she knows and she’s never had a chance to be exposed to saffron, cumin, mace or cayenne. Similarly, to learn to write well, IMHO, one needs to be exposed to good writing.

Sorry, not what you wanted, but there it is.

You die quicker without water .

Em

 

[nice90sguy]

What I do: Write, even when you don't feel like it. Read only when you feel like reading.

It's like learning to play the piano, which I do a lot better than I write. I practice a lot, but listen only when I want to ( maybe to learn a new piece, or for inspiration, or just because I'm in the mood to hear something).

 

[HeyAll]

The desire to want to learn. These days I near towards reading more. Just slightly.

Read and understand the different writing styles and learn why they work. (ie, tense, perspectives, how much to reveal, how to describe, how much thoughts to reveal, show vs tell, etc...)

Then figure out what works for you.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

You die quicker without water .

But no ‘deader’.

 

[SimonDoom]

But no ‘deader’.

Mic Drop.

 

[lovecraft68]

Real answer is most likely both, but for me...

I spent years reading like it was a competition, a novel a day at points. But when I picked up writing, I found I had a hard time reading, like I'd absorbed all these words and ideas and inspirations and was now purging them and couldn't take on any more. I also feel like reading anything-regardless of genre-screws with my own muse, like their voice interferes with mine.

At this point I'm lucky I can get through a short story here and there.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Ideally both, I guess. But if you had to prioritize?

I’m tending towards writing. Then I’m a newbie writer. Maybe reading gets more important later.

Opinions?

—

UPDATE: I should have been clearer. I have read voraciously all my life. It’s not like I never picked up a book. I suppose I mean specifically porn. The answer may remain the same, but I thought I’d clarify.

—

Em

But no ‘deader’.

Yeah, either way you're still pushing up daisies.

 

[Duleigh]

I read and write but currently I write more than I read. You don't learn to play a piano by reading sheet music. You learn to play a piano by playing a piano.

To improve your writing skills you MUST write. You can read about running until you know everything you can possibly know about running, but you're not going to win a marathon until you actually run.

Writing does more than just put words on a screen or on paper, it clears out any bad habits you may have picked up in daily conversations because the way you speak will come out in the way you write. Where I'm from, present tense words are sometimes used in a past tense. I found that it drives some readers crazy. Commonly used jargon needs to be purged also. I'm a military guy, and there's a few here in AH and I'll bet that we all had to fight to clean out that jargon that a reader wouldn't understand.

Writing also teaches you to organize your thoughts. You don't have to do that when you read, the author did that for you.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Having read for sixty or so years, I've got better as a writer by constantly writing.

 

[Djmac1031]

I used to read a lot more in my younger years. I still do, but making time for it is tougher, as is finding novels that actually interest me.

As far as erotica and writing stories for here goes: I do try my best to read other's stories. To not just support them, but to learn and expand my own craft.

I see how other writers avoid pitfalls and traps I've fallen into; learned how to better use words and organize sentences and paragraphs to make my own writing an easier experience for the reader.

Of course, trying to write my own stories leaves less time to read others. I always feel like I'm behind lol.

Ultimately, both are important, IMO. You can learn from reading both good and bad stories. But writing is where you put what you've learned to the test.

 

[Voboy]

Read more.

But it should have been done early in life, when you were learning how to write. I think kids under ten should be encouraged to read good adult books, just so they get conditioned to expect what sentences should look like and how words should flow together.

 

[KeithD]

At some point, reading more, becomes an excuse not to write. Just reading, of course, is a legitimate activity. But if the question is how to improve as a writer, you really can't do that without actually writing.

The question doesn't move me much, though. It's been a hell of a long time since my motivation for writing was to improve as a writer. At some point you're baked enough in whatever kind of writer you're going to be to just do it for the joy of writing.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Read more.

But it should have been done early in life, when you were learning how to write. I think kids under ten should be encouraged to read good adult books, just so they get conditioned to expect what sentences should look like and how words should flow together.

I have hit Like, but with reservations.

Reading early teaches one to read for enjoyment. That’s like a music appreciation class, which probably doesn’t teach one to compose or play music.

I think one must read, as an adult, good works, meaning those one finds to have merit (highly subjective, yes). Then figure out what makes them good. How has the plot been developed? What has the author done to develop deep interesting characters? What makes their descriptions good?

Then write. Then compare what you have written and see how your new work compares in terms of plot, characterization, etc. That doesn’t mean you have to copy style, but each good story or book has its own stylistic lessons.

Read, Write, repeat.

 

[Voboy]

I have hit Like, but with reservations.

Understandable. Since my whole post was a prevarication: you can't travel back in time. If you didn't learn to recognize and then execute the mechanics of writing easily and well as a child, I'm not sure it's possible to do it later. Nor how I'd try.

I'm not sure how to just "become a good writer" late in life. Nor, honestly, am I sure how to counsel someone else to improve. All I know, really, is what worked for me.

 

[SimonDoom]

Read more.

But it should have been done early in life, when you were learning how to write. I think kids under ten should be encouraged to read good adult books, just so they get conditioned to expect what sentences should look like and how words should flow together.

I agree with this about 90%. But I think the most important thing to achieve as a child is the capacity to ENJOY reading. Whatever you enjoy reading as a kid, read it. If you truly learn to enjoy reading, I think you will carry that joy throughout your life. And I think the best way to approach all reading is that it's fun. Don't separate books into "the ones I like to read" and "the ones I feel I ought to read." If you look at reading the right way you can enjoy Shakespeare the same way you enjoy Harry Potter or Stephen King. Sometimes it takes a little work to get yourself used to something new so you can enjoy it. It was that way for me when I started to listen to jazz music the first time, as an adult in my 20s. It took a little effort. But when I got used to it I enjoyed it the same way I enjoyed everything else. I enjoy Miles Davis the way I enjoy Schubert the way I enjoy Metallica. It takes a little tweaking of the frame of mind, but it's more fun (and, I think, more artistically true) this way.

I can still enjoy the books I enjoyed as a kid. Dahl's James and the Giant Peach is still a book I would rank as among the most influential for me. Same with Charlotte's Web. I try to read new "adult" and "serious" books today the same way I read them -- to get swept away in the story and to enjoy the play of words.

 

[Duleigh]

Nobody mentioned the third part of the golden triad of writing - you must go out and live.

Throughout my works I've placed my characters in eight different countries, and a multitude of different states in the union - With the exception of Canada (eh?) I've lived in every single one of them (lived in = been there long enough to have had an address and received mail at that address) I've skied the Appalachians, the Rockies, and the Alps, I sucked but I was upright for a recognizable percentage of my attempts. I grew up spending a lot of time going in and out of Canada being there long enough to describe poutine, but not enough to understand it.

There's so much more that I want to see but I'll never make it there, so I'll read about those areas, and watch travelogue videos but I can't write about those areas because I've never been there. If I mention Australia in one of my stories it will be in the tales of a character who has been there and is telling a MC about the trip, but that's all because that's all I know of that big island just west of New Zealand - other than the people. I've met a lot of incredible people and learned a lot of interesting ways to say "drunk."

Go out and have an experience EM. I remember the smell of each country as I got off the plane, train, or bus. Each city has their own flavor, and if you go there voluntarily it's exciting to explore and eventually share that thrill via your keyboard.

 

[cuppatea]

If I have to prioritise one over the other: writing.

With reading, I can see how different effects are achieved by someone else, but with my own work, it’s a case of pick up a chisel and get to work. Whatever I’m working on, gets written to a point where the story feels ‘done’, then go back and draft/rewrite … read it once done (reading aloud works wonders for drafting purposes). If I can use different techniques and see how effective they are … it stands out more on my own work. Drafting brings out the harshest of critic in me … sometimes, the chisel is replaced by sledgehammer.

 

[KeithD]

Nobody mentioned the third part of the golden triad of writing - you must go out and live.

That's a good point. Much of my writing is bringing up bits and pieces of experiences and memories. That makes for the most enjoyable writing for me.

I must say that I don't read with an eye to pick up any pointers for writing. I read to enjoy that work on it's own terms. I think I do pick up some style suggestions and I know that I pick up inspirations for plot themes from the reading, but any style points are being mulled in the background. My writing is a mixture of all sorts of connections, but it's not intentional in that way. When I sit down to write it's just me.

(And I read very little on Literotica. I'm here to write not to read.)

 

[Djmac1031]

I think the other thing to remember in all of this is: don't try to WRITE like someone else you've read.

Reading to learn better grammar or sentence structure or punctuation or even learn new words is one thing.

Reading so you can mimic a style is another. And you'll probably fail miserably at it.

Figure out your own style by writing it.

Learn how to make it flow better by reading.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think the other thing to remember in all of this is: don't try to WRITE like someone else you've read.

Reading to learn better grammar or sentence structure or punctuation or even learn new words is one thing.

Reading so you can mimic a style is another. And you'll probably fail miserably at it.

Figure out your own style by writing it.

Learn how to make it flow better by reading.

I agree with that.

Em