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

[scorpio_lx]

Read is always inspiring, a great source for ideas, but unless you write, never develop a solid style and realize how to put ideas in paper. Sometimes writing is the best approach to giva shape to concepts, turning them into something practical. I read a lot, did write small stories some years ago and update a blog every day. Writing requires training, persistence and practice, and stopping may not be a great idea, as some skills may be lost.

 

[alohadave]

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.

I'm a lifelong reader, and the answer is to write. I try to analyze what I read, but I have to practice the craft. Practice is always the answer to how to get better.

Reading will expose you to different ways of telling stories, but putting your own words on paper (so to speak) is how you get better.

I've had this casual interest in becoming a writer for years, and it wasn't until I started actually writing that I did anything to make that happen. And reading helps, but writing helps more.

 

[Euphony]

Reading only comes into play when reading on the art/craft of writing then working through it.

I'm never more motivated to get better than when I stumble on concrete knowledge I can then put into practice.

But if you never do the writing work, it's as ether as having never found the information at all.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The answer is: both, obviously.

P.S.: I did see that you said "prioritize." Same answer, I think.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Write. You've been reading for twenty or so years, so you should be good at that.

 

[Comshaw]

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

Like you, I've been a voracious reader all my life. Reading can teach us a lot. But like any other skill, it can only take you part way. Part of my trade was as a welder. I took a 2000 hour course to get certified. Books and reading can teach you about the composition of metals and alloys. It can show you how a weld is supposed to look in process and what not to do and how it shouldn't look after. It can point out flaws like inclusions and slag pockets. But it is limited. There comes a time I needed to put down the book and pick up a stinger. I needed to practice and understand how to run a vertical bead, or weld two plates together overhead.

The same goes for writing. Reading is great to learn things, but there comes a time to put the book down and start plunking words down on a page. So I'd say prioritize reading in the being, but when it comes time, actual writing should take its place as a priority.

Comshaw

 

[lanceGibs]

While reading helps to learn how you play with words,when it comes to writing I hate to ape anyone .My favourite writers included.

In my view,you have to put pen to paper and maybe after writing every five pages review what you have written

 

[gunhilltrain]

While reading helps to learn how you play with words,when it comes to writing I hate to ape anyone .My favourite writers included.

In my view,you have to put pen to paper and maybe after writing every five pages review what you have written

All right, here's someone who is useful to read anyway. Erica Jong became famous for her sex scenes in Fear of Flying. But she is extremely blunt (and funny) in describing how sex, sooner or later, will often go off the rails either physically or emotionally or both. I think about two-thirds of it is autobiographical, including her flashbacks to her teen years. (My God, what would Laurel say?) She is also adept in her use of settings, which include New York, West Germany, Austria, France, and Lebanon.

She's so good that I've had at least two of my narrators directly quote her.

 

[thomas1965]

I would recommend to read a few books about writing.
What books have you read so far?

 

[EmilyMiller]

What books have you read so far?

That might exceed the 10k character limit…

 

[lovecraft68]

I would recommend to read a few books about writing.
What books have you read so far?

I've never read any. I took to this with my usual bull in a China shop pound the square peg into the round hole mentality I do with everything else.

 

[LongDraw]

I've never read any. I took to this with my usual bull in a China shop pound the square peg into the round hole mentality I do with everything else.

Lube my friend, lots of lube...

 

[ycym]

To improve my writing? Well... try to pick up advices if they are helpfull. Reading? I do, but not for improvement. I should rewrite my stories but have no fun doing so. Improving about the subject, yes... practise some of it and trying to get contact to people from the specific area. But this is not about writing style.

 

[lovecraft68]

Lube my friend, lots of lube...

Lubes for wimps. I rough ride it.