"You should write because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page. Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write."
—Annie Proulx

We have heard it often that to write well, you need to be an avid reader. Reading helps writing. There are many benefits of reading books but people who want to pursue writing as a career must read regularly. To be successful in any field, you need to know what you are doing. It is not like you can teach mathematics if you don’t know the basics of that subject, or start teaching chemistry while having no proper knowledge and qualification for the job. The same is the case with writing. Although some people have a knack for writing and are gifted writers, many others have to master their craft. There are many other approaches to polish one’s writing skills, but reading extensively and regularly is a habit many famous writers swear by. Plus, you will have to read books from a variety of genres, so you get to know all types of writing styles.

Here, we will be discussing how active reading helps in refining one’s writing skills.

1. You Get Ideas by Reading

When you read a lot, the first and foremost impact it has on your writing is the generation of new ideas. There are an estimated 130 million books in the world, according to a survey. Just imagine how many ideas we have around us in the form of books. So, it is a simple calculation, the more books you read, the more ideas will come to you.

2. You Learn the Technique

Reading regularly lets you become familiar with the rhythm of language. You start to notice where you put a comma, when and how you start a paragraph, how to end a sentence. All these help you when you start to write down your own words on paper. These small details you learn while reading help you create grammatically and technically correct writing pieces.

3. Reading Improves Your Vocabulary

Another way that reading helps writers master their craft is by improving vocabulary. Writing is all about words. The more words you know, the more eloquent your writing will become. With better use of words, you can reach the hearts of your readers and strike the right chord.

4. It Boosts Creativity and Imagination

Reading has been associated with increasing a person’s ability to think creatively. It also enhances the imaginative skills of a person. When you read a story, you imagine the characters, their appearance, and the scenarios explained. All these boost creative thinking and thus polishes your writing skills.

5. Reading Familiarizes You with Different Writing Styles

All the famous authors have one thing in common, they read other writers’ work who have been known for creating masterpieces. By reading other writers’ work, you learn about unique styles. Besides, you should also try to read in your genre, so, you familiarize yourself with the tools of composition in that particular genre.

6. It Improves Concentration

Many writers experience what we call writers’ block when they can’t focus on their writing. But research says, you can improve your concentration with active reading. Scheduling reading hours in your daily routine will prove helpful in improving your concentration, thus making it easy for you to focus on your writing projects. 

7. Reading Inspires Writers

 It often happens that writers lose motivation to write. They get stuck at some point and they cannot go beyond it. In such cases, one can take inspiration by reading other writers’ work. You may get an idea, or simply become motivated by reading your favorite author and think, you too can overcome obstacles.

8. Reading Brings Discipline in Life

To read faithfully, you will have to set aside some time out of your busy schedule and be regular. This will ultimately make you more responsible about using your time and be disciplined. Moreover, you should also set a time to finish reading a particular book or reading material, which will help you to become more disciplined and have more self-control. This discipline will prove beneficial in the long run when you will start your writing career and will have to meet deadlines on a daily basis. So it is safe to say that active reading brings discipline in life.

9. Reading Helps with Research

Just as discussed earlier, reading helps a lot in doing research and collecting new ideas. With the technology boom in recent years, conducting research in any genre has become quite easy and now aspiring writers can learn a lot with a single click. You can read online books by famous authors, read their synopsis and reviews, and take part in discussions. Having access to all these things and reading extensively make research easy for writers.

10. Knowledge about Latest Trends

As our world is constantly changing, it has become essential to know what is trending. When you are a writer, or are aspiring to be one, you cannot stay behind the times. By reading regularly, you get to know about the latest trends in the world of writing. It helps you become aware of the things people like to read about, the topics that are popular among the masses, and the current situations grabbing people’s attention. Reading will also enable writers to know the modern writing techniques and styles.

So, to sum it up, reading is a must for someone who is aspiring to be a writer. There are many benefits of reading in general but it is particularly beneficial for writers because it gives them new ideas, enhances their vocabulary, improves concentration, and polishes research abilities. Finally, the more you read, the better you can understand your readers because you once have been in their shoes.

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