12 November, 2007

Want to Write? Learn to Read

Andrew Kidd of Picador writes:

How do you measure writing talent anyway? It’s probably impossible to do so. The one constant I have observed though – in every successful writer I’ve had contact with – is that, before they began to learn how to write, they learned how to read. Wonderful writers they all may be, but they first became the world’s best readers. When I meet would-be writers and ask them about their reading, it is their answer that most reveals their chances.

Whatever one decides – to keep pursuing the dream, or to embrace, and be liberated by, the fact that you probably don’t have a book in you – what we can all become, and what we always need more of, is great readers. And that’s something that is its own reward.

I couldn’t agree more. And honestly, why do so many of the wannabe writers I meet around me not read books? Some even look upon reading with disdain, which is actually understandable: self-delusion is easier to nurture if you insulate yourself from the real world.

Having said that…

(Link via Amitava Kumar. Previous posts on writing: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.)