Maybe you’ve been told before that one of the best ways to learn how to write isn’t just classroom instruction but also to read other books. However, a lot of people often overlook this piece of advice and don’t realize just how valuable it actually is. Reading books might sound like it takes away from the time you have to write, but one of the best ways to hone your writing craft is to, indeed, read books. So for today’s post, I’ll be discussing how you can become a better writer just by reading books and why you should be reading a wide variety of books.
(Affiliate disclaimer: some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means that I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you when you purchase something through one of my links).
Reading is Like an Apprenticeship
Reading isn’t just something that you’re simply doing by just sitting there. In reality, reading extends far more than that. In a way, reading is almost like an unofficial apprenticeship where you observe how other writers, masters of the craft basically, have learned to hone their craft. By reading, you learn about how dialogue, scene description, tension, action, and the flow of a story looks like.
You certainly aren’t required to dissect every sentence (although we’ll get to active reading later). Simply by immersing yourself in good books, you start absorbing the invisible skills that make stories work. You probably learned a thing or two about this in your literature classes in high school or the like where you broke down books and analyzed little details. It might not have seemed important to you at the time, but that actively trained you to start paying attention to things that really matter for writers.
The more styles and voices you encounter, the more tools you subconsciously add to your own writer’s toolbox.
You Expand Your Sense of Language
Writing is made up of language and the more language you’re exposed to, the better you understand its possibilities.
When you read widely, you start noticing how different writers use language differently. One might favor long, lyrical sentences that roll like a river. Another might punch with quick, staccato rhythms. Some might use simple, clean prose; others might layer metaphors until the page feels heavy with imagery.
For example, Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law Trilogy leans heavily towards character development and building a visual scene for the reader while Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings pushes hard on character-driven stories and dialogue interactions between characters with more of a focus on the overall world building than the smaller details. Each writer has a way that they personally expand their stories. I personally lean towards character-driven narratives with tons of action and a fast, more aggressive pace in my series, The Fallen Age Saga.
By seeing these different styles in action, you begin to understand what’s possible. And more importantly, you start figuring out what you like and what feels natural to you when you write.
Over time, this shapes your unique voice. You might blend the crisp clarity of one author with the emotional depth of another. You might find yourself drawn to specific word choices or rhythms that become a signature part of your style. If you want to learn how to find your unique writer voice, then check out this post!
You Learn What Works and What Doesn’t
Not every book you pick up and read will necessarily speak to you as much as others do, and that’s perfectly fine. However, if you find yourself at points in a story where you feel like it’s just not clicking with you, it’s important to think about why that is and what about it isn’t working. Is it too slow? Predictable? Are the characters just really annoying? What about the particular story that you’re reading is just not working for you as a reader?
Now, not every reader will share your opinions. There are plenty of books that I’ve read that have been praised by tons of people that just didn’t stick with me. That’s not to say that those books are bad, they’re just not made for my reading style and that’s fine. There are plenty of other people who loved it. However, at the end of the day, your writing style is shaped by what you enjoy reading, so if you don’t like reading a certain thing, then it makes no sense to write it either.
You Absorb Story Structure Without Memorizing Formulas
There’s a lot of talk out there about story structures like the three-act structure or the hero’s journey and those can be super useful to follow when you first get started with writing, but as you read more, you begin to sort of internalize story structures naturally.
You’ll start feeling when a story needs to shift gears, when a midpoint twist should hit, when the climax needs to start ramping up. Even if you can’t quote a beat sheet by heart, you’ll have a strong intuitive sense of how stories move.
This natural instinct is incredibly valuable when you’re writing your own stories. It helps you shape your plots organically, without feeling chained to rigid templates.
You Discover New Ideas and Perspectives
Whenever you read a new book, it’s sort of like visiting a whole other mind and realm of thinking. You don’t only get to read, but you also experience different cultures, beliefs, philosophies, and emotions. This is like striking gold for writers.
The broader your reading, the broader your understanding of humanity, and it can help give your characters much more depth. It expands the kinds of stories you can tell. Not only that, but reading outside of your comfort zone like picking up a different genre or a book that’s written in an older time helps to enrich your writing knowledge. There’s a lot to learn from the wide spectrum of books that are out there.
How to Read Like a Writer
It’s one thing to read for fun, but if you want to actively use reading to improve your writing, try practicing “reading like a writer.” This is also sort of like the active reading that you’ve probably done in English classes but rather than look for quotes to help explain the many themes of the story for an assignment, you’re actually going to pay attention to more specific elements of what you’re reading.
Here’s how:
1. Pay Attention to the Opening
The first few pages of a book are critical: They hook the reader, establish the tone, introduce the world or characters and help set up the reader for the rest of the story.
When you start a book, ask yourself: What’s grabbing me? What’s setting the tone? If you find yourself instantly intrigued, figure out why.
If you’re bored within the first chapter, ask yourself what’s missing. Is it stakes? A clear goal? Compelling voice?
2. Watch the Pacing
Notice how the author moves the story along. How long do they spend setting up before the action kicks in? How do they balance dialogue, description, and action?
Pay attention to when you feel bored or when you feel breathless with tension. Good pacing often comes down to knowing when to speed up and when to slow down, and you can learn a lot by noticing these shifts.
3. Study the Dialogue
Dialogue can make or break a story.
When you read a conversation between characters, ask yourself: Does this feel natural? Are the characters’ voices distinct? Does the dialogue reveal something about their personalities or move the plot forward?
If you hit a clunky line that feels like monologing or exposition, note it. It’s a mistake to avoid in your own work. Sometimes though, exposition dumping works, but it seriously depends on the scene, what you’re writing, and why you’ve decided to take that path in the dialogue. So, there’s some nuance to more conventional rules, but it’s important to understand why this nuance works in some cases.
If you want to learn more about how to write natural dialogue, then check out this post!
4. Break Down Descriptions
Some writers can paint vivid scenes with just a few words. Others get bogged down in purple prose, which is basically just too much flowery writing that has no purpose to the overall story.
When a setting comes alive for you, flip back and see how the author did it. How much detail did they include? Which senses did they appeal to? Where did they leave space for your imagination to fill in? Descriptions are tricky to balance, and studying how others do it can sharpen your instincts.
5. Analyze Character Arcs
Characters are the heart of most great stories.
When you finish a book, ask yourself: How did the main character change? What did they learn? What challenges did they overcome?
A strong character arc is really important for the overall story and if the character arc is boring or falls flat, then you’re going to definitely notice that issue. If you want to learn more about writing character arcs, then definitely check out this post!
Reading Across Genres Matters
Don’t just read within your chosen genre. Even if you’re writing epic fantasy, reading romance, thrillers, historical fiction, and literary fiction can teach you valuable lessons. They teach you about how characters work outside of your genre and they also help you expand your knowledge in writing styles. Sometimes, some genres have more emphasis on dialogue and others have more emphasis on description and others have a lot of emphasis on character arcs, so you actually learn a lot from reading other genres. However, don’t think that you can’t read within your genre mainly, as it is your chosen genre for a reason. Just mix it up every now and then!
Give Yourself Permission to DNF
Alright, this is one that I know is tough for a lot of you guys out there… myself included.
None of us want to DNF books (DNF = did not finish) and the reason being is that when start reading, we feel like we’ve invested time and maybe you want to see how it ends or if it gets better. But here’s the thing, if you’re already nearly 30-40 % through a book and you find that it’s just not working for you, then it’s alright to step back from it. You’re not going to learn by forcing yourself to read something that you’re not engaged with.
However, if you think that the book has a lot of potential and it might get better, then stick it out if you’d like. I think sometimes some books just are a bit slow at first but when they pick up, DAMN they pick up, you know? That’s how I felt reading Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie because it felt slow at first but once it really got into the plot, I couldn’t put the book down. Sometimes, it takes a few more pages to enjoy something, but that’s not always the case.
Conclusion
Reading is something that I consider fun and also a learning process. Whenever I pick up a new book from the store, I’m immediately turning the pages and trying to understand how the writer chose to take the story and in what direction they chose, how they create scenes, how they evolve their characters, and how the dialogue works. If I find myself really into a story and super immersed, I like to step back and think about why I really enjoyed this book. You don’t need to annotate and jot down notes and all that, but at least just think about what makes this book click for you and go from there.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter. There’s lots of exciting stuff coming up for the website soon, so you won’t want to miss it!