Xlibris says a good reading habit is the stuff that good writers are made of
Reading is an overlooked writing tool. We have heard notable writers stress now and then that you can’t be a writer if you don’t read.
Good writers are known to bury their noses in tons of books. Nothing gets in the way of their reading, not even a busy schedule because they use the habit to improve their craft. In this day and age of self-publishing, however, we have seen an influx of writers, both the ambitious and the talented. Which of the two are you? Xlibris believes ambition alone is not enough to propel success; talent has a lot to do with it. But if you have the drive to succeed, Xlibris sees a budding writer in you.
A heads up from the Xlibris Blog – rest your keyboard or drop your pen first, then read a book. But first, this blog entry.
Xlibris inspires you with quotes on reading to improve your writing
Below are quotes about reading to hone your writing, straight from the horse’s mouth.
“Reading precedes writing. We read before we write. We learn to write by reading. A man learns to write well by reading well good books, by reading most carefully books which are most carefully written.”– Edwin Curley, Behind the Geometrical Method: A Reading of Spinoza’s Ethics, Princeton University Press, 1988, p. ii.
“One occasionally reads something so pithily self-evident it opens a little window in the mind and sunlight illuminates a formerly dim corridor. Who can imagine writing without reference, however subconscious, to the best we have read? Every decision we make when crafting a sentence was learned from someone, whether Mom or Henry James, and tested against our sensibilities. In eight sentences, Strauss eight times uses some form of “careful.” By definition, one takes care when reading and writing with seriousness. “– Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries (1640)
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”- Richard Steele, The Tatler, 1710
“When I was teaching writing–and I still say it–I taught that the best way to learn to write is by reading. Reading critically, noticing paragraphs that get the job done, how your favorite writers use verbs, all the useful techniques. A scene catches you? Go back and study it. Find out how it works.”– Tony Hillerman, quoted by G. Miki Hayden in Writing the Mystery: A Start-to-Finish Guide for Both Novice and Professional, 2nd ed. Intrigue Press, 2004
“Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out.”- William Faulkner, interviewed by Lavon Rascoe for The Western Review, Summer 1951
Xlibris Publishing hopes to see more good books in print. We know you can write the next one!
“Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun.”- Daniel Pinkwater