6 Reasons Why Reading is Beneficial for Writers

For writers, reading is not only a simple pleasure, but an amazing learning experience as well. For anyone, there is so much to be learned through reading, and that’s only multiplied for writers. In today’s post I wanted to delve into six reasons why it’s beneficial for writers.

Expands Your Vocabulary

There are always going to be words that you hadn’t heard of before or don’t know what it means. So you go to look it up and learn a new word! This is a great thing since, as a writer, you should have a plethora of words stocked up in your vocabulary. Reading is an amazing way to expand yours and become a better writer.

Discovering Writing Styles

Another way you can learn through reading is by paying attention to other writer’s writing styles. Everyone has a different style and it’s by reading others that you can find your own unique voice. Don’t worry about copying another writer, believe me when I say this is only helping you find your own voice and, once you find it, it will be entirely different from any other writer. But use books as a learning ground for writing and read discerningly.

Refills Your Creative Well

I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Reading great books refills your creative well. Whenever you’re feeling low on inspiration for your WIP, grab a book and take some time to soak it in. Reading is one of my favorite ways to refill my creative well and one I highly recommend!

Enhances Your Imagination

Reading is a lot of times where I get my best inspiration for my own stories. It enhances your imagination and brings ideas to your head that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. You might be thinking, but this is plagiarism! It’s not. You have to remember that everything has been said, just not by you. Look at all the fairy tale retellings there are if you need further proof! Reading is a great way to spark your imagination if you’re having a hard time getting it going. Maybe read a bit before brainstorming sessions!

Gives You a Feeling of Structure

When you read, you can see in the book where the action might pick up or when it might slow down and how great the midpoint may or may not be. Noticing these things gives you a feel for the structure within the book and can help you when writing your own novels. A lot of times when I read I’ll pay attention to the beats in the book using the three act story structure as a guideline. I can almost always find them and this is so beneficial to learning how to follow a structure.

Helps You Create Better Character Arcs

Same as with how reading helps you follow a structure, it will also be beneficial to creating character arcs. When you read great books that have amazing characters, pay attention to their arcs. Read from a writer’s point of view and see where the character had low moments, when they thought they were in control, when they reached their lowest moment, and so on. When you read about great characters I can’t express enough how important it is to study them and pay attention to what the author did right. This will help you with your own characters so much! You can even learn from terrible, flat characters. What did the author do wrong? What did you want to be differently? What made them feel flat?

Your turn!

Do you enjoy reading? How do you feel it helps you become a better writer? What have you learned from it?

Blessings, Allyson