Are all writers, readers? [closed]

Question

I am new to the writing scene but i have had the passion for it. One thing that has baffled my mind was how writers would not comment on other people's work but more concerned with their work. It has led me to ask this question.

Answer 1

Yes, all writers are readers.

It isn't clear what you are asking, however. We comment on other people's work all the time, particularly published work.

If what you mean is why don't we review other people's work, particularly amateur strangers, it is because experience tells us (or at least it tells me) there is so much wrong with it, it is a generally a waste of our own limited writing time to tell them about it.

I know I will seldom be entertained, and most likely they don't need a note from me, they need a course in writing. Also most are thin-skinned and are devastated or angry if I don't love every word of it.

There are three people in my circle of friends that I would gladly review anything they DID write, because I know it would be entertaining and I also know they have thick writing hides and won't be offended if I tell them about a story problem.

We read, we watch movies, we watch TV (a little reality but mostly I prefer the scripted and acted variety of shows). We make references to the same and use them as examples (for good or bad).

On this site I am interested in HOW amateurs write, but not so interested in WHAT amateurs write. People get paid to pan for gold in that, and they deserve every penny.

Answer 2

No.

We always think of authors and other artists as people who were excited by some media experience (e.g. reading books, viewing movies, or playing computer games) and began a career in their medium because of their love for it.

But enthusiasm for a medium is not the only motivation to write or make movies or paint. There are a great number of books written (sometimes with the help of ghost writers) from a need to tell of a personal experience or some insight that someone gained. Many of these authors aren't readers in the sense that reading made them want to write. It was their life that made them tell of it.

Of course many of these kinds of authors have read books in their lives and from that reading have some knowledge of how to go about writing one, but others led lives mostly devoid of reading.

Books by these authors aren't necessarily autobiographical, either. Some of these people write non-fiction books in which they attempt to convey the knowledge that they have acquired. Others wrap their teaching into a narrative fiction.

Examples for books by these kinds of authors are accounts of uncommon lives, spiritual teaching, political ideology, or how-to books (by which I don't want to imply that all of these kinds of books are by that kind of author). Usually these authors publish only one book in their lives.

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Two extreme examples:

1. Musician Kayne West wrote Thank You and You're Welcome. West says of himself:

   "I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life."

2. Queensland author Ken Hall cannot read. Yet he has published nine books.

Answer 3

Writing and reading are two sides of a conversation. A writer must, of necessity, respond to the issues of the times, either by completely ignoring them or commenting on them. It is possible to value a book only for how the contents are written, but I find it more interesting to understand the context of each book. Writer A wrote something. Writer B read what Writer A wrote and responded in kind. Writer C read the works of both writers and contributed to the conversation. And so on. In the past, this meant writing books, but modern media offers many different ways to engage in the conversation.

Also, language is so malleable that it is impossible to say that there are only so many valid ways to write and anything not on that list must be invalid. The best way to learn to write, other than writing and writing some more, is to read how other writers handle the craft. Besides, it can be a great deal of fun.

Answer 4

Yes.

Not necessarily because every writer started off by reading something and saying 'I can do better than that'.

But because to become a great writer you need to study the greats in your craft, just as a scientist needs to learn the principles of their science and so will both do experiments for themselves and learn about other experiments that their peers have done in the past and conclusions that have been drawn.

In most cases great writers will be extremely well read, and will have absorbed and actively studied the techniques employed by other writers to achieve certain aims, such as creating a gripping plot, good pacing, eliciting emotions etc.

It is also useful to study the work of less accomplished writers (such as in a writing critique circle) to see how errors manifest and how they impact the writing.

In some cases writers may not be that widely read, but they will still be 'readers' of some kind or another.

At the very minimum - a writer must read over their own work!

Answer 5

Yes, of course. As all music producers are listeners. All writers began writing under impression of something they've read before. Usually, the early works of every writer look similar to something, that has been written before. It's ok while they are developing their own style.