Be a Good Reader to Become a Better Writer
Let me begin with a memorable quote by William Faulkner. 'Read, read, read. 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's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window.' Nothing can more aptly describe the significance of reading for a writer. And it doesn't matter what you read. Be hungry and devour everything that comes your way. Novels, short stories, novellas, poems, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, descriptions on your toothpaste wrapper, instructions on how to use an insecticide, grocery list and what not. What is important is that you read and learn: what people write and how. Yo...