4 ms·
Writing well is difficult for many, and I believe one of the reasons is because people don't read much anymore. Whether it's fiction, non-fiction, or poetry doe
by greedo 4y ago
Writing well is difficult for many, and I believe one of the reasons is because people don't read much anymore. Whether it's fiction, non-fiction, or poetry doesn't matter, as long as you read. But our attention spans have become so short that we need small, quick dopamine hits.
I used to read voraciously; the longer books the better. Every Stephen King book, Neal Stephenson series, I just loved to lose myself in a good book to the exclusion of everything else.
Now I find I have to focus before I can truly lose myself in a good book.
I'm a firm believer that you can learn to write by following style guides, quotes from Hemingway and King about 'killing your babies' etc. But to become a great writer you have to be a reader.
- the_af 4y agoTo be a great writer you must indeed become a voracious reader. Stephen King says as much in On Writing, I believe (I assume you've read On Writing; if not, I really recommend it).
- dredmorbius 4y ago"A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." -- Thomas Mann
- greedo 4y agoI'm not sure that fits. I find writing extremely easy, and most of my colleagues and friends hate writing and are poor writers. All of the good writers/authors I know find writing easy. It's still work, but it's not ditch-digging hard.
- dredmorbius 4y agoMann had some basis for his statement. It might not be a universal truth, of course. But it's notable coming from him.