Brian Keene On Writing And Reading

Reading is a crucial part of being a writer, and it’s essential at all stages of your development and career. You should certainly read outside of your chosen genre, but it’s also important to read inside your genre, as well. You may not like all of them, but you should read them anyway. Your writing will be better for having done so. ...

There’s no excuse for not reading. Sure, maybe there’s no bookstore left in your town. Maybe Borders closed up shop and the local used bookstore only carries inspirational fiction and Chicken Soup for the Soul books. But that’s no excuse, because your generation has the Internet. We already tested it out and broke it in for you. It’s there for you to use. There’s Amazon.com and Kindle and Nook. You can read on your cellphone or iPad or even on your video game console. And, if you’re old school, I’m sure you have a library nearby.

What’s infuriating to me is that the public has greater access to books than at anytime in our history, and yet less people are reading. You can change that.