There are millions of different books out there, each with its own positive and negative qualities for you to study. You can examine what makes an author’s style effective versus exemplary. You can tell the difference between a well-structure, intelligent plot and a plot that was just thrown together. This is perhaps the most important reason to keep reading, yet often times the most overlooked: when you keep a wide variety of reading material you begin to understand what makes a text good.

For example, I try to convey a similar lighthearted voice in my protagonists that I see in various chick lit novels ( Sophie Kinsella is a personal favorite of mine). We should be taking inspiration from the texts we read and applying what we’ve learned to our own writing. For instance, if you admire the way an author plays with point of view you might also attempt a similar form. Of course they don’t mean literally copying the plot of a book, but stealing ideas about form and characterization as well as other elements of creative writing.

Every creative writing professor I have had for class has said at one time or another that we should all be stealing ideas from authors.

It’s a way to study the technique of the genre and hopefully discover new ways to rework it in your own mind. I personally like to write chick lit, mystery, and essays or memoirs, so of course I read those genres. It’s incredibly important to be reading work related to the area you want to focus on, even if it includes five different genres of fiction.

When you pick up a book you are simply taking a break from your own writing to study the work of other authors, hopefully authors whose work you admire.

This may be because reading exercises our writing skills in some fairly subtle ways. Whether you write poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction, the one thing we all have in common is a love of reading but for some reason we forget that reading is just as important to the writing process as the actual writing. You absolutely should push through, but you should also take a moment to consider the benefits of setting your pen down and picking up a book instead. You might think it’s a case of writer’s block you have to push through, and you’re right. We’ve all been there: sitting with a notebook in hand, ready to write the next big piece, but nothing comes.

The Three by Meghan O'Brien