If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the tools to write.
– Stephen King
I beg to differ.
Skills, skill sets, time, energy and resources
Reading and writing are two separate skill sets. Life is made of time energy and resources and the energy it takes to read is different than the energy it takes to write.
Reading a bunch of crappy novels does not magically create a skill set of being an excellent writer.
By this logic if you don’t have the time to sit in a chair you don’t have the time or the tools to be a carpenter.
There are millions of people who absolutely love reading who don’t have the desire, the need for the inherent skill to be a writer. And that’s perfectly fine. Just like there are writers who spend their time thinking about what they want to write and then writing.
Obviously on a very small level this is true –that you need to have read some things that you liked. You read dialogue, descriptions, exposition or lack thereof and began to understand the kind of work you want to produce. Or, more importantly, the kind you do not.
The same goes for other skills—especially those of the crreative type. Listen in for more on this, especially if you are a “creative.”
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