When to Write and When to Read

Writing and reading cannot be separated in the life of a writer. A non-reading writer is akin to a musician who doesn’t listen to music. Such a musician wouldn’t be making music for long—at least none of any quality or relevance. A writer must read as he writes and he must read with the ebb and flow of his writing. There’s much a person gives up to become a writer. Reading for recreation is one. Share on X

While reading must be a constant, a writer’s reading takes on different purposes and shades of importance as a writing project progresses.

Early in a writing project more reading than writing is needed. At this stage of a project, the writer is reading in order to get his bearings, to find his direction, to understand his proposed project, to make a start and establish momentum. 

Mid-point and later in a project’s development, the amount of time spent writing will quickly eclipse the time spent reading, as the reading a writer does becomes less critical. Reading at this stage is intended to reinforce the writing and thinking the writer has put in place, to inspire him onward toward completion, and to broaden his perspective on his work (e.g. with what other writing is my project in conversation?).

I am currently at the start of my third long-form fiction project. The writing I’m producing is of the broadest brush stroke. It is metawriting and holds very little story. Reading is critical and highly intentional. I’m reading a novel I believe is a model for this project and another novel that was a model for it. I am reading a craft book for painters, which is giving me diverse ways of looking at my writing, and I’m reading some poetry to maintain line of sight to the fact that each word matters. These books are all giving me maximum fuel at the start of this project, at a moment when momentum is not yet built and a great deal of fuel is needed.