how do I become a good writer when all I do is read books?

Answer 1

I'm not a huge Stephen King fan, but his book "On Writing" is excellent. I don't endorse everything in it, but it is a good guide. In there he talks about how in order to be an excellent writer you must read and write everyday. A great professor I once had encouraged me to read a variety of works - not just literature - to increase my abilities. I have followed his council, and the effects have been huge. Follow the same council on your writing - do not stagnate and just write one sort of thing. You may have one thing you concentrate the most on or publish, but you will have other things you write just for you. Also, when you read, don't just read lazily. Question the author's word choice, sentence composition, flow, etc. In your questioning and analyzing you will learn much about language and communication.

Answer 2

You are on the right track. Reading is very important to becoming a good writer, but you also need to write a lot as well. It can be as little as a paragraph every day, but make sure it is every day. Because you read so much, you should begin to be able to see what looks "right" and what doesn't as you write. Of course, this depends on the quality of what you are reading. If you are reading books with a lot of run-ons, fragments, mispelled words, and incorrect usage, you will see these as "right" when, in fact, they are errors.

The ideas, however, have to come from you. Good luck.

Answer 3

Read the book how to read and write, its a book from the Readers Digest
Learn grammer and punctuation,
Start writing and give it a go,
Be motivated, dedicated and hard working
Write in the environment that suits you the best
Ask a good writer for some tips; in my case I always consult my dad who is a writer and my uncle and my college lecturer
Be genuine and work your story on what you want to write most passionately about. We are from India and though we may not write great books we do have people who have made it big in the literary world. Its all about what you want to write about and how you work around to it is what leads to success.

Best of luck and email me for any advice!

Answer 4

I struggle with this dilemma as well LOL I love to read and I also write. It takes discipline, you have to make yourself take the time to sit and write your own stories. Once you've started it gets easier as you go along.

The stories I write are already complete in my head so when I sit down at the computer I'm not wasting too much time thinking about what to write. My suggestion is to think of what you want to write about and the stories you want to create during times you can't read (taking a shower, going to sleep, exercising, etc) That way when you do sit down to write your story, you'll at least have an idea of what you want to say and it will give you more time to get back to reading as well :-)

Answer 5

By reading you are feeding information to you're brain, depending on what type of book you're reading.

If you read Star Wars books you learn more about Sci-Fi Action.
If you read The Scarlet Letter you learn more about Historical Fiction...ect.

By reading more you learn more about each type of book and learn what makes a book interesting to the public (you're apart of the public too). This can really help you in you're writing, just don't plagerize or steal other author's ideas.

Good Luck! ; )

Answer 6

Start writing whatever you like. Give it a go. To become good writer, one must be a good reader. So you already have the foundation. Break the silence.

Answer 7

Just start writing. It doesnt have to be in order. When I write, I write whatever comes into my thoughts for whatever part of the book. I will blend it all together later. ( This helps with writers block )

Answer 8

just start writing, come up with an idea that interests you and ..make it happen...turn the story idea into something creative, and base what you've learned from your reading into your work....it me helped when i had to do a story for my class

Answer 9

you already answered your own question. you need to start writing as well as reading.

Answer 10

go to the neighborhood zoo and bang your head on the crocodile's eyes.