: Re: Is read, read, read really the best advice? Is there any evidence that a prolific readers are better equipped to write than a non-reader? At first I'd suggest the answer is a no-brainer but

@Lee1909368

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Interesting question that somewhat relates to this questions about stealing characters. (See my answer there for some thoughts on fan fictions, individual style, and "faking it until you make it".)

If I translate your question into my own words, I come up with this: Does reading novels relate to creativity?

Fron my own experience, I would say: No. I've made up stories to better understand my world before I was even able to read. Once I've mastered the craft of reading and writing, I started to tell my stories via the medium of the written word. Because of this -- because I was curious about stories, about characters, about what makes people and the world in general tick, really -- I started to read. Reading still is the primary source of information for me, but it didn't inspire me to tell stories.

Additionally, there's a difference between just "reading mindlessly" and actively learning something, at least there is for me. Just because I've read good books doesn't mean I am able to "produce" good books. To pull that off, I need to learn about what makes up a "book" and what turns it into something "good" on a separate, much more abstract level. (Did I say that this is purely subjective and based on my personal experiences?) I learned structure from textbooks, not from novels. It was absolutely necessary that I had read a vast selection of novels before I set out to learn about structure -- how else would I have been able to check my knowledge against existing work? --, but my understanding of structure ultimately does not stem from the raw novels that I read, but from the clever people who analysed stories in general and tried to figure out how they work.

Lastly, I agree that the cliché of the well-read, possibly academic, horribly wise author is exactly that -- a cliché. If storytellers get rejected solely on the grounds that they don't fit the mold of the distinguished, clever guy, that's just sad.

tl;dr: While I don't doubt that reading and studying help to harnest the fruits of your creativity in the most effective way, I'm still not convinced that the basic core of creativity -- that undirected drive to tell stories -- can be learned.

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