: 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

@BetL639

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We can draw a parallel to sports with this as you did with your OP. Just because I watched Derek Jeter, Michael Jordan, or Payton Manning play every game of their entire career, does not mean I can go out and play just as good as them. This watching or "reading" is taken in at a different context. You watch for enjoyment. Sure you can sit there and play around with the setting:

The count is 3-2, bases are loaded, bottom of the 9th and the game is
tied. Pitcher can't go for a strikeout and risk bouncing the ball in
the dirt for a wild pitch, and if he throws anything off the plate, he
will walk in the winning run... so that means he probably will give
him a hard cutter in to jam him and rely on his defense

Let's be honest though, not many people get better at baseball simply because they thought through a situation on TV. Just like practice does not inherently make you better if all you do is practice. I can sit there and throw a football the wrong way and practice doing that 1000 times. That doesn't mean I am better at throwing a football, I just reinforced bad habits.

You need to be active in your practice and viewing. Many athletes study film where they can take a bad pitch, study the film of that 1 throw that gave up a home run. Slow it down, pause it. play it real time. Rewind. Pause it and blow up the still-frame to zoom in on finger placement of the ball. This then allows someone to properly analyze what they are seeing and apply what they see to their own practice.

This all is the same for reading and writing. You can read 100 books a month, but that doesn't mean you are gaining anything from reading. You need to actively read. If you read something you find well written, do you pause, write it down, mark it, re-read it, reflect why you liked it and then moved on? If we all did that, it would take us a month to go through a book that would take the casual reader 3 days to read. It also takes away from the enjoyment of the actual book because we are not reading the story for what it is, but studying it's literary make up.

TL;DR I caution the notion that read read read is the best advice to give. Reading mindlessly for the sake of pounding through books is not going to help someone be a better writer. They need to be an active reader which, I believe, the "active" part, is where a lot of people fall short on this advice when they see a lack of growth.

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