How does reading improve writing? Well, Francine Prose, the famous American novelist and the former president of PEN American Center, once said that she was a huge, huge reader as a kid, and that made her realize how being a writer rests greatly on being a reader. Queen Elizabeth II used to borrow books from a library and that slowly transformed her into an avid writer. Many other such stories tell us how reading can inspire someone to become a writer. There are plenty of examples of how reading has an impact on your understanding of various subjects, grammar, flow, and style.
For students who are in school or college, this matters a lot because they consistently work on writing assignments. Their scores and overall academic success depend a lot on that. Let’s see how does reading help you in mastering academic writing.
Concentration and vocabulary
Reading is like a mental workout that works wonders for your focus and attention span. It strengthens your ability to stay engaged with the book you are reading. In the process, you get familiar with new words. You look for their meaning in the dictionary. It’s a process by which you remember the word’s meaning for a long time.
Both reading and writing are things that take time to master. You cannot generate interest in yourself to read a book in a day. Even if you start to read and cover a few books, the talent to write well takes time to build up. When you are working on your skills, external help to do your assignments is important. Instead of sitting back and wondering who will do my homework for me, contact a good homework service. The online expert writers there will take down instructions from you and deliver the work exactly as per requirements. They are trained and have dealt with thousands of students so they make every assignment look easy.
Familiarity with various writing styles
Every author has a unique writing style. The way JK Rowling writes is different from Enid Blyton and the way Jeff Archer writes is different from John Grisham. Beyond novels, even academic textbook writing styles differ. Reading exposes you to a wide range of these styles. This helps you learn various storytelling techniques and information presentation.
Subconscious learning
Your brain absorbs the ‘how’ of writing while you read. Your mind constantly works to soak up grammar, sentence structure (syntax), punctuation use, and also the author’s writing style. All of this happens subconsciously because while you are reading, you don’t even realize that you are soaking up a lot of knowledge.
Grasp on document design and structure
Coming across various types of documents, from essays to novels, helps you in knowing how information is organized and presented in the best way. From layout and subheadings to the logical flow of ideas, there’s much more that you learn.
New insights and inspiration
Reading gives you new and unique perspectives. You get ideas that you usually don’t from other sources like the internet or television. It sparks your curiosity and challenges your assumptions, which makes you look out for more information. You read more and more in your quest for knowledge and improve your writing with it as you take notes, form questions, etc.
A real empathy booster
Reading about various interesting characters helps you to understand their lives better. You get deep insights into their emotions and way of thinking. This builds empathy and you start connecting with real people too at a deeper level. This allows you to pen down your thoughts in a better way.
Stress reduction
Read an interesting and captivating book and you will see that you have escaped from daily pressures. A beautiful story can help you leave worries behind and be happier in everything that you do.
Sleep well (with print books)
How can reading help you mentally and physically? Reading a physical book has mental and physical health benefits. You relax when you read and it eases your mind. This prepares you for a good night’s sleep. This way, you also get to escape your digital devices.
Conclusion
With this list, you now know how does reading improve your writing skills. This list of benefits of reading must have created interest in you to get hold of some books and get started immediately. Why not, it’s related to the knowledge you gain from the books, and capitalize on it to get success in your career. Here we are talking about benefits for writers but its actual span of advantages is wider. It will help you score high grades in college and impress your teachers but once you step out of the academic world, its great uses in professional life will also surprise you.
Author’s Bio
Sylvester Greer is deeply into books – reading, writing, reviewing, designing. He simply loves every aspect of books. In his academic writing career, he has done more books than essays and homework but he is equally good in everything and receives top ratings on almost every work.
The Lit Bitch 