"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut.ā
ā Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Since starting my journey to become a writer, I've spent hundreds of hours scouring the internet, reading craft books, watching "author tube" and anything writing-related, looking for sage wisdom.
The quote from Stephen King stands out for me as the most brilliantly useless bit of advice for a novice.
Bibliophiles put the pitchforks and torches down!
Let me explain. The advice is brilliant because it is true. But useless for the beginner looking for instruction.
If we examine it from the "read a lot" aspect, the problem is that it's too vague.
Read what?
And how much is a lot?
No specificity, no clarity, and no focus often equals no implementation.
Arguably, how you read might be more important (for a writer) rather than the volume, but that is an essay for another time. Instead, I will suggest some starting points on "what" you should start reading:
Read in the GENRE you want to write in: More than likely you are already doing that, but if you aren't you can either start with books that are popular or trending now, or look up those that are considered "classics" and "masterpieces". After, you can read the ones that weren't that well received, compare and contrast, and figure out what works and what doesn't.
Read outside your genre. If you write Sci-Fi, read historical fiction, or mystery or romance. There are things called sub-plots, and broadening your horizons can help with this and make for a novel with more depth and dimension.
Read NON-FICTION. Yes, that's a wide category, so here are some suggestions:
Writing Craft Books: Learn about story structure, plot, and character.
Psychology: This will help with MINDSET and understanding people and their MOTIVATION. Perfect for character creation.
History: Pick a period and delve into the climate, the conflicts, and the characters that populate the bygone world. It is a great way to get ideas for sweeping epics, and generational sagas, and to understand how "setting" can shape your "characters" attitudes and outlooks.
Science: The benefit for speculative fiction writers is obvious. But even if that isn't your genre, perusing a magazine meant to popularize science (rather than an academic journal-which, let's be honest, is quite dry) might spark your creativity in unexpected ways!
Poetry: To me, words set in verse carry a beauty unmatched! It's a great tool if you want to learn to write achingly beautiful prose. Or, just understand tools like alliteration.
This is by no means a comprehensive list. The aim is to read, and read widely! Read to learn things, to inspire your creativity, to find beauty, to know horror, to laugh, to cry. Read things that move you, shake you, and disturb you. Read with passion and I promise, you will write with ferocity.