How much should you read before you start writing?

[Teresa Edgerton]

why it's a good idea to read widely -- so you're not overly influenced by one author

That is a very good (and important point). Those who won't read in the genre they have chosen once they start writing because they "they want to be original and don't want to be influenced" don't realize how excessively they will be influenced by whatever it is they have already read, or seen in a movie, or played in a role-playing game, that made them think they would like to write in that genre. Reading in the genre is important, so that you know what has already been done to death, and, hopefully receive some inspiration from what is good, to assimilate and combine with other influences. But a variety of reading outside the genre (and that includes non-fiction as well as fiction, can inspire fresh ideas by that same process of assimilation).

But I think this is also true:

That may very well be a good sign - that you are reading deliberately, and hearing the words in your head. That's exactly the kind of reading that will help your writing, rather than the breezy skimming that a lot of high-volume readers employ.

Because that kind of deliberate and thoughtful reading can be more helpful in assimilating ideas than just gulping down a story.

(Confession: I tend to be a gulper when I love a story. I can't wait to see what happens next. Zoom, I just go right through. But I do go back and reread the parts that impressed me, giving them closer attention.

And with writers who put together words beautifully, who I know produce striking images, I usually read more slowly in order to savor their work. I always do this, for instance, when I am reading books by Patricia McKillip or Tanith Lee.)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I think most big readers do this - go back to passages and see why they worked. For me, it's usually a dazzling character moment that moves me and I have to reread it several times to work out why it moves me. (Cathy's 'we must pass my Gimmerton Kirk' soliloquay in Wuthering Heights makes me stop and read it several times in each reading.)

 

[tinkerdan]

Reading is important; but more important is reading within the genre that you intend to write. So if that's what you've been doing then how much you've read makes less difference than how much you've gotten out of what you've read.

@BAYLOR::

Ive read many books all the genres , seen a variety of different styles of writing . While I can appreciate good writing, I find I just cannot write fiction, Ive tried. The frustrating part is, that I have a good imagination .

In my early education whenever I was asked to write the equivalent of fiction for class I came up empty and decided I would never be able to write fiction. But I really enjoyed it and read whenever I could. Though it has taken a number of false starts to get going I have finally reached a place where I have proven my first judgment about my ability to be in error.

I also discovered that if you keep your treasure (the fruit of your imagination) buried where no one can see it; then you deprive even yourself the enjoyment of it. So enjoy yourself and start putting it down on paper.

 

[J Riff]

Eventually you go back to books you liked a lot and start trying to see how it was achieved. Then you are hooked, done for. *