Reading and writing are interconnected. They mimic and support each other and these two skills need to be practiced together for academic success.
If you want to improve your writing, reading will help you do it. What’s more, science and research back up this claim. Here’s exactly why you should start reading more, and how it is connected with writing.
Learn by Example
Monkey see monkey do. Reading various stories and texts will expose you to many different writing styles, tone, and fluidity. Great writing is wonderful to try and emulate in your own way, but keep in mind that it takes the time to develop excellent writing skills. You won’t just read one or two fabulous texts and start producing masterpieces.
Even poorly written papers, books, and entries will teach you something. They will set the example for what not to do, which is very useful. No matter what, reading will widely help you cultivate your own style of writing.
Increase Your Vocabulary
Just as reading exposes you to different ways of writing, it will also expose you to new words, plus ways to use words that you already know. Increasing your vocabulary will help with your writing because you will have a varied way to express yourself. It also makes your writing sound more educated and authoritative.
Gain Prior Knowledge
It’s well known that reading opens up a whole new world. There is so much to explore through text that is both fiction and nonfiction. By reading, when you go to write, you will have some background knowledge on certain subjects because you have read about them. You can use this for inspiration and to make your writing better.
Get the Mechanics Down
Reading shows you a lot about style, vocabulary, and different subjects. All of these things are useful when writing. What reading also shows you is how to use the tools necessary to write a complete paper. These include punctuation marks, phrases, and grammar; everything that is important and hard to master.
You don’t need to specifically study what an author is doing to reap the benefits (although you can if you want to!) of starting or continuing to learn mechanics. Just by making yourself a little more aware of them will be enough.
Making Sense of It All
Although the connection between reading and writing may not be difficult to see, it’s hard to say which one helps the other. The main idea is that they both help each other: reading helps writing, and writing helps reading. It’s much like the old question of which came first – the chicken or the egg?
Here we have mainly focused on the effect of reading on writing, and the research and annotated observations have shown us that it is a great one. So what are you waiting for? Pick up the next book you see, and the one after that, and you will see your writing going up, and up, and up.