Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Sarah Miller's avatar

I agree with you 100%, Ramona -- can't be a writer unless you're a reader. The only caveat, I think, is the "lifetime reader" part -- if people didn't read as kids but they want to write as adults, fine. Read a lot. It's not impossible. It helps if you start when you're a child, but you're not doomed if you didn't.

The idea that being a reader only makes you a better reader and has nothing to do with your skills as a writer is just poppycock 😂 Probably a statement made by someone who doesn't want to read. Sorry not sorry -- that's not how it works.

Expand full comment
Kiki's avatar

In language acquisition theory, there’s this idea that input has to proceed output. All humans have the innate ability to learn language, but their exposure to language is what ultimately drives their language ability and usage- what native language they speak, their vocabulary, grammatical structures, accent, etc.

I would imagine that reading has the same impact on writing. Much like oral language learning (both for native languages and discussed more prominently when talking about second language acquisition), there is likely a “critical period” when we’re younger in which the more we read, the better we get at it, and the more sophisticated language structures we pick up that we then in turn use in writing. Like another commenter said, it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn to write as adults, but we’re probably going to have a whole lot of reading to do (and maybe even writing workshops to attend) to catch up to our peers who have a lifetime of reading under their belts.

Expand full comment
59 more comments...

No posts