If You’re Not a Reader, You Can’t Be a Great Writer
And If You Are Reading, Read Like a Writer
“Do you know anyone that can help me write my memoir,” Christy, a former student, wrote to me in an email. She took one of my classes but never came back. That’s how it goes sometimes.
Anyway, Christy wanted to write a memoir. I wrote back, letting her know that while I don’t teach memoir per se, I do teach people how to write and write well. I invited her to join one of my upcoming classes but also suggested that if she was interested in a more specific class, one that focused on memoir, maybe she could find something on Google.
I also recommended she read Vivian Gornick’s The Situation and The Story and Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir.
“Thanks,” she wrote back almost immediately. “I don’t like to read.”
Christy isn’t a writer. She likes the idea of writing, but she doesn’t appreciate the craft of writing. If you don’t like reading, you can’t be a writer. Christy wanted to tell her story but didn’t want to write it. I don’t blame her; writing is hard work, and if you don’t understand or appreciate the craft, I recommend not becoming a writer.
“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
― Stephen King
