If you’re anything like me, you have a stack of books somewhere that keeps getting taller. It seems like every book I read is replaced by one or two more!

The fact is, writers like to read. Need to read.

I’m not just talking about pleasure reading, which is a “given”. Every writer I have ever met has told me that it was the love of reading that sparked within them the love of writing. 

No, I’m talking about reading about writing. The craft. Punctuation and grammar to be sure, but also reading about genres, point-of-view, voice, character development, plot and hundreds of more things we need to consider—need to master—in pursuit of excellence.

So, what’s next on my stack? James Scott Bell’s How to Write Dazzling Dialogue and Steven Pressfield’s Turning Pro.  But I won’t forget to pleasure-read, too.

After all, “All work, and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.”

I read that somewhere…