Any art needs theory, practice, and study of the greats. Unless you're some kind of exceptional genius talent out of the gate - and no one is, really - you need inspiration from other work, imitation, understanding, and practice of your own work.
It helps a lot if you're obsessive and/or enjoy it a lot. Ideally both.
None of these are a substitute for talent, but likewise talent isn't a substitute for them.
The point OP misses and apparently everyone here does too, is that if your goal is to become a better writer, you should absolutely read, but read with conviction to learn what makes a good or a bad book. You are not reading it for pleasure at that point. An Uber driver who drives a bus every day of his life is not necessarily better than someone who (a) is more skilled naturally and (b) deliberately practices for much shorter times to become a better driver. How is it any different here?
Cal Newport touches this in his books. The best solo violinists dont practice any longer or harder than the other violinists, they practice deliberately and that looks very different.
So in summary I think OP is pretty wrong. Asking people to just read more without adding this nuance is just going to create a bunch of zombies who read a novel a week and are none the better for it.
The only books that are required reading if youre planning to write are "on writing" by King and Strunk n White. Just memorize the latter. Then read your competition, carefully. Then just start writing.
Any art needs theory, practice, and study of the greats. Unless you're some kind of exceptional genius talent out of the gate - and no one is, really - you need inspiration from other work, imitation, understanding, and practice of your own work.
It helps a lot if you're obsessive and/or enjoy it a lot. Ideally both.
None of these are a substitute for talent, but likewise talent isn't a substitute for them.
Yes, but there's a significant asymmetry with the advice usually given. I hear "Read a lot" about 10x more than "Write a lot".
I've been reading a lot for decades. I'm a crappy writer. There is a saturation point.
The point OP misses and apparently everyone here does too, is that if your goal is to become a better writer, you should absolutely read, but read with conviction to learn what makes a good or a bad book. You are not reading it for pleasure at that point. An Uber driver who drives a bus every day of his life is not necessarily better than someone who (a) is more skilled naturally and (b) deliberately practices for much shorter times to become a better driver. How is it any different here?
Cal Newport touches this in his books. The best solo violinists dont practice any longer or harder than the other violinists, they practice deliberately and that looks very different.
So in summary I think OP is pretty wrong. Asking people to just read more without adding this nuance is just going to create a bunch of zombies who read a novel a week and are none the better for it.
The only books that are required reading if youre planning to write are "on writing" by King and Strunk n White. Just memorize the latter. Then read your competition, carefully. Then just start writing.