We Need to Read Well to Write Well. But What Should We Read?

    

 

“We need to read well to write well.”
We have heard this so many times that it almost sounds like a rule we learnt in school.

But have we ever stopped to ask the next question?

What should we actually read if we want to become better writers?

Is reading everything enough? Should we read only literary classics? Should we read fiction, poetry, biographies, history, newspapers—or simply whatever catches our attention? Perhaps some answers can be found by looking at what accomplished writers themselves read and recommend.

Ruskin Bond: Read widely—and read for pleasure

Ruskin Bond has often connected reading directly with writing. In an interview, he said that young people who want to write should first become great readers: “Read well, write well” was his philosophy. He also said that reading teaches us to write.  His own reading journey is interesting because it wasn't restricted to one kind of literature. As a young reader, Bond read Rabindranath Tagore, Subodh Ghosh, Mulk Raj Anand and R. K. Narayan. Later, he said that he read more nonfiction—particularly biographies, the lives of writers and interesting history books. He also enjoyed memoirs and, when reading fiction, lighter detective stories.  That tells us something important.

We don't necessarily become better writers by reading only "serious" books.

A biography can teach us about a life. History can give us context. A detective story can teach us suspense. A memoir can teach us voice. A children's story can teach us simplicity. And perhaps a book we read purely for pleasure can teach us something that a book we read with a pencil in hand cannot.

Shashi Tharoor: Don't ignore what came before

Shashi Tharoor approaches reading from another interesting angle. In an interview, he explained that no great work of literature should simply be excluded from a scholar's reading list. His reasoning is that writers need to understand what came before them because earlier works influenced later writers. A well-read person, he suggested, understands the possibilities that previous writers have already explored.  His own recommendations are wonderfully varied.

Among his selections are The Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, The Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse, The Saga of Khassak by O. V. Vijayan and The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera.

He has also recommended works such as the Mahabharata, including P. Lal's transcreation, and Autobiography of a Yogi among nonfiction reading.

Look at that range: Epic literature-History.-Magical realism.-Humour-.Regional literature-.Philosophy-.Autobiography. There is no single shelf called “Books Writers Must Read.”

And then there is Vikram Seth

Vikram Seth himself is a wonderful example of why a writer's reading need not remain inside one literary box. He has written a vast family novel, a novel in verse, poetry, travel writing and works for younger readers. His writing moves between forms, which itself reminds us that reading different forms can expand our understanding of what writing can do.

His A Suitable Boy, for instance, is a huge novel, but its scale is part of its appeal: families, relationships, society, politics, culture and the everyday lives of people come together in one enormous narrative. And perhaps that is another lesson for a writer:

Read something that teaches you how to observe people. Read something that makes you notice dialogue, that makes you stop at a sentence because it is beautifully written., that introduces you to a world you have never known, that makes you laugh ,that makes you uncomfortable and makes you think.

Read poetry even if you don't write poetry.

Read children's literature even if you are an adult.

Read nonfiction even if you normally choose fiction.

Read in translation. Read writers from different regions and languages. And, occasionally, read something completely outside your comfort zone.

So, what books do we need to read?

Perhaps the better question is not:

“Which books should every writer read?”

It is:

“What kind of reading will make me a better observer, thinker and communicator?”

The answer could be different for every writer.

If you write personal essays, memoirs and biographies may help you understand voice and memory. If you into writing fiction, novels and short stories can show you different ways of constructing characters and worlds. If you like to pen poetry, poetry itself becomes an endless classroom. If you write about society, history and nonfiction can give depth to your observations. If you love to write for children, children's literature is certainly not something to outgrow.

And if you write about everyday life—as many bloggers do—perhaps the most useful reading can sometimes be found in books that teach us to look closely at ordinary things. The best writers often make ordinary things worth noticing.

Reading is not a competition

There is also something else worth remembering. We don't have to prove that we are well-read by producing a list of hundreds of books. Reading is not a race. Nor should a writer feel guilty because a particular "must-read" classic has remained unread on the shelf.

Ruskin Bond's approach of reading for pleasure is a useful reminder here. And Tharoor's wide-ranging reading shows us the value of curiosity and variety.Perhaps the ideal reading list is not one prescribed by somebody else.

It is a growing list that changes as we change.

One book leads us to another.
One writer introduces us to another.
One subject opens the door to another language, another culture or another period of history.

And somewhere along the way, without our consciously trying to do so, reading begins to influence our writing.

Our vocabulary grows, sentences become more natural, observations become sharper, understanding of people becomes deeper,  imagination gets wider. And we slowly discover our own voice.

Read well. Then write.

So, yes, we need to read well to write well.

But perhaps reading well doesn't mean reading only "great books".

It means reading curiously, widely and attentively.

Read the books you love, books you don't understand immediately, books recommended by writers you admire, beyond your favourite genre. your own country's literature, Read translations. Read old books and new books. And sometimes, pick up a book simply because the first sentence makes you want to know what comes next. Because ultimately, every book we read leaves something behind.

A word, An idea, A rhythm., A character, A question, A way of seeing. And perhaps that is how reading slowly becomes writing.

What books have helped you become a better reader—or a better writer? Which writer's reading recommendations have introduced you to a book you would otherwise have missed?

( Note: The recommendations above are based on interviews and published recommendation lists by the writers; they are not presented as a definitive “must-read” list.)

(This blogpost is a part of blogchatter's half marathon from a team member of Piyush plotters' details here : https://www.theblogchatter.com/campaign-registrations/the-blogchatter-half-marathon-2026-version-2)

We Speak With Our Tongue, Don’t We? The Curious World of Tongue Twisters

   

 

We see with our eyes. We hear with our ears. We taste with our tongue. We smell with our nose. We feel with our skin.

 These are among the first things we learnt in our kindergarten. These tell us about our five senses. But for children at that age, I always thought, we speak with our tongue rather than our mouth. For many years, I continued to believe that I was quite correct. Then, when I reached perhaps Class 2 or 3 — I remember it only roughly — tongue twisters came around in the classroom. And that, I thought, proved my point! If they were called tongue twisters, surely we speak with our tongue!

After a few more years, and reaching high school, I learnt that speaking is not quite so simple. We speak using the mouth, tongue, throat and several other parts involved in producing speech. Then came words such as phonetics, and perhaps gutturals — those deeper sounds produced towards the back of the mouth and throat. So my childhood understanding of “we speak with our tongue” was not entirely wrong. The tongue really does play an important role in articulation. But speech is a much bigger team effort. And somewhere along the way, tongue twisters made language even more interesting.

So, what exactly are tongue twisters?

A tongue twister is a phrase or sentence that is deliberately difficult to say quickly and accurately, usually because it contains similar or repeated sounds.

Take the famous:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.

Try saying it once.

Now twice.

Now three times, a little faster.

Suddenly, Peter Piper doesn't seem quite as innocent as he did!

Tongue twisters often use alliteration, repetition and similar sounds. The difficulty comes because our speech organs have to move rapidly from one sound to another, sometimes between sounds that are very similar. And that is precisely what makes them fun.

Where did tongue twisters come from?

Interestingly, tongue twisters are not a modern classroom invention. One of the best-known examples, Peter Piper, was printed in London in 1813 in a book by John Harris, titled Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation. The book contained a tongue twister corresponding to each letter of the alphabet.

The fascinating part is that the rhyme may have been known orally even before 1813. So John Harris may not have invented the rhyme himself; he appears to have brought an existing form of children's wordplay into print.

There is also an interesting story about the identity of Peter Piper. Some have suggested that he may have been inspired by Pierre Poivre, an eighteenth-century French horticulturist associated with spices. The connection is attractive because poivre is French for pepper and piper comes from the Latin word for pepper. But this remains a theory rather than an established fact.  So even a simple children's tongue twister has a little history, mystery and wordplay hiding behind it.

Why are they called tongue twisters?

Because the tongue seems to get itself into a knot! But technically, it is not just the tongue that is working. When we speak, different parts of the speech system have to coordinate precisely. The tongue, lips, teeth, palate, jaw and other structures help us produce different sounds. A tongue twister forces these movements to happen quickly and repeatedly.

That is why:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

can become:

Peter Piper picked a peck of...

and then suddenly—

Peter P... P... pepper...

The brain knows what we want to say, but the speech organs have to keep up!

From classroom fun to pronunciation practice

Perhaps this is why tongue twisters have survived for generations. They are learning disguised as fun. Children don't necessarily feel that they are doing pronunciation practice. They are simply trying to say something funny without making a mistake.

They may compete with friends:

“Can you say it three times?”

Then someone says it faster.

Someone makes a mistake.

Everyone laughs.

And they try again.

That repetition is valuable.

A 2023 study published in Foreign Language Annals compared tongue-twister practice with ordinary sentences for learners of Swedish as a second language. The study found that the tongue-twister group showed better development in the pronunciation features being practised, and most participants viewed the activity positively.  So what looked like a silly classroom game can actually have a serious linguistic purpose.

What can tongue twisters do for children?

1. They make pronunciation practice enjoyable

Pronunciation drills can sound rather serious. Tongue twisters make them playful. A child who may not want to repeat a difficult sound ten times may happily repeat a funny sentence ten times just to master it.

2. They make children listen carefully

Before saying a tongue twister correctly, children have to hear the difference between sounds.

Is it ship or sip?

Is it she sells or she shells?

The ear and the mouth have to work together.

3. They improve awareness of sounds

Tongue twisters draw attention to individual sounds and sound combinations. This is one reason they are useful in pronunciation teaching and phonological awareness activities. Recent early-childhood research also identifies tongue twisters as an activity that can support articulation and verbal fluency.

4. They build vocabulary

Not every tongue twister uses familiar words.

Take Peter Piper again.

What is a peck?

Why are the peppers pickled?

What does picked a peck mean?

A child may begin with a sentence that sounds funny and end up learning several new words. That is one of the lovely things about language: one word can lead to another, and one sentence can open the door to a little lesson.

 

5. They encourage confidence

There is something satisfying about finally saying a difficult tongue twister correctly.

First:

Peter Piper picked...

Then:

Peter Piper picked a peck...

And eventually, perhaps:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers!

That small success can make a child more willing to speak aloud. And speaking aloud matters. The more comfortable children become with saying words, the less frightening it can feel to participate in a classroom, read aloud or speak before others.

And what about writing?

This is where I would make a small distinction. Tongue twisters directly practise speech and pronunciation, not writing itself. There is not enough evidence to say that merely practising tongue twisters automatically makes someone a better writer.

But they can certainly contribute to some of the skills that a writer needs.

They make children notice:

• sounds,
• rhythm,
• repetition,
• word patterns,
• alliteration,
• vocabulary,
• sentence structure and
• the musical quality of language.

And writers need to notice words.

A child who enjoys “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers” may eventually begin noticing how words sound together and how repetition can make a sentence memorable. That can become useful in poems, stories, advertisements, speeches and creative writing. In other words, tongue twisters may not teach writing directly, but they can make children more curious about language — and that curiosity can travel into writing.

Tongue twisters are not only for children

We usually associate them with children because that is where many of us first encountered them. But adults use them too. Actors, public speakers, teachers, broadcasters and language learners sometimes use them as speech exercises. They can be particularly useful for becoming conscious of articulation and pronunciation.

And, of course, they are simply fun.

Try saying:

She sells seashells by the seashore.

Or:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

Now try them faster. The child in us comes back immediately!

From five senses to one funny question

Coming back to where I started:

We see with our eyes.
We hear with our ears.
We taste with our tongue.
We smell with our nose.
We feel with our skin.

And as a child, I wondered:

Don't we speak with our tongue?

Years later, phonetics gave me a much more complicated answer. But perhaps the simpler childhood answer still has some truth in it. The tongue is one of the important players in speech. And then came tongue twisters — those wonderfully mischievous little sentences that made me realise that speaking is not merely about knowing words. It is also about moving, listening, repeating, experimenting and having fun with those words. Perhaps that is their greatest charm. A tongue twister may begin as a classroom game.

It can become a pronunciation exercise.

It can introduce new vocabulary.

It can make children laugh.

It can build the confidence to speak.

And somewhere along the way, it may even make us fall a little more in love with language itself. After all, language doesn't always have to be serious to teach us something. Sometimes, we just need to twist our tongue!

 

Now it's your turn! Do you have a favourite tongue twister that you can say any number of times without making a mistake? Or perhaps a fun memory associated with tongue twisters? And do you remember which writer or book first introduced you to the world of tongue twisters?

( This blogpost is  a  part of Blogchatter's Half marathon  from a team member of Piyush Plotter's. details here ; https://www.theblogchatter.com/campaign-registrations/the-blogchatter-half-marathon-2026-version-2)

LOVE, MISMATCHED BY RAJANI TEWARI

 

 Author ; Rajani Tewari

Genre: fiction / Romance

Publisher: Nu voice press

Book buy link @Amazon

The author is a corporate warrior by day and a wordsmith by midnight. After penning GUILT TRIP and THE AUDACITY OF BEING ENOUGH, both featuring bold, hilarious and quirky female characters, she now turns the spotlight to love in its messy, mushy and magnificent everyday form.

The book LOVE, MISMATCHED is about Berry and Pea and their romance, which they think is losing its way. What makes them think so? What’s the big change that is happening these days, which makes them think that something is missing in their lives?

All these are answered in this book, though not in a direct conversation, but with certain situations, actions and reactions. An interesting take on love & romance, with realizations, reflections and reasons.

The longer we're married, the more we realize that money can make life more comfortable and bring many joyful moments. But true happiness can't be bought. It grows from gratitude, kindness, understanding, and choosing each other every single day. Berry and Pea are up to this.

A book of fiction that carries all the truly practical ones in the lives of a married couple. A book that makes you feel relatable, echoing and, at times, it’s you and him. This book comes as a relief in a time of stress, hyper things and too much drama.

Everybody, even new readers, will enjoy it too—if he/she is married—a reflection of the past for the old and a light on the future for the newly married.

LOVE, MISMATCHED is a book of truly a couple in an urban middle-class family. A love that is simply away from being dramatic, rather very practical, no humdrums, simply/casually the conversations, both spoken/unspoken words, that the meaning is fully understood only by the speaker or the listener; giver or taker; or one does and the other looks in.

The language of mute can be understood only by few who use their eyes and listen with their heart and soul. Though subtitles appear, it’s secondary. Only the visuals and the one present right in front of them in images matters more.

The link between love and poetry is well used by the author as a way to express their desires, thoughts and feelings relating to everyday things and objects. It makes reading a musical and joyful event and will leave the reader expecting more and wanting to complete the book soon.

Special features of the book

1.     Short and sweet.

2.     Poetic.

3.     Scene by scene.

4.     No exaggeration—a common man’s saga.

Family, couples, kids, career, housework and in between all these, romance often blooms but often gets unnoticed.

With the hype around in many vistas of life, romance/love has been described as something that can bloom only in .......... But a natural and pure way of loving each other—the romance of a husband and wife—exists in its simple form in everyday life.

As Ruskin Bond says, “Happiness is a mysterious thing, to be found somewhere between too little and too much.” Likewise, in everyday life, its magic is required to find love and romance.

A quiet read to feel light, cool and feel the love.

(Received a copy of the book from reviewmybooks in return of an honest review)

(This blogpost is a part of blogchatter's half marathon from a team member of piyush plotters' . details here ; https://www.theblogchatter.com/campaign-registrations/the-blogchatter-half-marathon-2026-version-2)

A Note of Gratitude

  

I am deeply grateful to Anuradha for her responsiveness, for her help in preparing some of my books, for her insightful vision and flair for good literature, as well as for her loyalty to this very important passion of hers! We have known each other for several years now—ever since my first book—and she has always been not just a critic, but someone whose words have been a crucial source of support for me! I wish her to find the best books in the world and never give up! May life and this pursuit always bring true pleasure!

PROFILE :  

Egor Klopenko is an award-winning children’s author, storyteller and creator of The World of Kindness — an international literary and theatrical project inspired by his books.

The author of more than 20 books for children, Egor writes about kindness, courage, empathy, imagination, self-discovery and the quiet magic that connects people. His work has received international recognition, including the Children’s Book International 2026 American Writing Award, 2026 International Book Awards, The Golden Wizard Book Prize, International Author Excellence Award 2026, Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, Independent Author Awards 2026 and recognition from the Literary Global Children’s Book Awards and National Indie Excellence Awards.

His books have also received praise from literary critics, publishers and publishing professionals internationally. His work has been featured through NetGalley and is being developed for international publication and translation.

Egor is currently developing The World of Kindness into an international theatrical project, bringing his stories to the stage through puppetry, paper theatre, animation, projection, original music and live storytelling. The first productions are being developed for children and families in multiple languages, with the vision of bringing the world of his books to audiences around the globe.

His goal is simple: to create stories that leave a little more kindness and light in the world.

He can be reached through his Instagram handle : https://www.instagram.com/egorklopenko/

(This is the 3rd WEEK- 11TH YEAR- GUEST POST SERIES - POST 3)