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)