If you want to improve your skills as a fiction writer, you need to first become a student of the craft.

In other disciplines, this is common sense. For example, aspiring basketball players might study film of Allen Iverson’s killer crossover, Tim Duncan’s post moves, or Kobe Bryant’s fallaway jump shot. It is not by mere coincidence that any of these future Hall of Fame basketball players created these moves in a vacuum. They, themselves, also studied film of their predecessors. A culture of study and application exists in the NBA.

However, when it comes to writing fiction, many beginning writers will approach the craft with the assumption that anyone can write. And to some extent, this is true. Millions of Americans have composed essays in high school or composed descriptive passages in emails. So, yes, millions of people possess the ability to write. And unlike basketball, since writing is such a solitary experience, judging the inherent quality of the writing begins (and sometimes, unfortunately, ends) with the actual writer.

But, make no mistake about it: Writing fiction is a skill. And like any skill, it requires dedication and direction to improve. This is where reading comes into play.

To be a successful writer, you need to develop an appetite for reading. Read the classics. Read your contemporaries. Read books outside of your genre. And when you finish one book, begin another.

By reading these books, you will be exposed to the “killer crossovers, post moves, and fallaway jump shots” of other successful writers.

In order to improve the ways in which you write your heart out, you need to find the time to read your heart out, too.

(I realize this might be particularly challenging during NaNoWriMo, though…)

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