"To which I say this: fuck you, you’re not too busy." What's with the abuse? Is that the hallmark of a great writer as well? Fuck this, fuck that. Pathetic.

That said, good advice. Mediocre readers are mediocre writers. The reverse is not necessarily true. I've met many fantasy writers (hello Readercon!) who've read every damn series and then proceed to write yet another Tolkienesque knockoff. Their brains are pretty much like overtrained LLMs.

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dbtc 43 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Perhaps what you're getting at is that being a good writer is not all it takes to make a good [art/story/work...], but I'm not unconvinced that reading is the key for the writing part.

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iainctduncan 43 minutes ago | parent | prev | next [-]

You are quoting him out of context. That was directed at wannabe-writers who don't make time to read. Which is completely fucking batshit crazy. If anyone deserves some f-bombs, it's them.

Additionally, the very next sentence is "Joking. I would never say that. But I certainly fucking think it."

	▲	SunOrbiter1 10 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Who exactly is the advice for? For those who don't read, right? In that case, how does abusing them help? There's another golden rule about treating people the way--can't quite recall it, hmmm... Casual obscenity has become so normalized in the culture, you probably feel outraged I'm even bringing it up. Not reading has also become normalized in just the same manner. No one reads if they can at all help it-- not at work, not in parks, not on the commute, and not for writing. Their loss, of course.

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popalchemist 28 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Instant yawn and instant dismissal; I don't want advice from a psychologically stunted man-child.

	▲	andsoitis 26 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> Instant yawn and instant dismissal; I don't want advice from a psychologically stunted man-child. So you don’t agree with his one golden rule for becoming a better writer?