The New York Times > Opinion > To Write Well, Read:
To the Editor:
Re “Modifying the Subject” (Education Life, Nov. 7), about a revival in grammar instruction:
What really makes good writers is reading. I grew up in a family whose love of books bordered on fetishism. At Christmas and birthdays, books were the gifts of choice. When I was an adolescent, my natural desire for battery-powered playthings was rarely indulged; as a 40-year-old, I consider myself lucky to have missed the intellectually stunting onslaught of video games.
Reading, and not the memorization of rules, is what instills the instincts necessary for good writing.
Scott Cole
Ashland, Ore., Nov. 7, 2004
I got into my bones the essential structure of the normal British sentence — which is a noble thing. (Winston Churchill)
That’s a very good way to learn the craft of writing — from reading. (William Faulkner)
How else do you enrich your vocabulary with new words if you never read any? Or how else to savor the different uses of words, alone or in clauses, phrases, and sentences, if you never take the time to enjoy them?
Following Mr Cole’s advice, you end not knowing many — or any — rules but you know when something sounds right. I’m happy to get it right without citing chapter and verse as to why.
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