Most people have heard the cliché saying “If you want to be a good writer, you need to read.” Only in reading other people's writing will you learn some of the most important things about writing like what topics are overused, what makes a believable character, how to make a story worth reading, and what kind of writer you wish to be.
I can tell that not enough people read because when I read the stories of new authors, I see the emptiness in writing, the inability to create suspense without the use of cheap gimmicks like the title of John Dies at the End, the lack of purpose or direction in storytelling, and flat characters that neglect to create a connection with readers. Some of the easiest ways to pinpoint a self-published author who does not read enough comes from the way they stumble grammatically and misuse words. A common error is writing laid as the past tense of lie down. It should be written: “He lay in bed the night of the storm.” Anyone that has read a few classics would recognize that. Yet, it is so often written incorrectly.
I once came across a comment someone wrote about how the world needs more readers, not writers. The comment went on to state that there are so many books that many will often be ignored. I've been thinking about this topic recently, especially how it relates to Steemit and the internet in general.
In this era, we have the opportunity to freely promote our ideas, to share and express our thoughts in writing. It has become so commonplace that I think people forget that it wasn't always this way. People weren't allowed to question and challenge popular opinions, and never has it been as simple as a click of a button to publish our beliefs. Most people take advantage of this because it's only natural for a member of a social species to want to communicate and to desire some sort of recognition among the many.
But beyond the thoughts of many individuals, there are countless avenues of entertainment to discover online and offline. You see blogs written with bullet points because it takes only a second to lose someone's attention when people are being pulled in every direction. There simply isn't enough time to let it all sink in, so we have to be wise about which things we read from beginning to end. So often, people move on to the next thing after a paragraph or two or they begin skimming.
I have been reading some of the works of Stephen King. In his anthology The Bazaar of Bad Dreams he uses a common phrase of his, “Dear Constant Reader”, to describe the fans of his work. Whether you like his writing or not, he understands the craft. It is not just about his ability to create a story filled with entertainment, his technique in using storytelling elements, or that he imagines and unfolds believable characters through dialogue and description. He also understands that a story is not the work of one person. It is the conversation that is built between a writer and readers. That's what makes a story.
There is so much to read in the world, and we're all here filling space with our writing. I've seen a handful of posts so far about people not making as much money here as they would like, and I have to wonder how many people consider how fortunate they are to have readers at all. Every reader has value. Every time someone spends five or ten minutes pondering your thoughts is something to take in with gratitude. More so than the fact that I can potentially make money on this platform, I appreciate Steemit because people here have stumbled upon my writing and left me comments about it. Without the aid of advertisement, I have discovered some readers.
Every reader should be thanked. So thank you.