Writers Who Don’t Read

Here’s a riddle for you: A group of writers who don’t read square off in a race around the world.

They race against the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, and a young Justin Timberlake.

Who wins?

Give up? The answer is a young Justin Timberlake.

Why?

Because the other three don’t exist!

Simple joke. But it also happens to be true.

Larry McMurtry points out the trade-off between reading and writing. And Patti Smith agrees that reading leads to writing. For some, it just comes from a love of books.

And yes, of course, there is no shortcut.

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.

-Stephen King, On Writing