I miss reading several books a week, but I always make sure I have some time to read. I find I am not only more motivated to write more after reading, but I also write better. I know we as writers learn a lot through osmosis. I study one of my favorite author's voice, another's use of dialogue or sentence structure, and maybe another one's prose.
It took awhile, but I can finally study an author's writing while reading. It may take me a bit longer, but I always learn something, even if the story wasn't one I particularly enjoyed. I explore the things I liked and didn't like about the story, and more importantly why I did/didn't like it.
Sometimes if I'm stuck and the words just aren't flowing, I will use reading as a warm up for my writing session. Beautiful words always seem to rouse the muse. How about you? Do you find you write better after you read? What warm up methods do you use?
