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Why reading is cool

The written word, as an art form, is unlike any other: movies, TV, music, they're shared experiences, they're the same for everyone. Books aren't like that. The relationship between a writer and a reader is utterly unique to those two individuals.

The world that forms in your head as you read a book will be slightly different to that experienced by any other reader. Anywhere. Ever. Reading is very personal, something which can't be exactly copied, or replicated, or directly shared.

If I read the work of, for example, one of the great Victorian novelists, it's like hearing the past, like connecting to another's thoughts. That writer's ideas are down on paper, to be picked up by me, over a century later. Writers can speak individually to readers across a year, or ten years, or a thousand.

That's why I love books.
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"The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind" - Anthony Burgess

Some practical advice for young authors on writing stories...


  • “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot” - Stephen King
  • “Everyone is talented, original, and has something important to say” - Brenda Ueland
  • “I’m always pretending that I’m sitting across from somebody. I’m telling them a story, and I don’t want them to get up until it’s finished" - James Patterson
  • "Every sentence must do one of two things-reveal character or advance the action" - Kurt Vonnegut
  • "Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages" - Kurt Vonnegut
  • “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word” — Margaret Atwood
  • "Increase your word power. Words are the raw material of our craft. The greater your vocabulary the more ­effective your writing. We who write in English are fortunate to have the richest and most versatile language in the world. Respect it" - PD James
  • “I think of my novels as being something like fairground rides: my job is to strap the reader into their car at the start of chapter one, then trundle and whizz them through scenes and surprises, on a carefully planned route, and at a finely engineered pace” – Sarah Waters
  • "Cut: only by having no ­inessential words can every essential word be made to count" - Diana Athill
  • "[You're allowed to] change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones" - Roddy Doyle
  • "Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite" - Helen Dunmore
  • "A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk" - Helen Dunmore
  • "[Write] every day. Make a habit of putting your observations into words and gradually this will become instinct" - Geoff Dyer
  • "Have fun" - Anne Enright
  • "A story needs rhythm. Read it aloud to yourself" - Esther Freud
  • "Put it aside. Read it pretending you've never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is" - Neil Gaiman
  • "Older/more ­experienced/more convincing writers may offer rules and varieties of advice. ­Consider what they say. However, don't automatically give them charge of your brain, or anything else" - A.L.Kennedy
  • "Read. As much as you can. As deeply and widely... as you can. And the good things will make you remember them, so you won't need to take notes" - Hilary Mantel
  • "Write a [story] you'd like to read. If you wouldn't read it, why would anybody else?" - Hilary Mantel
  • "If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to ­music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem... Be patient" - Hilary Mantel
  • "Read lots. Write lots. Don't give up" - Ian Rankin
  • "Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever" - Will Self
  • "Don't panic. Midway through writing a novel, I have regularly experienced moments of bowel-curdling terror, as I contemplate the drivel on the screen before me... Working doggedly on through crises like these, however, has always got me there in the end. Leaving the desk for a while can help" - Sarah Waters
  • "Pick a better verb. Most people use twenty verbs to describe everything from a run in their stocking to the explosion of an atomic bomb. You know the ones: Was, did, had, made, went, looked… Sew yourself a custom made suit. Pick a better verb. Challenge all those verbs to really lift some weight for you" - Janet Fitch
  • "Never use a long word where a short one will do" - George Orwell

Zadie Smith's 10 rules for writers

Zadie Smith is one of the best writers around today (for grown-ups). Here are her 10 golden rules:

  1. When still a child, make sure you read a lot of books. Spend more time doing this than anything else.
  2. When an adult, try to read your own work as a stranger would read it, or even better, as an enemy would.
  3. Don't romanticise your "vocation". You can either write good sentences or you can't. There is no "writer's lifestyle". All that matters is what you leave on the page.
  4. Avoid your weaknesses. But do this without telling yourself that the things you can't do aren't worth doing. Don't mask self-doubt with contempt.
  5. Leave a decent space of time between writing something and editing it.
  6. Avoid cliques, gangs, groups. The presence of a crowd won't make your writing any better than it is.
  7. Work on a computer that is disconnected from the internet.
  8. Protect the time and space in which you write. Keep everybody away from it, even the people who are most important to you.
  9. Don't confuse honours with achievement.
  10. Tell the truth through whichever veil comes to hand – but tell it. Resign yourself to the lifelong sadness that comes from never being satisfied.

Reading is boring?

WHAT? You just haven't found the right books yet! Books contain...
  • amazing ideas
  • life-saving information
  • things you wouldn't have thought of in a million years
  • stories which stay in your mind forever
  • even blood, guts and horror, or
  • the funniest jokes in the world
Books have...
  • caused wars
  • saved whole civilisations
  • created the closest of friends and the bitterest of enemies
Books can...
  • cheer you up
  • blow your mind
  • make you laugh
  • make you cry
  • surprise you
  • terrify you
  • make you see the world in a whole new way
  • expand your knowledge
  • be surprisingly trendy
  • help you understand the most puzzling of problems
Printed books are...
  • much cheaper than a new console game, usually cheaper than the latest movies on DVD and often cheaper than many chart albums
  • eco-friendly products, made from renewable resources, and are completely recyclable
  • free of batteries, use no power and won't ever break down
  • fully usable without electronics, are light, portable and compact, and quicker to access than a computer file
Ebooks are...
  • usually even cheaper than printed books
  • can be carried around inside your smartphone or tablet and read anywhere
  • only a couple of clicks away, even flopped out on your sofa or in bed
And there are millions out there to choose from. Literally. Millions.

That's boring, is it?