I read in order to write. I read out of obsession with…

“Good writing arises out of obsession. With obsession there is emotional depth and a certain weight and gravity to the language and story. Without…

— Fred Arroyo

One hasn't become a writer until one has distilled writing into a habit, and that habit has been forced into an obsession. Writing has…

— Niyi Osundare

“If you can't write, read. If you can't read, walk. Or walk and read, then write.”

— Joyce Rachelle

“When I can’t write I read. When I can’t read I sleep. And when I can’t sleep I write.”

— Jarod Kintz

Is there a word more passionate than passion? Obsession, total immersion, the feeling that everything else doesn't matter.

— Cynthia Ozick

“Read everything you can push into your skull. Read your mother’s diary. Read Assata. Read everything Gloria Steinem and bell hooks write. Read all…

— Gabby Rivera

Everything I write, I read aloud. It has to sound a certain way and look a certain way on page.

— Jacqueline Woodson

“I live to write but, I read to live.”

— Gail Gentry

If you have some natural talent and really want to write, you should read the books of someone who's very successful in your genre.…

— Clive Cussler

Work. Write. Read. Keep putting words on the page, because that's the only way you'll get better.

— S.J. Watson

To write you had to read so I backed into reading.

— Richard Ford

You must write, and read, as if your life depended on it.

— Adrienne Rich

I am a recluse at present & do nothing but write & read & read & write

— Katherine Mansfield

“Best advice to writers - Read, write, read, write - repeat!”

— Lilly Cain

In the past few years I've assigned books to be read before a student attends one of my weeklong seminars. I have been astonished…

— Natalie Goldberg