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MainerMikeBrown, on 21 February 2012 - 07:15 PM, said:
When I was a kid, I read a lot of the World Wresting Entertainment's magazine. As foolish as the subject of wresting was, it was a well-written magazine. It helped me develop my writing skills.
This resonates with me for two reasons. First of all, when I was a child, I read a lot of Enid Blyton books. She was a well-known British children's author, but a lot of people in education said her books were not suitable for kids, because the vocabulary was very basic, although the stories were mesmerising. However, my form teacher said she didn't care what we read, as long as we read something that made us want to read even more.
40 years down the line, I was about to embark on a BA degree as a mature student. I really wanted to study Literature with History, but when I went for my admission interview, I told the tutor I thought I should study English Language with Literature, as I hoped to make a career from my writing. He told me that, just as you don't need to be a mechanic in order to drive a car, you don't need to be an expert in language and grammar in order to be a writer. You can learn much more about the craft of writing from reading good writing than from knowing all there is to know about grammar and punctuation, though of course these elements are important.
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