Why “read more” may be the most underrated thinking advice we have
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
Kevin Dickinson challenges common misconceptions about the writing process by arguing that reading and writing function as a unified cognitive loop rather than separate activities. Drawing on insights from renowned authors like Stephen King, Zadie Smith, and William Zinsser, he demonstrates that reading supplies writers with the raw materials needed to generate original ideas through combination, analogy, and sustained reflection.
The article explores how great writers—from Mary Shelley to Charles Darwin—synthesized influences from diverse sources to create groundbreaking work. Rather than diluting originality, reading during the writing process actually strengthens it by enabling extended cognition, where the physical act of writing transforms vague thoughts into refined ideas that couldn’t exist purely in the mind.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Reading and Writing as Cognitive Loop
Reading and writing aren’t separate activities but form an integrated thinking process where ideas are generated, tested, and refined on the page.
Originality Through Synthesis
True originality emerges from combining diverse influences, not isolating oneself—like musicians creating depth by playing together in an orchestra.
The Apprentice Mindset
Great writers like John Keats approached reading like carpenters studying master craftsmen, learning techniques without fearing the loss of their own voice.
Extended Cognition Through Writing
Writing externalizes thought, allowing writers to see gaps in logic, refine expressions, and literally transform ideas through the physical act of composition.
Cross-Disciplinary Inspiration
Darwin synthesized geology, economics, and theology to develop evolution by natural selection—demonstrating how reading across fields sparks innovation.
Debunking the Isolation Myth
The stereotype of writers locking themselves away to produce pure genius ignores how most successful writers actively seek influence and inspiration.
Master Reading Comprehension
Practice with 365 curated articles and 2,400+ questions across 9 RC types.
Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Reading and Writing as Extended Cognition
The article’s central thesis is that reading and writing function as a unified cognitive process rather than separate activities. Reading supplies the raw materials—ideas, techniques, perspectives—that writers need to generate original work, while writing serves as a thinking tool that clarifies and transforms vague notions into refined ideas. This challenges the misconception that true originality requires isolation from outside influences.
Purpose
To Advocate for Reading as Essential Writing Practice
Dickinson aims to persuade writers that reading is not auxiliary to writing but fundamental to it. By debunking common myths about originality and creative isolation, he advocates for a reading practice that embraces diverse influences. The article serves to shift writers’ mindsets from viewing reading as optional preparation to understanding it as an ongoing, integral part of the creative thinking process.
Structure
Thesis-Driven with Illustrative Examples
Expository → Argumentative → Exemplification. The article opens by establishing the conventional wisdom (Stephen King’s advice to read widely), then challenges misconceptions about reading and writing as separate activities. It progresses through extended examples—from Zadie Smith and John Keats to Mary Shelley and Charles Darwin—that illustrate how synthesis of influences generates originality, concluding with William Zinsser’s concept of writing as thinking.
Tone
Conversational, Instructive & Intellectually Curious
Dickinson adopts an accessible, conversational tone that balances intellectual rigor with readability. He speaks directly to writers while drawing on authoritative voices from literature and science. The tone is encouraging rather than prescriptive, using vivid metaphors (the orchestra, the carpenter) to make abstract concepts tangible, and displaying genuine enthusiasm for the creative thinking process.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
Click each card to reveal the definition
Build your vocabulary systematically
Each article in our course includes 8-12 vocabulary words with contextual usage.
Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
Tap each card to flip and see the definition
Extremely unpleasant or repulsive; deserving or causing hatred.
“The term role model is so odious, but the truth is it’s a very strong writer who gets by without a model kept somewhere in mind.”
Having a rhythmic, swinging quality; characterized by a light, cheerful, and musical cadence.
“In their plays and poems, Keats learned how to express and transform his ideas through clever turns of phrase, an illuminating metaphor, or a lilting assonance.”
The repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words; a literary device creating internal rhyming within phrases or sentences.
“In their plays and poems, Keats learned how to express and transform his ideas through clever turns of phrase, an illuminating metaphor, or a lilting assonance.”
Fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind; containing or made up of essentially unlike elements.
“History is full of examples of writers drawing influence from disparate sources.”
To present or describe something as having less value, importance, or quality than it actually does; to understate deliberately.
“While Darwin’s once-in-a-generation genius is difficult to undersell, he would also be the first to credit the many different ideas and theories he encountered during his reading.”
To make something that seems difficult or mysterious easier to understand by explaining it clearly; to remove the mystery from.
“Mathematicians who could present the solutions to their formulas, anthropologists who could explain their theories, and musical theorists who could demystify their frameworks in writing…”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, reading while writing is considered a form of plagiarism that dilutes a writer’s original voice.
2What does William Zinsser argue is the primary function of writing according to the article?
3Which sentence best captures the article’s perspective on how Charles Darwin developed his theory of evolution?
4Based on the article, determine whether each statement about the relationship between reading and writing is true or false.
John Keats avoided reading Shakespeare and Spenser because he feared their voices would overwhelm his own original style.
The article suggests that school environments often reinforce the misconception that reading and writing are separate, sequential activities rather than integrated processes.
Zadie Smith compares herself to a musician who wants to hear every member of the orchestra when explaining why she reads while writing.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Based on the article’s argument, what can be inferred about why the author finds Terry Pratchett’s version of the “read more” advice particularly compelling?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Extended cognition refers to the concept that thinking doesn’t happen only inside our heads—it extends into the physical world through tools and activities. In writing, this means that putting thoughts on paper (or screen) actually transforms those thoughts rather than simply recording them. The physical act of writing allows us to see gaps in logic, refine expressions, and reorganize ideas in ways impossible through mental reflection alone. William Zinsser describes this as how we “think our way into a subject”—writing becomes the thinking process itself, not just its final product.
The orchestra metaphor illustrates how different voices and influences can blend together to create something richer than any single element alone. Zadie Smith uses this to explain her reading practice—she’s not a solo violinist requiring silence, but rather someone who wants to “hear every member of the orchestra.” Just as musicians playing together create depth and complexity impossible for one instrument, writers who engage with diverse influences can synthesize them into original work with greater resonance. The metaphor challenges the isolation myth by showing collaboration (even across time with dead authors) as a path to originality.
Shelley created Frankenstein by synthesizing three seemingly unrelated influences: Gothic fiction traditions, Greek mythology (particularly Prometheus), and contemporary galvanism experiments. The article presents this as a prime example of originality through combination—none of these elements were original to Shelley individually, but her fusion of horror literature, classical myth, and cutting-edge science produced something genuinely new. This demonstrates the article’s central argument that reading widely across different domains supplies raw materials that writers can combine in unexpected ways to generate innovative work.
Readlite provides curated articles with comprehensive analysis including summaries, key points, vocabulary building, and practice questions across 9 different RC question types. Our Ultimate Reading Course offers 365 articles with 2,400+ questions to systematically improve your reading comprehension skills.
This article is rated Intermediate because it requires readers to follow extended arguments that build across multiple examples, understand metaphorical thinking (the orchestra, the carpenter), and synthesize insights from various historical and literary figures. While the vocabulary is generally accessible, the conceptual sophistication—particularly around ideas like extended cognition and the relationship between reading and originality—demands active engagement and some abstract thinking. Readers comfortable with essays that develop complex theses through illustration rather than direct exposition will find this level appropriate.
The author finds it surprising that established writers feel compelled to remind other writers to read, suggesting this advice wouldn’t be necessary if the connection were widely understood. He attributes the underappreciation to two main misconceptions: first, that reading and writing are separate activities (one passive, one active) rather than an integrated cognitive loop; and second, that originality requires isolation from outside influences rather than synthesis of diverse sources. The school model of reading-to-absorb followed by writing-to-demonstrate reinforces these misconceptions by treating the activities as sequential rather than intertwined.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
