After having witnessed bits of an ongoing back-and-forth on Twitter among various writers regarding the importance of a writer being well read, I thought I might as well offer my humble and unsatisfying opinion: yes, but it depends.

     To be clear, I think everyone ought to be well read. Classics (in the classical sense), works foundational to one’s culture, works spanning a variety of genres and topics, it’s all useful for expanding your mind. Let’s take that as a given. I have no dispute with that. No quarrel there. Put the torches and pitchforks away.

     If you don’t think you are particularly well read, I am in the same boat. I haven’t read nearly enough for my liking, either. Granted, I majored in literature, but that didn’t cover everything. Far from it, I came across several names while witnessing the aforementioned feud that I had never heard. Names that were put forth as foundational to one genre or another. I will be amending them, one at a time.

     Now that that’s out of the way, on what, you might ask, do I think it depends?

     It depends on what a writer is attempting to accomplish.

     If you want to tell good stories, you should read good stories to learn what to do and bad stories to learn what not to do. That should be obvious, but then you have to question what makes a story good. Mass appeal? If you wish for your writing to appeal to the masses, you should blah blah blah, you’ve gone over all this in your own head or heard it from other writers.

     The real question is, I think, what is the story that you are seeking to tell? Was it inspired by another story? Is it connected with something from history or your own life experience? You should read whatever you can get your hands that arms you with the tools you need to best serve your story. I cannot tell you what they may be. That is up to you to find out as you develop your work.

     Are you seeking to pay homage to a favorite author through your writing? You’ve likely already read as much of their works as you can get their hands on, but it would be good to read the works of their peers, as well. If you’re paying homage to Tolkien, read Lewis, and vice-versa.

     Are you seeking to replicate an author’s style? Then you should read what said author read, as well. The more deeply you read whatever inspired the author, the more you can glean from their toolkit. Some have argued against this notion by asking how far down the rabbit hole one must go, but to that I can only suggest “as far as you feel necessary to replicate the author’s style without completely negating your own.” Again, that is up to you to determine.

     More is better, but it may become redundant after a while.

     Are you seeking to write a masterwork of a genre? You should read the masters of the genre, and those who inspired them. If not, it wouldn’t hurt to read them, but it wouldn’t be as necessary.

     Like all the authors you’ve read, your story will be a distillation of the stories you’ve absorbed mingled with the experiences you’ve had. Figure out what story it is you want to tell and what literary tools you need to tell it best. Then seek out the authors who employed those tools to best, and worst, effect, until you think you are sufficiently equipped to tackle the work.

     So, really, it depends on you.

     Go forth and read widely.

     …if you wish.