All Words Count

All Words Count.

Whether writing or reading, all words matter.

I’m of the group that says reading and writing really is required regularly for a writer and author. But I do not expect it to be always writing your WIP or always reading this specific type of writing.

Twitter counts.

Picture books count.

Side of shampoo bottles count.

Blogs count.

Everything counts.

Everything gives you a slightly different view of the language.

There is even a more complicated point to this: all languages count. Even the language of music, of mathematics, of art, of sign. Learning to read body language is important for a writer. Learning to listen carefully and review how the language functions in person is important.

Listening and reading are highly valuable skills.

I will never give a list of required reading for a writer to be skilled. Because there isn’t one. I won’t bemoan someone who never read a grammar book or studied the language professionally.

You don’t need to.

But you need to look at the language and grasp it’s meaning to write well.

So what if your reading for the day was the ingredients list during your shopping trip. So what if it was rereading the last few lines in your writing. So what if it was the greeting card your child finally handed you three days after your birthday.

Reading is so much bigger than just that be-spouted adult fiction novel everyone seemed to be required to read.

There is nothing you are required to read.

All reading grants benefits.

All writing grants benefits.

I highly suggest doing so every day.

But I also highly suggest not reading your genre every day and not writing your WIP every day. Spend time away from the strict requirements. Because language is freedom. Reading and writing are freedom.

Imagine a world where words aren’t commonplace. Because that world has existed more than this one has.

All words matter.

Don’t get caught thinking a specific group is more important. Language has advanced human society. We have proof in every continent of the world. Written language has made advancements just as spoken language did millennia ago.

Communication means the world to humanity. Give it the proper consideration it’s due.