What are the best ways to improve your writing? Write every day. Get feedback from good writers. Attend several writing courses. Be authentic. And… read. Read. Read. Read!

It never ceases to amaze me how many of my students no longer read for pleasure.

Yes, they read emails from clients. Briefs from managers. Social media posts from friends and family. And their own writing – thank heavens. But ask them when they last read a magazine article, newspaper or book (NOT related to work) and only one or two will reply in the affirmative.

If I then ask if they read as a child or teenager, everyone says, “Well yes. Of course.”

So, why have they stopped?

I confess. I am being the Devil’s Advocate here. Of course, I know why they’ve stopped. I know why I often have to force myself to read long copy. Lack of time. Lack of patience.

Lack of good material? Never. That’s just my lack of time and patience to do the research.

Whenever I encounter a student or delegate who excels in a group, I can pretty much guarantee they’re frantic and frequent readers.

When you come to think of it, being a writer who rarely reads anything longer than a LinkedIn post is a bit like a chef who only eats burgers and chips. Or a surgeon who qualifies in 1997 and hopes they can still do a heart by-pass in 2022.

Of all the ways to improve your writing, reading long copy (or listening to audio books and podcasts if it fits more easily into your lifestyle) is the absolute best and most enjoyable way to improve your writing.

When we read good writing, we don’t even realise we’re learning. We just ‘soak in’ the techniques, the nuances, the rhythms that separate great writing from mediocre.

My advice is: find something or someone you enjoy and read or listen to them for just 10 minutes a day. 10 minutes. Surely we can all find 10 minutes while we’re getting dressed, cleaning our teeth, in the car or on the train.

I mean, we all carry the world’s biggest libraries around with us pretty much everywhere. We don’t need that pile of books in the downstairs loo anymore. You know, the ones that kept Dad in there for ages when we were bursting to go ourselves…

If you want a few ideas to get you started immediately, here are some of the best things I’ve read (or re-read) this year.

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop
• Grown Ups by Marian Keyes
• About a Boy by Nick Hornby

By the way, if you’ve already read any of these yourself, read them again. And this time, read the writing as well as the story.