Guest Post - Melissa Foster author of Chasing Amanda

Melissa Foster - author of both Megan's Way and Chasing Amanda and founder of The Women's Nest. A current resident of Maryland, with another book almost complete - Come Back to Me. She is back on the blog with a guest post for her blog tour for Chasing Amanda.

Without further ado - here is Melissa Foster.

How Reading Makes Me a Better Writer

Reading is fundamental - that's what teachers have been touting for years. I've never questions the prospect of reading being essential. I've been a reader since I was just a tyke. I've preached the importance of reading to all of my children, and can't imagine how many hours would be empty if reading was not a part of our lives. What I hadn't really thought about was how reading would make me a better writer.

I'm often asked who my favorite author is and what books I have enjoyed. My standard answer is that I have many favorite authors, and that I glean something from every book that I read. This is true, and I will explain why.

Even those books that may not have a storyline that I find compelling offer something that I can learn from. Whether I'm picking up on different ways to describe scenarios or characters, or learning which writing styles I might want to steer away from - it all helps to enhance my writing. Increased vocabulary is another benefit to reading. I always have my handy-dandy electronic dictionary nearby to look up words I may not have heard of before.

Another advantage of reading is to enjoy the escape. Believe it or not, even writes need an escape from writing, and time to rejuvenate our own thoughts.

The next time you hear that reading is fundamental, I hope you will smile and think to yourself, What can I learn from this book?

Interested in writing, or simply want to chat about books? Drop me an email: thinkhappygirl (at) yahoo (dot) com.

Thank you to Melissa for sharing her thoughts. I am a reader and a blogger and always love to hear about other's thoughts on reading and the impacts it can have throughout one's life.