(Or Am I Just Rambling?)

I remember, when I was still a teacher, how I answered the question: What makes a good writer?

I always said, “Just write every day. Practice it.”

Now, with many years of surviving life on this rock, I see how naïve that answer was. And honestly, a bit lazy. Writing isn’t magic—it’s war. A war on the blank page and the stillness of the mind.

Writing isn’t just practice. It’s living. Reading, noticing, questioning, feeling—it all feeds the words. A better writer isn’t made by writing alone. They’re forged in a furnace of words, coffee, bad ideas, and relentless stubbornness.

So what makes a better writer?

Reading.

Hold on. Wait! I know what you’re thinking. Hear me out.

Read everything you can get your mitts on. Comics (Spider-Man, Calvin and Hobbes, or the latest manga). Newspapers (local rants, world news, or that bizarre human-interest story about someone marrying their toaster). Magazines in waiting rooms (National Geographic, Better Homes & Gardens, or whatever free pamphlet the dentist leaves behind—yes, I know. BORING!). Dialogue in video games (The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, or that weird NPC who won’t stop talking). Song lyrics (Bob Dylan, Beyoncé, or your cousin’s garage band). Even the fine print on your shampoo bottle (“for best results, use while singing in the shower”).

At worst, you learn something useless. At best, you learn how to be dangerous with words.

Reading teaches rhythm, pacing, tone, and the art of pulling a reader along without them noticing. And yes, reading bad writing is valuable too—it’s the warning label for your own future work.

There is a virtually endless supply of reading material out there. Find something that clicks, that moves you… and sink your teeth into it.

Then what? Then you write. DUH.

Wait! Before you go off the deep end on me—contrary to what that guy in the mirror tells you—this is not more work. Though, yes, it might feel like it.

Write summaries of what you’ve read. Write recaps of what you’ve watched—live or in person. Write what you dream, what you overhear, what you suspect might someday embarrass you. Write every day. Doesn’t matter if it’s clumsy, meaningless, or reads like the ramblings of a caffeine-fueled insomniac. Put it down anyway. (There is this magical tool for writers called a journal…hint, hint, wink, wink).

Then, read it.

(What? Again?)

I know! Right?

But why?

Well, it’s not because I say so. And nine out of ten teachers wouldn’t necessarily approve of this message.

It’s because writing is exercise. Every sentence—good, bad, or ugly—is a push-up for your brain. It teaches patience, discipline, humility… and self-delusion. You build stamina. You find your voice. You sharpen your craft. And maybe one day, someone will read it without grimacing.

So read. Write. Repeat.

Because in the end, writers don’t just write—they eat words for breakfast, vomit clichés for lunch, and sweat something worth reading by dinner.

Disclaimer: This won’t make you a writer overnight—or maybe not ever. Who knows? And I know writing is not for everyone. Not everyone will go on to become a writer. And that’s okay. Really, it is.

If anything, I hope this helps you do a little better in school, at your job… or on that Christmas letter to Santa (or that letter to the judge to get out of that speeding ticket—who am I to judge?).

Enjoy this one? You might just be one of us. There’s more waiting at https://xinkblotz.com —stories and reflections that feel like remembering something you forgot you knew.