“Think before you speak,” my mother said, “ . . . and read before you think.”
This is terrific advice for everyone, not only writers and thinkers. But one preliminary step remains: “Ask before you read.” Reading and writing are not solitary activities. When you read, you are participating in a world of new experiences and ideas you would probably not have come across on your own. When you write, you are sharing those new ideas with others.
Go to the library. Talk to people. Join a reading or writing or studying group. Meet for coffee. Talk some more. And then start writing. E.M. Forster took this to another useful place: Write before you think. “How do I know what I think until I see what I say,” he said. You’ll be surprised at what you discover.
Read and write before you think and speak.
Ask friends, colleagues, teachers, former teachers, and some of the people who will show up on this site for advice on how to make your reading and writing life more interesting. Of course, keep pen and paper handy. Always.
