The Emerging Writers Network has an interview with author Ron Rash. Dan Wickett and Rash discuss a wide range of topics from the importance of place to water as theme, but it was this line that caught our attention (note how we skipped over the part where running trains good writers. . .we do not, as a rule, condone activity that involves sweat without a good cause):
I believe deep, intense reading is crucial to being a good writer. Every good writer I know is a voracious reader, both in the classics and in contemporary fiction. I think you need to know where fiction has been and where it is going.
