Wanna write better? Read more.

When’s the last time you read something for fun?

If you’re like a shocking plurality of students in America, your answer is never. The National Assessment of Educational Progress found that in 2023, only 14% of students read every day, and 31% have never or hardly ever read for fun.

As a newly appointed educator of college students, it saddens me that so many cannot or have not engaged in reading outside of required schoolwork. Reading and writing habits are wound together like muscles. And with any muscle, you gotta exercise it. Once it atrophies, it’s a real pain to rebuild — especially as you age, and the obligations of “adulting” mount.

And part of those adulting obligations includes…having a job! Much advice for the newly employed involves reading business books, Forbes articles, and Gartner reports. Aka nonfiction content. Most of these recommendations will invoke the “business mindset” or “effective habit construction.”

The top Google results for “books for newly employed.”

Throughout this kind of advice runs an undercurrent of “if you’re going to bother reading, read nonfiction.” Yet, if we’re not thoughtful in our approach, this hyper-focus on “nonfiction or else” can end up reinforcing the “reading is not for fun” mindset that damages people’s reading and writing muscles.

Read more than business books 🙏

To be clear: there’s nothing wrong with enjoying nonfiction books! In fact, adult nonfiction is the top-selling category of print books. I love a detailed biography or an exploration of ancient cultures or a compendium of presidential speeches.

Where people run into trouble is when they limit their selections to one or a few narrow niches. For instance, people think they have to read business books — and only business books — to get the good stuff that leads to business success. To be caught doing otherwise would be almost shameful.

Frankly, I keep a short list of truly good business books, but they exist and can impart great professional writing lessons. For example, I have my second edition copy of Ann Handley’s Everybody Writes sitting next to me as I type this.

But a cornucopia of reading options fills the human wellspring. It brings new ideas, concepts, opinions, examples — data — to the repository stored in your head. Artificially limiting that pool by hyper-focusing on a reading niche sees returns diminish quickly.

How do we break those limitations? I’ve long been a vocal advocate for including fiction books in professional skills development — especially for content creators. And research supports fiction’s value in developing stronger, more well-rounded business professionals.

Done well, fiction books can hone business skill sets, improve writing capabilities, and foster more fun with reading.

Expand your writing horizons with reading

We’ve established that the act of writing is critical to framing high-quality thought. It’s how we make sense of all the swirly twirly ideas bouncing around our brains. And we need to challenge and refresh our frameworks and idea sets if we want to achieve high-quality writing expectations.

Reading good fiction books provides example frameworks and practical skills to accomplish exactly that. It’s why whenever I speak to groups about writing and storytelling in professional settings, I start with Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn. It’s such a beautiful story, and every sentence feels like a true artisan lovingly handcrafted it. When I open the book, I stand in awe and pretend not to be envious.

I’ve learned more about professional storytelling from this one book than from all the business books I’ve ever read.

Read more fiction books, and you’ll grow your storytelling toolset. And as you write, you’ll reach back into that toolkit and apply more of what you read. Muscles build together, and muscle memory builds fast.

Plus, adding new exercises to a routine — having fun with it — helps people stick with it. Reading something that’s not another business article with a title like “7 Traits of a Kick-Ass Entrepreneur” sure feels novel. And, dare I say it, fun.

So how about a little novel exercise? Before our summer vacations end and kids return to school, I challenge everyone to read a book for fun. I’m sorry to make this “mandated fun,” but if that’s what it takes, so be it.

The Last Unicorn is a lovely option for an afternoon in the hammock. But really, anything’s good. If you want to dive into Colleen Hoover’s latest offering, have at it. Momentum beats inertia.

For team leaders, consider starting a company book club. Now, these kinds of groups have a habit of sliding into drink-and-be-merry events, so it takes intentionality to make it work. A few thoughts:

• Peer pressure (or “social influence“) is an effective approach to get people to do things. Be the peer who gets people to finish books and engage thoughtfully with the material.
• Prepare discussion questions and actually cover them, like meeting agendas, and distribute beforehand. Again, I apologize for the mandated fun. But denoted expectations will lead to more fulfilling conversations than “show up and talk about stuff.”
• Consider giving participants a 30-45 minute “break” during a workday to read and engage with chosen materials (like quiet time in kindergarten). You don’t want a book club to feel like extra work — rather, reward participation with a pleasant bonus.
• Sponsor snacks and drinks for book club members, too. A slice of pizza and a can of Diet Coke (or White Claw) can go a long way to convince people to join in and chat.

A healthy reading culture undergirds a strong writing culture. Encourage reading for fun and nurture a reading-first culture, and you’ll reap incredible rewards.