What Makes a Writer?

A writer writes. Published or not, a writer writes because that is what they do.
Stephen King in On Writing agrees with that. He adds that a writer reads a lot and a wide range of books.
I've met writers who will not read a book in their genre. They are afraid they will steal ideas from those books.
That is part of the process of becoming a writer. You mimic authors you admire, their style, their voice. It is a way of finding your own voice. You simply don't publish these but use them as a way of learning to write.
And stealing ideas? All writers do that to some extent. There are certain plot patterns and classic story lines that appear and reappear in literature.
Using a story line does not mean writing the same book. Long ago I remember a line from a television program saying that if five people look at a dragonfly, each will see a different one. Every writer brings their own point of view, experiences and ideas to that story line. It morphs into something new with roots in the old.
Think about Romeo and Juliet. That story was old before Shakespeare. And it has been redone since. West Side Story is one.
Reading and writing are two requirements of King's I can meet. Another I can't and I envy him in this.
The Ideal Reader. That person the writer writes for. That person who reads a draft and gives reliable feedback so the writer can improve the draft. That person who roots for the writer's success.
I'm still looking for an Ideal Reader.
However, the book On Writing is a great read for anyone who wants to be or thinks they may be a writer.