I write because I read

I love to read. More importantly, I love books. To be honest, I learned to love books and love having books long before I loved reading them.
But, now, I love to read books. I like all kinds of books. The older I get, the less particular I am about the genre. Why? Because I like writers. I like people who write well. It is more about how the story is told for me than what the story is all about.
I have become "friends" on social media with some contemporary writers. Most of them write contemporary noir. What I write is different from what they write. But, I love their work.
I have a friend I know personally and professionally, his name is Shawn Farritor. Shawn is a lawyer with Legal Aid of Nebraska. He has written a couple of novels. They are historical fiction, about the Pawnee in Nebraska. They are very good books. They are stories close to Shawn's heart. I think Shawn wrote them because, in his mind, they needed to be written. I am glad he wrote them. I have learned a lot about Nebraska history and the Pawnee Indians who used to live here because of those books. But, what is most important to me is that Shawn wrote them well.
Again, I like writers. And I think that is why I write. I want to be like those other guys. I am reading some J. D. Salinger short stories right now. I had never read anything of his except The Catcher in The Rye before. I am astounded at how similar his short stories are to Raymond Carver's. They are like two guys writing the same stories, except Salinger's are set in upper-class late 1940s, and Carver's are set in working-class 1960s and 1970s. Other than that, both are writing stories about ordinary people in mostly ordinary situations, but writing about them in ways that make the characters and their lives seem interesting and thoughtful. I think that if I could write like these two, I could write a short story every day about any random thing that happened that day. But, short stories are hard for me. I need to practice more. I write because I read, and if this is what I am reading right now, I really need to practice writing it.