I often get asked for writing advice. What I say varies from one time to the ne...

I often get asked for writing advice. What I say varies from one time to the next, but I never fail to mention the importance of reading. You can't become a writer without reading incessantly, obsessively, passionately. So when I sit down with a book (still one of the greatest pleasures I know) I tell myself: "This is part of my job." And then I just . . . disappear. I immerse myself in language, story, words. I underline. I take notes. I pay attention with the whole of myself. All ...