Instead of reading, listen.

 

I once listened to ‘The Old Man & The Sea’ five times within a few days.  It was better than reading.  I heard Hemingway’s sentence structure, his simple language, the cadence and music of his prose.  I went away and wrote a story, copying him almost.  I called it ‘The Old Man & The Suit.’  I entered a competition and it did well.  

There are thousands of audiobooks out there, hundreds for free at Open Culture (http://www.openculture.com/freeaudiobooks) and some at Spoken Ink (http://www.spokenink.co.uk/).  

Listen to your favourite author or one of the classics for inspiration.  You know what they say about imitation…..