( sry if there's another topic on this )

do you think that books can change the way you write?
b/c after reading more often.. i "realized" that my writing got better
i asked my mom how books can change the way you write.. and she said
they change the way u write because if you read a lot.. you learn stuff from the book
and you use the authors styles.. and stuff like that.

sooo what do you think?

Yeah I read all 13 books of the Series of Unfortunate Events and Lemony Snicket has a weird way of writing his sentences. Then in my Creative Writing class, where we write stories, I realized that I was writing my stories like his.

Definitely. I mean, whether it's words that I have picked up or just the style, I know it definitely has an impact on my writing. I'd like to think that it just adds to my style -- I wouldn't want to be a complete carbon copy of the author.

There's this amazing influence that amazing authors have on you; that lasting effect sort of sub-conciously finds itself into your own writing, except with a twist. Everyone has their own style, but there's no reason to avoid being influenced.

Yeah, my writing has definitely changed. I've learned alot more vocabulary also.

^ definitely, reading is a great vocab builder.

Reading has changed my creative writing style, but I'm not sure so much of my technical writing style, like essays and such.

Reading Sarah Dessen and Jane Austin books has changed the way my stories go. Like, I focus on emotions and atmospheres, as well as details and complex plots. Not giving everything away at once, or even at all, is key. The authors I admire always leave enough room for you to think for yourself.

Yea I think it does greatly. I always have something to read usually and it seems that the book I'm reading at that time is the way I write if I have to write something while reading that book. I never really noticed it until I had English last semester though.

Besides of what's been already said about adapting different styles to your own, reading also improves your sentences' gramatical structures as well as your overall vocabulary. Two qualities that can be useful for more general purposes than just creative writing, too.

they expand my vocabulary and then i try and use the words to sound smart in my papers. haha.

whenever i read and see a word don't know, i just always have to look it up for some reason but it helps!

YES YES YES YES

The way I read books is....well, I can't explain. I read so fast the book is more like a movie in my head. And if I spend too much time on a book, I start to mimic the writing styles of the author. Which I HATE, it makes me feel completely unoriginal. I just read Under the Wolf, Under the Dog (forgot the author, sorry) and then I tried to write a short story...and found that it closely resembled the main character's thoughts in Under the Wolf, Under the Dog.

As for vocabulary, I guess that does increase as I read, too. My vocab mostly comes from listening to other people use words incorrectly. ( i learn better by fixing mistakes )

yes, definitely.
your vocabulary range expands
and you often pick up the style of writing your most read authors have.
it also exposes you to different sentence structures, forms of writing a story, etc.

Of Course.
You learn new words when you read and like most people said, your writing usually changes to the style the books are

I think they affect more than just your writing. Your vocabulary increases. Your understanding of the language changes. Your reading speed increases. It helps with other studies, too.

^ sorry, but i was just wondering.. how can that affect my studies?

yess, for a while when i was reading historical novels, i started writing in those times, using shall and thee..blehhh other "oldies" word...LOL