To write well, you should first read well.

I have been listening to an extraordinarily good interview this week with the acclaimed writer, Junot Diaz, on the BBC World Service radio station (which incidentally refers to itself as the "world's radio station" justifiably I feel).

During the interview, Junot's response was most emphatic when asked by the interviewer if it was important for aspiring writers to read widely. He couldn't have stressed any more than he did in the interview just how important it is to be exposed to the styles of other writers.

There is another purpose to reading the work of others, whose writing is deemed worthy of inspection for the purposes of learning the craft and it is this: by studying the style of other writers, one can learn from their use of syntax, punctuation and vocabulary.

As a teacher of English, I have often set young students handwriting exercises. I would choose an appropriate text and ask the students to copy it in their best handwriting. This has two principal aims; it improves handwriting skill in the age of the keyboard and by having to look carefully at each word and copy the words into writing practice books spelling accuracy improved amazingly as the brain subliminally absorbed what was being copied.