I have covered the value of reading for developing writers (like me) several times in this blog. Businesspeople should see their reading as of two types: inside and outside their field.
Reading Inside Your Field
Focused reading inside our field helps to make us subject-matter experts. This reading includes industry journals, membership magazines, regulatory requirements, company reports, reviews, and proposals to learn more about the history, trends, and goals of our industry, as well as to capture the latest news about our competitors and collaborators.
Reading Outside Your Field
Focused reading outside our field enhances our writing style. This reading includes virtually all publications not covered by reading inside your field. Of the thousands of reading types, examples include a lawyer in the investment banking field reading African history, a civil engineer in the transportation industry reading classic novels, and a military officer reading biographies. It doesn't matter much what we read outside our field, as long as the writing is of high quality. Reading beyond the concerns of our business expands the choices of expression available to us. We pick up new words and varied sentence structure unlike those typical of our field. It also raises our awareness of the world beyond our cubicle.
Good writers not only write a lot; they also read a lot—inside and outside their field.
